First Soviet representative to Britain
editOn 8 November 1917, a day after the October Revolution, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) appointed Mixim Litvinov as the Soviet government's plenipotentiary representative in the United Kingdom.[1] His accreditation was never officially formalised and his position as an unofficial diplomatic contact was analogous to that of Bruce Lockhart, Britain's unofficial agent in Soviet Russia.[2] Litvinov was allowed to speak freely, even after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which took Russia out of the war.[3]
In January 1918, Litvinov addressed the Labour Party Conference, praising the achievements of the Revolution.[4] Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the democratic Russian Provisional Government that had replaced the Tsar and was overthrown by Lenin, was welcomed by the British government on a visit to London and also addressed the Labour Party Conference, criticising the dictatorship and repression of Lenin's government.[5] Litvinov replied to Kerensky in the left-wing English press, criticising him as being supported by foreign powers and baselessly accused him of trying to restore Tsarism.[6][7]
A mutiny took place in February 1918 on a Russian ship in the River Mersey. The police, having been warned of possible trouble, had the ship under surveillance. When shouts that the crew were threatening to kill their officers were heard, the ship was boarded and the crew were arrested. Shortly before the mutiny, a police report confirmed Litvinov had received the sailors very well.[8] Litvinov had not tried to dissuade the sailors from carrying out the mutiny or to condemn it, and may have encouraged it.[9] Litvinov also sought interviews with British, American, Australian and Canadian soldiers, and inculcated them with Bolshevik ideas, as well as inducing British and American soldiers of Jewish descent to carry on propaganda in their regiments. On one occasion, thirty Royal Engineers, along with some American and Canadian soldiers, were received in Litvinov’s office.[8]
At the end of 1917, Litvinov had secured the release of Georgy Chicherin from Brixton prison, but in September 1918, the British government arrested Litvinov, ostensibly for having addressed public gatherings held in opposition to British intervention in the ongoing Russian Civil War.[1] Litvinov was held until he was exchanged for Lockhart, who had been similarly imprisoned in Russia.[1]
Following his release, Litvinov returned to Moscow, arriving there at the end of 1918.[1] He was appointed to the governing collegium of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (Narkomindel) and immediately dispatched on an official mission to Stockholm, Sweden, where he presented a Soviet peace appeal.[1] Litvinov was subsequently deported from Sweden but spent the next months as a roving diplomat for the Soviet government, helping to broker a multilateral agreement allowing the exchange of prisoners of war from a range of combatants, including Russia, the UK and France.[1] This successful negotiation amounted to de facto recognition of the new revolutionary Russian government by the other signatories to the agreement and established Litvinov's importance in Soviet diplomacy.[1]
Litvinov tried to intervene in Britain's internal politics, agreeing to the request of the Daily Herald, a newspaper supporting the Labour Party, to ask the Soviet government for financial assistance.[10] In view of the publicity caused by a leak in The Times,[11] the Daily Herald did not accept the money.[12][13]
- ^ a b c d e f g Haslam, Jonathan (1983) Soviet Foreign Policy, 1930–33: The Impact of the Depression. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 11–13. ISBN 0312748388
- ^ Lockhart, R. H. Bruce (2008). Memoirs of a British Agent. Read Books. p. 203. ISBN 978-1-4437-8151-0.
- ^ Holroyd-Doveton, John (2013). Maxim Litvinov: A Biography. Woodland Publications. pp. 22–35.
- ^ "Labour Leader". 24 January 1918: 5.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Labour Conference Report". 1918: 60.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Herald". 6 July 1921: 14.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Holroyd-Doveton, John (2013). Maxim Litvinov: A Biography. Woodland Publications. p. 33.
- ^ a b Foreign Office: General Correspondence. Vol. FO/371/3299. p. 52.
- ^ Holroyd-Doveto, p. 26
- ^ Holroyd-Doveton, John (2013). Maxim Litvinov: A Biography. Woodland Publications. p. 200.
- ^ "Times pg.10". 19 August 1920.
- ^ "Daily Herald pg 1". 15 September 1920.
- ^ Lansbury, George. Miracle of Fleet Street. p. 147.