After his failed attempt in 1918 to overthrow the new Bolshevik revolutionary government, Sidney Reilly escaped from Russia and into a personally painful period of several years in exile. Because of his highly visible counter-revolutionary activities, the Bolshevik government tried Reilly in absentia and sentenced him to death. The question posed by this fact is why in 1925 did he plan a return to Russia? The answer is twofold: (1) he was asked to go and (2) he wanted to go.
The British Secret Service was anxious to thoroughly vet The Trust, which held itself out to the world as a credible anti-Bolshevik alternative government waiting to take over Russia and depose the Communists. Actually (and unknown to England), The Trust was a fake organization under the total control of Cheka head Felix Zherzhinsky. Captain Cumming of the Secret Service asked Reilly to make a quick clandestine trip to Russia to clarify The Trust situation. Reilly agreed to go because he believed The Trust was not legitimate, and he wanted to completely discredit it.
Notwithstanding his seven year old in absentia death sentence, Reilly and Cumming both believed that the trip involved little personal risk to him, since at the same time The Trust was also seeking international credibility and monetary support. What neither apparently realized was the full extent of Stalin's megalomania, his rage at not initially being told of The Trust's existence and his overarching fear of Dzerzhinsky's encroaching power.
The episode emphasizes Reilly's compulsive hatred of the Bolsheviks, his obsessive belief that they murdered his friend Savinkov while in Cheka custody and his driven need to test The Trust by seeking its commitment to launch anti-government terrorist activities including the assassination of Stalin! It is rich in largely unfamiliar historical detail, and suggests that Stalin's absolute focus on Reilly clearly influenced the events that followed.
This episode provides a clear example of how one can actually be entertained and educated at the same time! Highly recommended.
The British Secret Service was anxious to thoroughly vet The Trust, which held itself out to the world as a credible anti-Bolshevik alternative government waiting to take over Russia and depose the Communists. Actually (and unknown to England), The Trust was a fake organization under the total control of Cheka head Felix Zherzhinsky. Captain Cumming of the Secret Service asked Reilly to make a quick clandestine trip to Russia to clarify The Trust situation. Reilly agreed to go because he believed The Trust was not legitimate, and he wanted to completely discredit it.
Notwithstanding his seven year old in absentia death sentence, Reilly and Cumming both believed that the trip involved little personal risk to him, since at the same time The Trust was also seeking international credibility and monetary support. What neither apparently realized was the full extent of Stalin's megalomania, his rage at not initially being told of The Trust's existence and his overarching fear of Dzerzhinsky's encroaching power.
The episode emphasizes Reilly's compulsive hatred of the Bolsheviks, his obsessive belief that they murdered his friend Savinkov while in Cheka custody and his driven need to test The Trust by seeking its commitment to launch anti-government terrorist activities including the assassination of Stalin! It is rich in largely unfamiliar historical detail, and suggests that Stalin's absolute focus on Reilly clearly influenced the events that followed.
This episode provides a clear example of how one can actually be entertained and educated at the same time! Highly recommended.
