Matters arising from Mixed Moss


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Posted by Duncan on December 26, 2002 at 14:39:28 from 205.188.209.46 user Duncan.

I thoroughly enjoyed this edition of Mixed Moss - there were some fascinating articles. A couple of things came to mind when reading Ted Alexander's very good article about the recurring 'spy' allegations, but first a couple of disclaimers.

There follows some political discussion/opinion; those that don't such discussion needn't read it! By disagreeing with a couple of statements in a Mixed Moss article I am also, of course, opening myself up to criticisms of my 'Humble Hobbit-fancier' article (some potential ones I'm already aware of!)

Anyway, here goes.

I thought it was an excellent article, very well argued and informative. It echoed remarks made by a few of us here, but added a lot of additional information as well. I think, actually, one could be unfair to Phil Tomaselli whose article was a lot more reasoned and less sensationalist than the Observer piece. He was also happy to discuss some questions about it, etc. However, I find Ted Alexander's case more convincing.

So, to my couple of queries:
"Ransome was never close to Lenin or Trotsky". I suppose 'close' is relative; he was closer than most non-bolsheviks and in fact probably knew Lenin rather better than he knew Trotsky, being relatively 'close' to both in the early parts of the revolution (back when Evgenia worked in Trotsky's department) but remaining on good terms with Lenin right up until his death. Although for official 'interviews' and work for the various newspapers, meetings were arranged by appointment and questions were submitted in advance (to ensure full and considered answers) there would definitely appear to have been less formal meetings and discussion of politics. It has entered AR mythology that AR and Lenin played chess together. I have never seen the source of this suggestion, but it seems perfectly possible. They certainly knew each other better than is suggested in the Mixed Moss article. One has to remember that Karl Radek, for instance, was not just a colleague of Lenin's, but a long time personal friend; Ransome socialised with leading Bolsheviks as well as working alongside them.

I suppose my main concern about the article comes in the remark: 'Ransome was not a political animal, but if he requires a label it would have to be Liberal'. People who've followed my postings on AR's politics know that I've consistently suggested that he was more consciously and actively on the political left than has elsewhere been suggested and I don't want to bang on about it; but just a few suggestions.

AR came from a Liberal family, of that there is no doubt, and a number of his friends were liberals. But when AR left for Russia, socialism was still a minority cult in the UK, many socialists were still organisationally associated with liberalism. AR had more socialist connections than most: he was a William Morris enthusiast. While anyone might have enjoyed Morris's designs in the 1900s, only people on the left would consider themselves fans of his literature. He subscribed to the Clarion. This may not seem radical from today's perspectives, but this was an enormous statement of socialist politics at the time. Subscribing to such a paper would immediately have you considered a subversive. The London Bohemia of which he became a part was politically radical for the most part, and although it found its expression in a number of creeds, most of AR's bohemian companions were involved in socialism (some still well within the bosom of Liberal Fabianism, others following Russian anarchists, etc. There's the occasional hint amongst the literature that Lenin considered AR to be a bit of an ultra-leftist!!) Non-lakeland British friendships that AR preserved are also interesting from this perspective. His long friendship with Molly Hamilton seems to be instructive, as I would tend to place their politics as being very similar. AR would take Molly's democratic socialist position in arguments with their mutual radical liberal friend Francis Hirst.
AR was consistently anti-imperialist (for long after he left Russia, possibly forever) and was generally anti-Liberal in economic terms, preferring industrial planning, and he was a more impressive exponent of the essence of the labour theory of value than Marx himself!
However, I realise this argument is a vexed one.

Where I think Mr. Alexander gets something actually wrong (just as wrong as me wrongly describing the Lord of the Rings as a trilogy!!!) is where he says that 'every correspondent or observer, irrespective of political affiliation, supported [the revolution]' This just isn't true. Ransome was all but unique in feeling that way; the only other observer who shared Ransome's zeal for protecting the revolution whom I can think of is the American, John Reed. Having read many newspapers from that time I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that all but labour papers such as the Herald (who had no correspondents) were fiercely opposed to the revolution. Many of AR's telegrams had to be tailored so as not to upset the violently anti-bolshevik nature of the bulk of the western press. To suggest that AR merely echoed the views of everyone else is the one error I spotted in the article. He did not - his views were genuinely extraordinary (although I have to say I share them). The Pathe video that some people have referred to was shown in cinemas at the time as part of the CPGB-led 'Hands of Russia' campaign. AR's 'The Truth About Russia' is still probably the most spirited pro-bolshevik document to have ever been written.

I don't think we should be shocked by this. I certainly don't think it makes him a KGB or Checka agent. He could not have been because EVERYONE knew that AR was essentially pro-bolshevik. The only doubts were raised in Stockholm when it was briefly supposed by the Russians that AR might have been a British agent until Radek and Lenin informed the lower soviet bureaucrats that this was certainly not the case.

Sorry to bang on at length!

Duncan


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