The Bolsheviks and The Great Game
How Britain's spies prevented revolution in India
“There is a dry wind blowing through the east, and the parched grasses wait the spark. And the wind is blowing towards the Indian frontier….I have reports from agents everywhere”
Sir Walter Bullivant, Head of British intelligence to Richard Hanny in the novel “Greenmantle” by John Buchan
The struggle for India had its roots in a century old contest known, thanks to Rudyard Kipling’s novel “Kim”, as The Great Game. This was the on-going struggle between Britain and Russia for mastery in India and Central Asia. This incarnation of the Great Game drew to a close shortly before the outbreak of the First World War with the signing of Anglo Russian treaties which established “spheres of influence” in Afghanistan and Persia. In 1914 Britain and Russia found themselves unexpected allies in the First World War and, with Russia riven with internal strife and revolution, all thoughts of the Great Game and mastery of India were put aside, at least for a while
A German Jihad
In 1914 Germany realised that destabilising India and Central Asia could be a way of destabilising Britain as Britain would have to draw troops away from the western front to restore order in India, troops that Britian could ill afford to lose, even more so once Britain’s ally, Russia, withdrew from the conflict. The Kaiser believed this could be done by the Ottoman Caliph declaring Jihad against the enemies of Islam in the west. This did leave the Ottomans with a conundrum as they would be declaring Jihad against Britain, France, Russia but not against Germany and Austria Hungary which would be an unusual form of religious Jihad to say the least. Islamic theorists and the Ottoman Fatwa Bureau did some mental gymnastics over this and concluded that a targeted Jihad could indeed be declared but many Muslims, including the Aga Khan, disagreed and felt that the Caliph should not be working to a Western Master.
With Jihad settled, the Kaiser’s eyes could turn eastward and he employed agents to carry out his work in trying to raise Muslims against the British and to trigger revolt in India. The Kaiser’s weakness was that Britain was well versed in this sort of intrigue having played the Great Game for the best part of a century and the often clumsy strategies used by the Germans were foiled at every turn.
The new Great Game
In 1918 Russia was racked by revolutionary turmoil and her agreement with Germany in the form of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, allowed Lenin to return to Russia and signaled Russia’s withdrawal from the war. It also signaled the rise of the Bolshevik party led by Lenin. Lenin regarded Britain as Bolshevism’s number one enemy and the feeling was mutual, with the British soon to be sending small military interventions into Russia to fight the Bolsheviks, much to Lenin’s annoyance and leading to a growth in friction between Britain and Russia. The rise of Bolshevism signaled a new phase in Anglo- Russian, now Anglo-Soviet, antagonism and a new phase in the Great Game.
By now the Bolsheviks had been in power for less than a year and Russia was being torn apart by civil war. The outcome of the First World War was far from certain and Britain was fighting without her ally Russia, and was extremely alarmed by the loss of her ally and the anticipated large number of German troops who now could leave the eastern front for the western front. There also loomed the spectre of a joint German and Turkish attack on India. Such was the confusion neither Delhi, London nor Lenin were sure of exactly what was happening and where.
In a secret telegram in 1919 British Prime Minister David Lloyd George warned of the danger of Germany falling to bolshevism and that the whole of Europe was filled with the spirit of revolution “There is a deep sense not only of discontent but of anger and revolt” British Chief of Staff Henry Wilson noted unrest in the British army and warned of the danger of Indian troops following suit in mutiny and insurrection. Ever since the threat of what Churchill termed “the bacillus of bolshevism” to India had become apparent, intelligence agents were being sent to central Asia, to Tashkent and to Bokhara. The Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford warned the government about rising anger amongst Indian Muslims over what was happening to their Muslim brothers in the Ottoman empire in the wake of its defeat, and the threat to Britain that this posed.
First though, Lenin was determined to spread the Bolshevik Revolution throughout Europe which he assured his followers would be swiftly followed by a worldwide revolution, a fire that would spread through Asia and Africa and release those people from their capitalist oppressors. However, the Bolshevik revolution did not materialise in Germany despite her collapse at the end of 1918, nor elsewhere in Europe for that matter, so Lenin had to change tack and turned his head towards India. Lenin had always believed that the Bolshevik revolution in Europe would be followed by the “liberation of the oppressed peoples of Asia and Africa” but now the east would have to become his starting point by which he would undermine the West. “The East will help us conquer the west” India, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, the place where maximum damage could be caused. Raising insurrection in India would cause economic collapse for Britain and a resulting revolution back there, so Lenin believed. From India and Britain his Bolshevik revolution would then proceed to spread across the world. Lenin planned to set the east ablaze.
In order to reach India Lenin’s Bolsheviks had to conquer Central Asia, a vast tract of land in some very inhospitable landscapes including the Karakum Desert. For the Bolsheviks this meant defeating the “White Russians” in the area, still fanatically devoted to the Empire as well as anti-Bolshevik tribespeople looking for independence. There were also the so-called “Interventions”, small scale British missions sent to the region in order to combat this rising threat of Bolshevism. Control of this area of central Asia would allow Lenin to turn his sights back to India and the prospect of causing Indians to rise up in revolution against their British masters. Others were also keen to use the power vacuum caused by the fall of the Russian Empire to advance their own causes such as the former Ottoman minister of war Enver Pasha.
Revolution in India
To carry out his plan Lenin needed a man on the ground, someone who understood India, to work for him in stirring up insurrection and set India on the path to liberation from the British. The man chosen to take the lead in this new phase of the Great Game and spread revolution to India was Manabendra Nath Roy. Like many Bolsheviks Manabendra Nath Roy was not his real name any more than Stalin, Lenin and Trotsky were the real names of those revolutionary leaders. His real name was Bhattacharya and Lenin saw him as the potential leader of his planned revolution in India.
In March 1919 the communist international was formed, soon to become the Comintern, with the aim of spreading the Bolshevik revolution worldwide and Roy was a delegate at the first conference of the Comintern held in Baku. Roy was only in his 20s and was wanted by the British for various revolutionary activities including treason and arms smuggling. He had fled India, ending up in Mexico where he met senior members of the Comintern and they recommended him to Lenin. Roy first of all made his mark by daring to question Lenin’s doctrine and disagreeing with Lenin over whether the Comintern should co-operate with non-Marxists (Roy thought they should not) overall though Lenin seemed impressed by Roy’s arguments.
“Of all the strange things which have happened in the last few years none have been stranger than the spectacle of two Jews, one of them a convicted pickpocket, summoning the wrath of Islam to a Jihad”
The Times 23rd September1920
One of the Jews to which this antisemitic headline applied was Grigori Zinoviev who, at this week-long rally of the Comintern and delegates in Baku had called on Muslims everywhere to rise against their western oppressors. However, many delegates had come from central Asia, the trans-Caucasus and trans-Caspian areas which were former territories of the Russian empire under the Tsar. They had seen how independence and self-determination under the Bolsheviks did not apply to them and their disillusionment in aspects of the Bolshevik rule began to be communicated in the speeches and discussions held at the rally but these accounts have been removed from the official records. Always watchful, British agents had been among the delegates and reported back on proceedings
The Army of God
The dismemberment of the Ottoman empire in the wake of her defeat in the war had caused upset amongst Muslims with rumours abound that the abolition of the caliphate would also mean the denial of access to Mecca for devout Muslims. It was estimated that some 30,000 Indian Muslims were volunteering to support the Turks but had found themselves stuck in Afghanistan, some of these Indians were deserters from the Indian army already well trained and drilled and, to heighten the fears of the British, lawyer and nationalist Mahatma Gandhi also appeared to be supporting the Muslims. The British had not helped to endear themselves with Indian Muslims when 380 unarmed Indian protestors were shot by British troops in Amritsar.
With the backing of the revolutionary council Roy decided to recruit and train a revolutionary army of Indian Muslims in central Asia which would invade India through Afghanistan as an “Army of God”. Roy hoped that this would trigger off a series of uprisings within India against the British, however the Soviets were short of arms after three years of civil war. Roy headed to Tashkent as the training location for his army, which was already a seat of anti-British resistance. The next task was to obtain the King of Afghanistan, King Amanullah’s, consent to invade India through his country which would involve creating bases in Afghanistan from which the attack could be launched with the 30,000 Indian Muslims currently languishing in Afghanistan forming the main body of this army.
Roy’s biggest problem was stopping the ever present British agents infiltrating his training school and reporting back to London and Delhi. The struggle for India again was being played out by those agents who so expertly played “The Great Game” and the Viceroy had authorized increased expenditure on espionage. Documents acquired by British agents confirmed that the Bolsheviks intended to target not just India but other countries such as Egypt and Arabia where the British were in occupation or had significant influence.
Capture and execution of any British agents who were Indian had to be carried out in extreme secrecy by the Bolsheviks to avoid upsetting other would be revolutionary Indians. By February 1921 several British agents had been reported as missing in this area. Overall though British agents were very effective in infiltrating Bolshevik organisations and intercepting communications. One tool in the fight against Bolshevism the British were to use was propaganda in an attempt to deter new converts to this ideology, but a balance had to be struck between deterring new converts and rousing their interest. On both sides rumours were spread as the war of information and disinformation gained speed, Moscow in particular wanted to raise alarm amongst the British in India via Roy’s activities but at the same time Lenin and Roy also desperately needed supplies from the west so Lenin upped the pressure hoping to force a trade agreement and various concessions from Britain. Lenin also tried to deny all links between the Soviet leadership and the Comintern in an effort to distance himself from Roy’s planned revolution in India. According to Lenin the Comintern was an independent International organization and nothing to do with him. The British were not fooled.
Enver Pasha’s ambitions in India
Lenin and Roy were not the only ones with hopes of stirring up revolution in India. With the defeat of Turkey, Enver Pasha, Turkey’s former minister of war was forced to flee so he made his way to Moscow on the invitation of Lenin and here he met Roy. Enver too had plans for India and proposed to Lenin that he could lead to revolutionary army into India in exchange for Lenin’s help in giving him control of Turkey which was now held by Ataturk, a former colonel in the Turkish army. Ataturk (Mustafa Kemel) and Enver Pasha had never been on friendly terms. The British got wind of the plan but didn’t for a minute believe Enver had any Bolshevik principles whatsoever but, as the old saying goes, “my enemy’s enemy is my friend” So far Ataturk wasn’t hostile to the Bolsheviks but should the situation change it might prove useful for Lenin to have Enver Pasha to play as a trump card. When Lenin signed a treaty with Ataturk in 1921 Enver was not happy but Lenin didn’t suspect this and sent him to do his bidding in central Asia. Here Enver met with the men who he believed he could lead against the Bolsheviks. It wasn’t long before it dawned on Lenin that Enver had double crossed him and was now about to launch a holy war against Bolshevism.
Enver captured Dushambe in February 1922 and carried out an attack on Bokhara inflicting heavy casualties on the Bolsheviks while also attracting new recruits. King Amanullah of Afghanistan now started secret communications with Enver which were discovered by Lenin’s agents. Amanullah ignored their threats and protests. Enver’s operations were built on professional lines and his army contained many experienced Turkish officers. Lenin tried to negotiate but Enver refused saying that peace was only possible when the Bolsheviks withdrew from Turkistan and Bokhara, where his pan-turkik empire was to spread to. The Bolsheviks then prepared for an all out attack on Enver’s forces.
Soon Enver was forced on to the defensive and Enver’s pan-Turkik empire was a dream that was crumbling and many, including king Amanullah, sensing the danger, started to desert him. One by one towns fell back to the Bolsheviks. On August 4th 1922 Enver had realized that his position was hopeless and as three hundred soviet troops approached the village where he and his troops had been celebrating Eid al-Adha he jumped on to a horse and rode straight at them. Twenty five of his men followed him, all were mown down by machine gun fire. It was some weeks before Enver’s death was reported by the Moscow correspondent of the Manchester Guardian (better known as author of children’s book) Arthur Ransome. On the 2nd December 1922 the Manchester guardian ran the headline “The last adventure of Enver Pasha”
Roy’s Failed Revolution
On his return to Moscow from Tashkent Roy met with Stalin to discuss how to go about training revolutionaries to work on the Bolshevik’s behalf in India. Stalin had realised that there was little point in sending weapons and money to India if the recipients had little idea how to use them, they must first be trained.
Roy spoke of his time in Tashkent saying “A year and a half ago I had left Moscow with great expectations. The experience in central Asia was very valuable. The contact with a cross section of the Indian masses dispelled some of my earlier illusions and gave me a realistic view of the latter. I was convinced that Indian revolution was still a long way off and an uphill path lay ahead”
Additionally nobody was sure what the implication or results of Gandhi’s civil disobedience campaign in India would be, Roy thought that it was very unrevolutionary and was proved right after Gandhi called off his campaign when a riot resulted in blood letting. This gave the British some relief with Lloyd George quoted as saying “you cannot go on arresting people forever, especially when there are 319,000,000 of them” but Lenin was furious with Gandhi, just when it seemed Gandhi was on the cusp of achieving unrest against the British he had stopped. Lenin saw this as a betrayal. Although not entirely surprised by Gandhi’s actions, Roy was disappointed noting that the opportunity for a national uprising was lost because there was not a revolutionary party in the country to guide the masses. Other issues faced by Roy included disputes and schisms within and between various nationalist movements within India, the sheer size of the country and its population and petty jealousies about Roy who some resented for being the chosen representative for Indian Bolshevism and for being close to Lenin.
Roy started on his next project to install revolutionary cells in India which would infiltrate existing organisations. This did not go as planned. The first four of Roy’s agents were either arrested by the British or disappeared and the rest following them were too immediately picked up and arrested. The ever-capable British agents were reading virtually all of Roy’s correspondence without him realising. Roy’s agents whom had been arrested by the British in India on arrival were tried and jailed or turned Kings evidence and were set free.
On the 21st December 1922 The Times newspaper headlines exclaimed “Bolshevik plan for India” and “a revolutionary programme…..grievances to be exploited” and printed the details of a pamphlet outlining the Bolsheviks plan for India calling Roy “the notorious Indian communist” In the pamphlet Roy asked for independence of India, no more occupation by the British through the Indian army and the confiscation of all large properties and estates. He called for a campaign of national disobedience to cause the authority of the government to break down in the “final stage of our struggle” The general public had little awareness of what had been going on during those previous four years other than through works of fiction such as those by John Buchan.
Roy’s call had achieved little other than causing the Indian national congress to distance themselves somewhat from Roy, alarmed at being accused of being Bolsheviks. Roy had always needed arms and money to develop his revolutionary cells but these, although sent from Moscow, often did not arrive. One sum of money that had made it over the border into India was secretly used by one of Roy’s less than idealist agents to build himself a house.
Stalin, who was now in charge of operations in India, saw few results by Roy even though Roy was still being lauded in Moscow for his achievements. Stalin sent a memo to the Politburo in Moscow, “It has now been realized that communism is completely unacceptable to the Hindus in their present state of development, and independence is a condition which must precede it. Our propaganda agents did not realise this and did not report it, and continued to work on completely the wrong lines”
Ghandi could have told him as much, writing “India does not want Bolshevism. The people are too peaceful to stand anarchy. They will bow the knee to anyone who restores order. Let us recognize the Indian psychology”
The main problem for the British though was that the only way they could counteract Lenin’s denial of being involved in Roy’s revolutionary plans was by providing actual physical evidence of the Soviet’s involvement and that would be revealing the intelligence that the British agents had supplied to London and Delhi thus putting at risk all agents still working in the field. Some evidence was carefully selected and presented including money in notes issued by a British bank to a Soviet trade official finding its way into the hands of revolutionaries who were arrested by the British in India. Selected details of Roy’s training camp in Tashkent were also released.
Lenin was forced to climb down in the face of overwhelming evidence of Moscow’s complicity in Roy’s plot now completely exposed, the ceasing of these activities by the Soviets was promised “The Soviet Government undertakes not to support with funds or in any other form persons or bodies or agencies or institutions whose aim is to spread discontent or to foment rebellion in any other part of the British Empire” Despite this both London and Moscow believed that they had gained the upper hand with the Soviets believing that there was no way the British would be able to police the Bolshevik’s activities fully and that they had secured their trade deal with Britian and the British believing that the trade deal would secure Soviet compliance.
By 1923 Lloyd George’s coalition government had been replaced by a Tory government under Andrew Bonar Law and Lord Curzon returned as foreign secretary. India was still bubbling with unrest and Roy was still determined to stir up his Bolshevik revolution so Curzon sent an ultimatum to Moscow threatening to cut all trade links with Moscow unless Moscow halted its intrigues against the British in India and withdrew its agents and stopped any planned invasions. Although it was generally felt that the Soviets would be badly affected by a trade boycott others pointed out that British exports to the Soviets had increased greatly over the last year or so and it might not be the case that a severance in trade links would be entirely to Britain’s benefit. Her trade rivals would rapidly fill that void and the Soviets would be free to pursue their ambitions in the east.
Moscow’s reply included an outright denial of the charges but despite their trouble making in the east the Soviets were still keen to maintain these trade links with Britain which were crucial for Moscow at this time. A number of concessions were offered by the Soviets along with a general toning down of their subversive activities. The agreement also included the transfer of Soviet agents and officials from Kabul and Tehran but this may have occurred anyway as both the governments of Persia and Afghanistan by now had tired of the activities of the Bolsheviks in their countries and had complained to Moscow. Again, both the British and the Soviets saw themselves as the winners, publicly at least.
The only one who couldn’t declare himself a winner was Roy. There was no hope now for his planned revolution in India, the Army of God was disbanded without so much as a shot fired. The Soviets and the Comintern abandoned him and he was left to carry on with his revolutionary activities alone, making one final attempt in 1930 when he slipped back across the border into India but the ever vigilant British intelligence agents were on his tail and he was arrested and imprisoned the following year.
For now, the chances of a Bolshevik revolution in India seemed as distant as ever - but Moscow had no intention of abandoning her ambition of setting the east ablaze
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Really good read, thank you. I’m still hoping there may be a book some day 🙏🏻
Fascinating piece Louise, thank you.