Thread by @JMichaelWaller

1) The Trust was a brilliant Bolshevik counterintelligence operation. It was designed in part to seek out and destroy opponents of the Communists.

An element of The Trust was to fund, and ultimately direct, its own opposition. centerforintelligencestudies.org/the-trust.html

2) By funding its own opposition - even the armed opposition during the Russian Civil War - the Bolshevik regime was able to know who was whom, track them and their families, and kill them.

3) The Trust even operated abroad to attract anti-Communists, make them think they were working for a cause to overthrow the Soviet regime, and entice them to return to Russia so they could be shot.

4) Center for Intelligence Studies: By 1920, Bolshevik Cheka secret police started "operation Mayak... to create confusion in emigre organizations so they could not distinguish between foe and friend. It was also designed to learn their intentions and assess their capabilities."

5) "In 1921/22 [the opposition] posed no real danger to the Bolshevik regime. But ... certain freedom of action was given back to the Russian people, and a feeling developed that the Bolshevik regime had seen its best days and was about to be replaced ..."

6) "... by some other form of government. It provided opposition elements with an opportunity for starting a political movement, and a better one still for establishing contact with emigre organizations abroad."

7) The right-wing opposition in the Russian diaspora, "in its various splintered forms," was what the Bolshevik secret police "hoped to reach, exploit and destroy through careful manipulation of the so-called 'Trust.'"

8) "The senior leader of the Russian émigrés was Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich.... His call had a strong appeal to some emigrants, even though he bore a strong responsibility for the disaster that had overrun Russia.... he was mistrusted by his own family...."

9) "... He ... lived in virtual isolation near Paris, begrudgingly respected by some émigrés, but disliked by nearly all....

"In theory, the émigrés appeared to be organized for some kind of effective action, but in reality they floundered...."

10) The Russian anti-communist opposition was divided, broke, and manipulated by Western intelligence services, the report continues. But if they did become united and well-funded, the would present a threat to the Russian Communist regime. And so...

11) If Russian "emigre organizations succeeded in establishing contact with the internal opposition...they could conceivably mount an effective challenge to Bolshevik rule.

"This was the potential danger facing the Cheka and the one possibly in Lenin’s mind...."

12 "the Cheka gave first priority to an attempt to penetrate all White Russian groups in and outside of Russia. Later, it would expand its activities to disinforming hostile intelligence services and conducting 'special operations' as designated by its chief, Felix Dzerzhinskiy."

13) So the Soviet secret police created The Trust, a group to unite the fractious, infighting, poorly organized anti-communist opposition.

The Trust would collect intelligence on all opponents of the Bolsheviks, and make them unwitting collaborators with the secret police...

14) "The Trust," Cheka/GPU chief Dzerzhinsky said, "was to control 'public opinion' among émigrés... They must be persuaded that a counterrevolution was in the making, in which they could play a supporting role. Dissension must be provoked by keeping alive controversial issues."

15) "In a psychological ploy [he] was to be fed information about an anti-communist organization...inside Russia, which was incapable of action simply for want of an able leader. In this way [he], with his colossal conceit, could be lured into the Soviet Union and [killed]."

16) "The Trust, as such, could not be used for such an operation because [he] detested Monarchists as much as he did the Bolsheviks. A parallel Liberal Democrat (LD) organization must be set up under the control of a few selected GPU [Cheka secret police] officials."

17 "Whereas the Trust passed material that was for the most part fabricated, material given...through LD channels, though outdated and not of first class importance, was genuine...The use of authentic documents was a high price to pay, but appeared necessary as a means to an end.

18) "While the Trust operation was not able to achieve all of its objectives in full, the GPU [Cheka secret police], by its implementation, was able to boast of the following accomplishments ...."

19) "...It gained a clear picture of [opposition] emigre organizations, their character, membership and objectives; it was able to deepen the antagonism existing in these organizations and discredit the various groups inside the USSR...."

20) "... it succeeded in duping foreign intelligence services.... Its most striking and lasting success was psychological; the GPU found, by means of the Trust operation, that it possessed tradecraft equal not only to security demands at home, but also...."

21) "... with some modifications, commensurate with the requirements of psychological operations abroad. From this point on, Russian intelligence became a force to be reckoned with worldwide."

Any parallels with Communist China today?

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