The Curzon Note ~ The Reports ~ The Zinoviev Letter

Though a success for the Conservative Party, the November 1922 General Election was nevertheless a grim omen for hardliners. Labour was now a contender for power, increasing diehard distress over their falling numbers in Westminster at this crucial time. From December 1916 to October 1922, Coalition Cabinets had seven prominent anti-communists; Conservative Cabinets until January 1924 only had three of repute. After November 1922, only Curzon remained yet bilateral ties worsened, with intelligence again playing a central role.

This chapter examines how the Conservatives set out to reclaim perceived lost ground to Moscow, by sending the message relations would no longer be “business as usual” and distancing themselves from Lloyd George’s “tainted” premiership. Yet the Conservatives had to bow to economic realities facing Britain. Using SIGINT and then HUMINT, hardliners inside and outside government tried resolving two issues that had since 1917 distressed them even more than Lloyd George: Bolshevik subversion and the political rise of Labour. Tackling the former was the object of the May 1923 Curzon Note; blocking the latter was the aim of the so-called Zinoviev Letter of October 1924. Together they highlight the dangers of intelligence deception and propaganda becoming public knowledge, creating the need for a political response.

Both crises reflected the fluidity in British politics from Lloyd George’s resignation in October 1922 to the collapse of the first Labour government in October 1924. Restoring the traditional party system post-Coalition took two years, three General Elections and three different Prime Ministers from two parties. While these changes did not affect British intelligence structures much, attitudes within the community hardened against the Bolsheviks and Labour.