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Stuck on the Flypaper: Frances Stonor Saunders on MI5 and the Hobsbawm File

London Review of Books, Frances Stonor Saunders, April 9, 2015.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n07/frances-stonorsaunders/stuck-on-the-flypaper


" . . . [Guy] Liddell left London on 30 March [1933], and stayed for ten days. He had been invited to meet officials of the German Political Police, Abteilung 1A, which had installed itself in the KPD headquarters, now conveniently vacant. Liddell was assisted by Frank Foley, MI6’s Berlin station chief, . . . "

" . . . Liddell and Foley were introduced to Rudolf Diels, head of Abteilung 1A, who explained urbanely that it was his intention to exterminate communism in its widest sense. . . "
From this and other sources it sounds like British intelligence had traditionally viewed communists and Bolsheviks as their main enemy. Nor was this likely to change with the Great Depression, even though a rightwing coup became equally or even more likely.

(during the darkest days of the Depression, I'd estimate about 1 out of 4 chance of some kind of military coup here in the U.S., with a rightwing coup being the more likely possibility)

So, quite a challenge given the mindset.

But please paint me a picture or two.

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Later edit:

Although the Brits welcomed the Nazis crushing the communists,

they didn’t trust the quality of information the Nazis provided them, even discounting warnings about atomic spy Klaus Fuchs.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...e-review-in-pursuit-of-the-spy-of-the-century
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