A Few Historical Tidbits About Fake News
"We are destroying the Press..."
“We are destroying the Press of the counter-revolution, just as we destroyed its fortified positions, its [supply] stores, its communication, and its intelligence system.”1
These words are written by Russian Communist Leon Trotsky in his book “Terrorism and Communism” (1920). The text is part of a polemic between Trotsky and the Austrian Social Democrat Karl Kautsky.
Their dispute centers on the Bolsheviks’ use of “terror” during the Russian Civil War. Terror, in this context, refers to repression employed by a state to protect itself from subversion.
Kautsky repudiates “the dictatorship of the proletariat” and armed insurrection as necessary for transitioning to Socialism. He further criticizes the Bolsheviks for excessive violence against political opponents and infringement of press freedom.
Trotsky on the other hand views a socialist revolution as a war between the bourgeoise and the proletariat and war, he writes, is founded upon intimidation.
Winning seldom involves killing the whole enemy army, generally only an insignificant part of it is destroyed. The rest are terrified - or rather terrorized - into submission.
According to Trotsky, war is won decisively or not at all. An early burst of force deters the enemy from fighting back, cutting short a protracted struggle. It is futile then to afterwards complain the violence was all on one side or to say the force used was excessive.
On the topic of the death penalty, Trotsky asks if Kautsky would prefer if the Bolsheviks imprisoned their enemies instead? He then dismisses the distinction as a matter of degree, not a question of terror or no terror.
It might seem fair that sentences for espionage and sabotage should be limited to time in prison and that trials for such crimes should be postponed until after the war, but Trotsky says threats of imprisonment for ten years, twenty years or even a lifetime are ineffective if the traitor believes their treachery can cause the city or nation to fall, because in that case their captivity can only last as long as it takes the enemy to free them.
The death penalty, however, is always hundred percent effective, even if the “cavalry” is mere hours away.
Russian “Propaganda”
You might be wondering why I put propaganda in quotation marks. Well, I did not. “Russian ‘Propaganda’” (1949) is an article published in the magazine “Soviet Russia Today” and written by Victor S. Yarros, an anarchist writer born and raised in the Soviet Union.2
In the article Yarros writes:
What ignorant and malicious Russophobes say about Russian “propaganda”—its volume, quality or forms—need not worry Americans who are friends of the Soviet Union. But when genuine, sincere and honored liberals indulge in false or highly exaggerated statements about that phenomenon, it is our duty and privilege to examine their charges critically, point out mistakes and correct misapprehensions.
Did you get déjà vu now? If you did there is more in store.
Yet there is this novelty in the Soviet system. A living religion is enforced by the massed large-scale propaganda of a scientific age, by machine guns and airplanes, telephone and telegraph, printing press and film, broadcasting and the regimentation of all the arts. A hundred and sixty million human souls are by a gigantic system of governmental pressure hermetically sealed against the invasion of unwelcome truth. All previous experiments in tyranny recorded in human annals pale beside this colossal achievement.
The above is an excerpt from the book “A History of Europe” by H. A. L. Fisher, first quoted in a New York Times editorial and subsequently by Yarros, critiquing this quote is the main focus of the rest of the text.
On the topic of “scientific propaganda”, Yarros writes that of course the Soviet Union uses scientific methods and instruments in its propaganda effort, for the same reason they used the most modern war machinery in World War II, and all governments do the same thing.
In response to the accusations of censorship of foreign newspapers, Yarros justifies it as necessary because of the brazen lies and distortions Western journalists often present. He further rejects the term “iron curtain”, alleging enough impartial writers have been allowed to visit the Soviet Union, asking the questions and going the places they wish, to prove the term inaccurate.
Yarros concludes by stating the repressive nature of the Soviet regime is caused by Western threats of war and would go away if it was reassured of peace and non-intervention.
Leaflets over Congress
Laura Houghtaling Ingalls (1893-1967) was an American pilot remembered for a range of aviation achievements made from the 1930’s onwards.
Ingalls set several acrobatic flying records and was the first female aviator to fly coast to coast across the United States. In 1934 she completed a 16,000 mile circuit above South America and the West Indies as the first American woman to fly over the Andes mountains.3
In addition to her aviation career Ingalls was a prominent member of the “Women’s National Committee to Keep the United States Out of War”, an activist organization founded by Catherine Curtis with a goal to keep the USA from entering the Second World War.
On September 26., 1939, a week after the founding of the committee, Laura Ingalls dropped “peace pamphlets” on its behalf from her plane above the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The leaflets were addressed to “all members of congress”, but circumstances caused them to land closer to the White House.
After the incident, Ingalls got in trouble for illegally dropping objects from her plane and violating restricted airspace. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) threatened to revoke her license, but the case was eventually dropped.456
Two years later, in December of 1941, Laura Ingalls was arrested on suspicion of being a secret agent and spreading propaganda for Nazi Germany.
The FBI claimed to posses evidence Miss Ingalls made several trips to Washington D.C. to meet deputies of “the Reich” and that she received payments from German officials starting August 1., 1941.7
At Ingalls’ trial Dr. I. Daniel Shorell, a plastic surgeon claiming to have operated on her the previous year, testified that she wore a Swastika pendant and called Hitler a “marvelous man” while staying at his hospital.
Another witness, an airport manager named Dudley Steele, corroborates the doctor’s testimony, saying Ingalls made similar remarks to him and her statements shocked him so profoundly he “made notes on” the conversation.8
On February 13., 1942, Ingalls was found guilty of failing to register as a foreign agent with the State Department by a Federal District Court, seven days later she was given a sentence of eight months to two years in prison.910
“Terrorism and Communism” (1920) by Leon Trotsky, Chapter 4. Retrieved from Marxists.org.
“Russian ‘Propaganda’” (1949) by Victor S. Yarros. Retrieved from Izdihar’s Soviet Archive.
“Laura Ingalls Held as Reich Agent; Flier Says She Was Anti-Nazi Spy” - New York Times, December 19., 1941, retrieved from TimesMachine.
Ibid.
“WOMEN FORM GROUP TO KEEP OUT OF WAR” - New York Times, September 20. 1939, retrieved from TimesMachine.
“Laura Ingalls Drops Peace Pleas Over Capital, May Lose License” - New York Times, September 27., 1939, retrieved from TimesMachine.
“Laura Ingalls Held as Reich Agent; Flier Says She Was Anti-Nazi Spy” - New York Times, December 19., 1941, retrieved from TimesMachine.
“SAYS MISS INGALLS WORE A SWASTIKA” - New York Times, February 10., 1942, retrieved from TimesMachine.
“INGALLS JURY GIVES VERDICT OF GUILTY” - by Associated Press, published in the New York Times, February 14., 1942, retrieved from TimesMachine.
“MISS INGALLS GETS PRISON SENTENCE” - by Associated Press, published in the New York Times, February 21., 1942, retrieved from TimesMachine.