Written by Darcy Gresham
Espionage is an intriguing field; its elements of mystique and events shrouded in mystery have a draw that is difficult to articulate. It’s been argued that the success of spy films is due to their portrayal of prevailing good over dastardly evil. Some have even gone so far as to say that they are compelling due to the belief that the greater security forces are valuable and effective. I would go further in saying that it is a result of the balance between a desire that our intelligence organisations are operating with such efficiency, and the secret nature of their activities, that lead to fantastical filling in of the gaps.
Before blockbuster special effects, the modern spy novel was a hugely popular genre of Victorian literature. This continued into the twentieth century, and the pre-war period saw the publication of works that remain popular today, but it was the Second World War that seemed to signal a shift towards the thrill of espionage texts. The establishment of the British intelligence organisations birthed a host of novelists, from John Le Carré to Ian Fleming.
Real life tales of spies are no different. In fact, the covert nature of their operations means that they are arguably more, or at least equally, as intriguing as their fictional counterparts.
Robert Bruce Lockhart was not only a diplomat, journalist, and author, but also a British secret agent, operating most prominently in Russia at the time of the Bolshevik Revolutions. Famed mainly for his eponymous plan, the Lockhart Plot, a failure that threatened to characterise the rest of his career, he proved an invaluable source of knowledge on Russia in the Cold War period.
Born just across the Firth of Forth in Anstruther, Lockhart attended school in Edinburgh and was proud of his Scottish familial ties. He was proud of his heritage and retreated to the highlands at most given opportunities. His extended family were divided in occupation between service to the British state, and headmastership – of prominent Scottish schools, and further south in England, of Gresham’s. Robert Bruce Lockhart seems to have only wished to pursue the former path.
Joining the Foreign Service in Moscow after a few years on a rubber estate in Malaya, Lockhart worked as acting British Consul-General for the first three years of the War 1914-17. In 1918, as the UK’s first envoy to the new Bolshevik Russia, Lockhart’s special mission was to work against Bolshevik and German influences. Close ties to Trotsky developed over his time in Russia, and previous experience put Lockhart in a valuable, yet precarious position. He has been seen as a galivanting adventure-seeking bon vivant, and his relative youth is a point of stress for historians. At this point it becomes clear they are older than me – I would argue thirty seems rather old. However, this did help to soften the blow of the humiliation associated with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and allow him to remain in a position of importance despite initial faults.
The grand plan, the Lockhart Plot, aimed to assassinate Lenin in 1918. The exact details are, unsurprisingly, difficult to pin down, especially due to influences from French and American agents as well as British agent Sidney Reilly. It was long determined that Lockhart failed; however, more recent research has indeed revealed that the downfall came at the behest of Felix Dzerzhinsky, Head of the Cheka, who had uncovered the details. Lockhart was consequently imprisoned in the Kremlin, but escaped trial, being sentenced in absentia to execution.
Following this, Lockhart returned to the UK, branded as making schoolboy-like errors, he was left feeling depleted and with a damaged reputation. Upon resigning from the foreign reserve, he spent a few years in banking, before joining the world of journalism under the patronage of those who had supported his espionage.
The outbreak of the Second World War, followed by the Cold War, meant Lockhart’s expertise on Russia increased in value. He was appointed Director-General of the Political Warfare Executive, coordinating propaganda against the Axis Alliance, and engaging in ‘wordy warfare’. The British first planes of the war dropped leaflets, not bombs, and Lockhart championed several initiatives to reveal the other side of the war to ordinary German citizens. Furthermore, this included radio broadcasting activities, which were particularly successful and underground rumour campaigns.
It would, it seems, be unfair to write about Lockhart without sparing a moment for his love life. We’ve all seen James Bond; there’s always a woman in the equation (as much as the men may wish to deny it). Lockhart’s weakness was the same as all others (boys, not just spies): a mistress by the name of Moura Budberg. A Ukrainian aristocrat; beautiful, charming, and tough – she had it all. Admired not only by Lockhart, Moura married Count von Benckendorff and Baron von Budberg, as well as engaging in relationships with Maxim Gorky (at whose funeral she stood next to Stalin), H.G. Wells, and (rumoured) Kerensky. Historians agree that both Bruce and Moura never loved anyone else as they did each other.
Lockhart was a maverick of British espionage, and one relegated to the sidelines, but evidently had important contributions in the wars of the twentieth century. Perhaps his most enduring legacy lies in the development of psychological warfare and techniques as part of the PWE, rather than in intelligence reconnaissance, but overall, his impact is undeniable. His intelligence and knowledge were unquestionably impressive, and he was consistently sought out in retirement to impart his wisdom. His lack of popularity could be linked to his fallibility, misjudgements, and behaviour, but I could argue these are all very human traits. However, one does not need to be immortalised to have succeeded, not even in this field that can enjoy such commemoration. Perhaps his standing on the sidelines of history serves to reflect his success, he did not set out to make history or to be lorded a triumph but rather serve the security of the nation.
Should you wish to see one of Lockhart’s possessions, his medal he won in the 1912 Moscow League Championship is in the possession of the National Library of Scotland. Moura Budberg’s sister also married an Englishman, making her the great-aunt of Nick Clegg.
Bibliography
Ryan Cooper, 2015, The shameful secret behind the popularity of spy movies, The Week.
Terry Jones, 2015, The Enduring Appeal of the Spy’s Tale, Oxford Open.
Jonathan Schneer, 2020, How was Moura von Benckendorff involved in the infamous Lockhart Plot? History Hit.
James Crossland, 2024, Rogue Agent: From secret plots to psychological warfare, the untold story of Robert Bruce Lockhart.
Jonathan Steele, 2020, The Lockhart Plot by Jonathan Schneer review – the British government v Lenin, The Guardian.
Featured image credit: “Anstruther AN1.30” by cdkrdvzi34 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
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