The Case of P.A. Seletskii. Exposing the Provocation in the Ranks of the Socialist Revolutionary Emigration of 1923

This article is devoted to one of the areas of subversive work carried out by the
VChK–GPU authorities against the Socialist Revolutionaries, namely, the infiltration of agent provocateurs into their ranks. It examines the episode involving provocateur P. Seletskii, who was recruited for work by the Cheka authorities.
The purpose of the article is to examine the phenomenon of Pyotr A. Seletskii’s provocation in the context of the political confrontation between the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the special services of Soviet Russia.
This article identifies the prerequisites for provocation as a method of undermining opposition parties, analyses the activities of P. Seletskii among the Socialist Revolutionary emigration and his exposure. The author draws a conclusion about the impact of this event on the activities of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia and in emigration.
The article employs the methodology of political history, which makes it possible to clarify the functioning processes in individual political institutions (in this instance, political parties), the policies of certain social groups and their leaders. This methodology has allowed for an assessment of the specific political situation as well as possible scenarios for the development of events and decision‑making.
The article introduces into scholarly circulation a number of previously unpublished letters from the Nicolaevsky collection at the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California) and from the archives of the International Institute of Social History (Amsterdam).
The author examines the events from the moment suspicions regarding P. Seletskii arose until his final exposure. Of particular interest are the behavioral and interpersonal aspects of the relationships among the participants in this story that are reflected in the correspondence of Viktor M. Chernov, Vladimir M. Zenzinov, members of the Central Bureau of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia, and P. Seletskii.
It is emphasized that Seletskii’s provocative activities had extremely destructive consequences for the remnants of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia: communication between local groups was disrupted, the acting Central Bureau suspended its work, and contact with the abroad was temporarily cut off. The confusion, disarray, and outbreaks of mutual suspicion among the foreign Socialist Revolutionaries that followed the exposure of the provocateur also had an extremely negative impact on the organization’s effectiveness.
It is concluded that the efforts of the Soviet secret services to undermine the Russian political emigration were quite successful and the method of provocation and agents infiltrating into the ranks of foreign organizations proved to be rather effective.

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