Karl Vital Moor (11 December 1852 – 14 June 1932) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, and a channel for German financing of the 19th-century European

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

movement. Born in

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

, he was the illegitimate son of Swiss citizen Mary Moor of

Vordemwald Vordemwald is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Vordemwald has an area, , of . Of this area, or 34.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 58.0% is forested. Of the rest of the ...

and the Swiss aristocrat Ernest de Stoeklin of

. Moor studied at universities in both Switzerland and Germany. In the 1870's, his passion for the ideas of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

led him to take part in the banned

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

. In the spring of 1881, he was expelled from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and then moved to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. There, he became one of the more prominent functionaries of Swiss

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

. In 1889, he lived in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, where he edited the social-democratic newspaper Berner Tagwacht. During this period, he provided assistance to political exiles from Russia, as well as the leaders of the Peoples' First

Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party (, PPS) is a democratic socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most significant parties in Poland from its founding in 1892 until its forced merger with the communist Polish Workers' Party to form ...

, "

Proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...

," and the Bolsheviks-Lenintsev. On May 4, 1917, Moor received a report from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs detailing his interactions with various representatives of pacifist groups within Russia, including socialists. These representatives expressed a strong desire for a systematic, intensive, and effective campaign advocating for peace, to be led by a well-known neutral figure. They indicated a willingness to accept financial support for such efforts. Moor communicated Germany's readiness to provide substantial funding for these noble, humane, and international goals. He further suggested the following principles: The sponsor would guarantee that money would come from an unsuspected source, and that the sponsor or the mediator would be provided with entry into Russia with the money, and to implement an immediate allocation of funds in the form of cash, and the most appropriate form of cash would be the Swiss franc As a result, in July 1917 Moor was in Russia and supplied the Bolsheviks a loan in the amount of 32,837 dollars, allegedly from the inheritance. In 1922, Moor with great difficulty made a partial return loan. On 14 June 1932, Moor died in Berlin. It was clarified that he was a German

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His code name was "Bayer".

External links

Л. Г. Соболев. Русская революция и немецкое золото Ю.Фельштинский. Еще раз о немецких деньгах Юрий Фельштинский. Вожди в законе

Sources

* Haas L. Carl Vital Moor. 1852–1932. Ein Leben für Marx und Lenin. Zürish, 1970. * Schurer H. Karl Moor – German Agent and Friend of Lenin // The Journal of Contemporary History. 1970. Vol. 5. 2. *

Dmitri Volkogonov Dmitri Antonovich Volkogonov (; 22 March 1928 – 6 December 1995) was a Soviet and Russian historian and colonel general who was head of the Soviet military's psychological warfare department. After research in secret Soviet archives (both be ...

. Lenin: A New Biography, Free Press, 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Moor, Karl Swiss communists Bolshevik finance German spies Double agents Swiss-German people 1852 births 1932 deaths People from Fribourg