Zinoviev letter — political forgery, falsely attributed to Grigory Zinoviev
A forged letter published days before the 1924 UK election contributed to Labour's defeat and shaped the party's political self-understanding for years.
Key Facts
- Publication date
- Four days before the 29 October 1924 general election
- Publishing outlet
- Daily Mail
- Purported author
- Grigory Zinoviev, head of the Comintern
- Election outcome
- Conservative landslide; first Labour government fell
- Authenticity
- Universally regarded by historians as a forgery
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tensions over the Labour government's policy of diplomatic and trade normalisation with the Soviet Union created fertile ground for anti-communist sentiment in Britain. Political opponents and right-wing press sought to discredit Labour's foreign policy ahead of the October 1924 general election.
A forged letter, falsely attributed to Comintern head Grigory Zinoviev, was published by the Daily Mail four days before the 1924 UK general election. It purported to instruct the Communist Party of Great Britain to foment sedition, implying Labour's Soviet rapprochement would enable a Bolshevik-style revolution in Britain and across the Empire.
The 1924 election produced a strong Conservative victory and the collapse of the first Labour government. Labour supporters blamed the letter for their defeat. Historian A. J. P. Taylor argued that the forgery's deeper damage was encouraging Labourites to attribute their loss to foul play, delaying what he saw as necessary internal party reforms.