Based on the wikipedia article it looks like Jacob Schiff funded the Russian Revolution because he was Jewish, and disliked the anti-Semitism of the Tzarist regime. As the article discusses, he funded the Japanese side in the Russo-Japanese war for the same reason.
Given this I don't think it makes sense to say that the Russian Revolution was funded by "Wall St." but rather that it was supported by a wealthy Jewish American who opposed the Tzarist regime.
The entire Schiff connection is bogus, and you'll see that the sites that talk about him tend to be one click away from outright anti-semitic conspiracy pages.
The topic of American capitalists running huge factories in the USSR in the 20's is absolutely fascinating, and I'm glad you linked to it here. But it is entirely separate from what the parent comment is trying to say.
With respect to financing the Bolsheviks, I don't dispute that Americans did it. My issue is with the insinuation that Wall Street Jews were the puppetmasters, which is where this stuff leads.
Nobody did more to help the Bolshevik cause than Germany, by allowing Lenin to cross their territory in a sealed train during a world war. The rest was luck, ruthlessness, and quickly broken promises.
I don't see what it is in my comment that you disagree with.
I was only pointing out that Schiff funded the Bolsheviks because of his political views that were related to bring an American Jew. And there seems to be plenty of evidence in the Wikipedia article for that asking.
I never made the claim that Schiff was particularly important. Can you point to something specifically in my post that if incorrect?
wait so why did you reply to my comment instead of just to the original comment? Is there something wrong with me addressing inaccuracies in the portrayal of Schiff's role, even if I don't address the aspects that interest you?
As Jennings Wise (a legitimate historian from the '30s, his Wilson biography is quite good) said: "Historians must never forget that Woodrow Wilson, despite the efforts of the British police, made it possible for Leon Trotsky to enter Russia with an American passport."
The Germans were not exactly in a position to promote the Bolshevik cause in 1919 (eg, at the proposed Prinkipo conference). Or in point 6 of the Fourteen Points.
The top thread above is giving the Soviet (and American) party-line interpretation of the American "anti-Bolshevik" intervention in the Russian Civil War. Actually if you read enough primary docs (for instance, the memoir of Graves, who commanded the Siberian force) it quickly becomes clear that the actual goal of the policy was to sandbag the Whites (and, in Siberia, also the Japanese). The American forces involved are all full of bureaucratic duplicity and all swear up, down, left and sideways that they're enemies of godless Bolshevism. And some of them actually are.
"this stuff leads" -- sure. And reading the NYT leads to Castro-worship, "hands up, don't shoot," Haven Monahan, and other fake news of a sinister persuasion. If you let it.
Wise's Wilson book is quite good. It was written in 1937. The only people who care about it today are anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists. So what? Who cares? They will all die, and the book will still be there. It's a book.
Given this I don't think it makes sense to say that the Russian Revolution was funded by "Wall St." but rather that it was supported by a wealthy Jewish American who opposed the Tzarist regime.