The Sisson Documents and their ‘distinguished place’ in the history of disinformation
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Abstract
Russian interference in American politics appears today in sophisticated forms thanks to technology, but disinformation is not a new phenomenon. The influence of foreign disinformation on domestic policy has antecedents in the First World War, when the American government distributed fabricated documents supplied by anti-Communist revolutionaries to make false claims about a German-Bolshevik conspiracy. The so-called Sisson Documents strengthened a narrative the Wilson administration created that the Bolsheviks were German stooges who, with German support and direction, took Russia out of the war and promoted unrest in the United States. The Wilson administration sold the German-Bolshevik conspiracy through a pro-war, patriotic American press, whose pages were laced with talk of pervasive German conspiracies.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Intelligence and National Security
First Page
881
Last Page
897
Recommended Citation
Hamilton, J., & Georgacopoulos, C. (2021). The Sisson Documents and their ‘distinguished place’ in the history of disinformation. Intelligence and National Security, 36 (6), 881-897. https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2021.1946953