The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

1972 POWER THROUGH SUBVERSION 317sion" will employ an armed fifthcolumn within an enemy state tochange the government withoutactually using the means of externalwarfare. -"Traditional subversion"is subversion beforeLenin. "Spigot subversion" iswhen you turn it on and off. Thereis "auxiliary subversion," "opportunistsubversion," "spotty subversion,"the "Vergennes Variation,"and the "Lenin Adaptation."The last is the worst, for, as Mr.Beilenson makes plain, it neversleeps and it never ends.Lenin actually developed no new"blade" of subversion. He learnedwithout benefit of Marx, by goingto the history of Bourbon andHapsburg Europe and by studyingthe way Napoleon spread theFrench Revolution. Traditionalsubversion, using such "blades" asbribery and the smuggling ofarms, usually preceded the marchingof armies. Britain employed"spigot subversion" to keep continentalEurope off balance.The Vergennes VariationThe Vergennes Variation wasemployed by France to help America.Vergennes expected no imme~diate benefit by sending arms tohelp the colonists defeat the BritishGentleman Johnny Burgoyneat the Battle of Saratoga. TheFrench foreign minister expectedthat an independent republic inAmerica would follow its own interest,even to the point. of rankingratitude. All he wanted out ofthe deal was to keep the Britishfrom deriving strength fromAmerica in wars still to come.The young United. States fulfilledVergennes' expectation ofingratitude the .moment when itbecame profitable to our FoundingFathers to sign a treaty of peacewith Britain. A century and a halflater Truman, Marshall and Achesonused the Vergennes Variationon their own to help Francethrough Marshall Plan money andthe NATO alliance. De Gaulleproved just as ungrateful asAmerica's John Jay had proved atthe end of the Eighteenth Century.But an ungrateful France,says Mr. Beilenson, is better forthe United States than a CommunistFrance.The Lenin AdaptationThe Lenin Adaptation has madeuse of all the traditional blades.But where "traditional subversion"often ended in open war,Lenin used his own adaptation asa substitute for war. Lenin did notbelieve in an adventurous policy.He had a fanatic's fixation onpreserving his socialist base. Hebelieved that one could recognizea revolutionary situation, but he