15. The Spread of a Great Hoax
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion spread slowly from Serge Nilus and his conservative circles, before going viral and gaining widespread acceptance throughout Russia and the world beyond. For years after their creation, the Protocols languished in relative obscurity, confined to Russian right-wing circles. That changed with the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Bolshevik seizure of power later that year. Conservatives, whose ranks were rife with anti-Semites, sought to discredit the Revolution by painting it as part of a vast Jewish conspiracy for global dominance.
Their claims resonated, and it did not take long for the forgery to go from a Russian right-wing curiosity to a global phenomenon. In Britain, The Morning Post published the Protocols, with an introduction warning its readers of the Jewish plot: ” …the Jews are carrying it out with steadfast purpose, creating wars and revolutions…to destroy the white Gentile race, that the Jews may seize the power during the resulting chaos and rule with their claimed superior intelligence over the remaining races of the world, as kings over slaves.” Henry Ford was the man most responsible for spreading The Protocols in America.
