13. A Master Spy With Flexible Loyalties
Early in World War I, Sidney Reilly was sent to the then neutral United States – an important source of weapons and munitions for Britain and her Entente allies. There, he got involved in the lucrative arms business. Although he had been a British spy for over a decade by then, and Britain was now at war with Germany, Reilly did not let notions of loyalty get in the way of profits. In 1914 – 1915, for example, he arranged weapons purchase deals for the army of Britain’s Entente ally, Russia, as well for the Entente’s enemy, the Imperial German Army.
While in the US, Reilly might also have conducted some false flag “German sabotage” operations on behalf of the British, to arouse the American government and public against Germany. Reilly’s profits as an equal opportunity arms dealer took a hit in 1917. When the US joined the war on the Entente’s side that year, he was no longer able to sell weapons to Germany, now America’s enemy. Later that year, the Russian Revolution erupted, and the Russians ceased their weapons purchases.
