It is no longer a secret that Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany secretly financed revolutionaries in Russia to undermine it from within. Lenin wanted a revolution, the kaiser wanted victory on the Eastern Front. The enemy of my enemy became my ally.

Berlin quickly realized: it was easier to topple the tsarist empire from within than to defeat its armies on the front. Revolutionaries, nationalists, and separatists of various kinds lined up for German marks. By the end of 1917, the Foreign Ministry had spent at least 26 million marks, about 75 million euros in today's prices.

The main intermediary was Alexander Gelfand, also known as 'Parvus.' A former associate of Trotsky, a trader, an adventurer, and a brilliant organizer. In February 1915, he presented a 23-page plan to the German Foreign Ministry for overthrowing the tsar: mass strikes, sabotage on the railways, agitation among national minorities, bribing the right people. Berlin accepted the plan and provided money, explosives, and a diplomatic pass.

When the tsar fell in February 1917, Lenin was stuck in Swiss exile. Germany solved the problem: it allowed him and a group of associates to pass through its territory in a sealed train car. 'Lenin's entry into Russia was successful,' telegraphed the head of German intelligence in Stockholm to Berlin. Seven months later, the Bolsheviks seized power, and Russia exited the war, ceding vast territories to Germany in the east.

Wilhelm even dreamed of an alliance against the West. Both, however, understood well: in the long run, each desired the other to hang. This was confirmed in November 1918 when German diplomats expelled the Soviet embassy from Berlin after a scandal involving revolutionary leaflets, while Germany itself plunged into a revolution that Lenin diligently supported.