Editing John Reed (journalist) (section)

===Comintern functionary===
Indicted for [[sedition]] and hoping to secure [[Communist International]] (Comintern) backing for the CLP, Reed fled the US with a forged passport in early October 1919 on a Scandinavian [[frigate]]; he worked his way to [[Bergen]], [[Norway]] as a stoker. Given shore leave, he disappeared to [[Oslo|Kristiania]], crossed into [[Sweden]] on October 22, passed through Finland with [[Ivar Lassy]]'s help, and made his way to [[Moscow]] by train. In the cold winter of 1919–1920, he traveled in the region around Moscow, observing factories, communes, and villages. He filled notebooks with his writing and had an affair with a Russian woman.<ref>Homberger, p. 210</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Engman|first1=Max|last2=Eriksson|first2=Jerker A.|date=1979|title=Mannen i kolboxen: John Reed och Finland|pages=95–96|url=https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/teos/binding/2093987?page=1|location=Helsingfors|publisher=Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland|language=sv|isbn=951-90174-7-X}}</ref>

Reed's feelings about the revolution became ambivalent. Activist [[Emma Goldman]] had recently arrived aboard the [[USAT Buford|''Buford'']], among hundreds of aliens deported by the United States under the Sedition Act. She was especially concerned about the [[Cheka]]. Reed told her that the enemies of the revolution deserved their fate, but suggested that she see [[Angelica Balabanoff]], a critic of the current situation. He wanted Goldman to hear the other side.<ref>Homberger, pp. 202–03</ref>

[[File:Reed-tendays-1922.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|German edition of ''10 Days That Shook The World'', published by the [[Communist International|Comintern]] in Hamburg in 1922]]

Though facing the threat of arrest in Illinois, Reed tried to return to the United States in February 1920. At that time, the Soviets organized a convention to establish a United Communist Party of America.<ref>Homberger, pp. 203–04</ref> Reed attempted to leave Russia through [[Latvia]], but his train never arrived, forcing him to hitch a ride in the [[boxcar]] of an eastbound military train to Petrograd.<ref>Homberger, p. 204</ref> In March, he crossed into [[Helsinki]], where he had radical friends, including [[Hella Wuolijoki]], the future politician and [[Parliament of Finland|member of parliament]]. With their help, he was hidden in the hold of a freighter.

On 13 March, [[Finnish Customs]] officials found Reed in a coal bunker on the ship. He was taken to the police station, where he maintained that he was seaman "''Jim Gormley''". Eventually, the jewels, photographs, letters, and fake documents he had in his possession forced him to reveal his true identity. Although beaten several times and threatened with torture, he refused to surrender the names of his local contacts. Because of his silence, he could not be tried for [[treason]]. He was charged and convicted of smuggling and having jewels in his possession (102 small diamonds worth $14,000, which were confiscated).

The [[United States Secretary of State|US Secretary of State]] was satisfied with Reed's arrest and pressured the Finnish authorities for his papers. American authorities, however, remained indifferent to Reed's fate.<ref>Homberger, pp. 205–06</ref> Although Reed paid the fine for smuggling, he was still detained. His physical condition and state of mind deteriorated rapidly. He suffered from [[Depression (mood)|depression]] and [[insomnia]], wrote alarming letters to Bryant, and on May 18 threatened a [[hunger strike]].<ref>Homberger, p. 206</ref> He was finally released in early June, and sailed for [[Tallinn]], [[Estonia]], on the 5th. Two days later, he traveled to Petrograd, recuperating from malnutrition and [[scurvy]] caused by having been fed dried fish almost exclusively. His spirits were high.<ref name="Homberger, p. 207">Homberger, p. 207</ref>

At the end of June, Reed traveled to Moscow. After he discussed with Bryant the possibility of her joining him, she gained passage on a Swedish [[Tramp trade|tramp steamer]] and arrived in [[Gothenburg]] on August 10.<ref name="Homberger, p. 207"/> At the same time, Reed attended the [[2nd World Congress of the Communist International|Second Comintern Congress]]. Although his mood was as jovial and boisterous as ever, his physical appearance had deteriorated.<ref>Homberger, pp. 207–08</ref>

During this congress, Reed bitterly objected to the deference other revolutionaries showed to the Russians. The latter believed the tide of revolutionary fervor was ebbing, and that the Communist Party needed to work within the existing institutions—a policy Reed felt would be disastrous.<ref>Homberger, p. 208</ref> He was contemptuous of the [[bullying]] tactics displayed during the congress by [[Karl Radek]] and [[Grigory Zinoviev]], who ordered Reed to attend the [[Congress of the Peoples of the East]] to be held at [[Baku]] on August 15.

The journey to Baku was a long one, five days by train through a countryside that was devastated by civil war and [[typhus]]. Reed was reluctant to go. He asked for permission to travel later, as he wanted to meet Bryant in Petrograd after she arrived from [[Murmansk]]. Zinoviev insisted that Reed take the official train: "the Comintern has made a decision. Obey."<ref name="homberger212-213"/> Reed, needing Soviet goodwill and unprepared for a final break with the Comintern, made the trip with reluctance.<ref name="homberger212-213">Homberger, pp. 212–13</ref> Years after having abandoned communism himself, his friend [[Benjamin Gitlow]] asserted that Reed became bitterly disillusioned with the communist movement because of his treatment by Zinoviev.<ref>Homberger, p. 214</ref>

During his time in Baku, Reed received a telegram announcing Bryant's arrival in Moscow. He followed her there, arriving on September 15, and was able to tell her of the events of the preceding eight months. He appeared older and his clothes were in tatters. While in Moscow, he took Bryant to meet Lenin, Trotsky, [[Lev Kamenev]], and other leading Bolsheviks, and also to visit Moscow's ballet and art galleries.