During the foreign intervention of 1918-1921, Russia was divided into zones of influence. If the plans of the interventionists were realized, our country would simply not exist within its present borders.
The beginning of the intervention
Immediately after the “Decree on Peace” and the armistice between Soviet Russia and Germany on the Eastern Front, on December 3, 1917, the USA, France, England and their allied countries decided to divide the former Russian Empire into zones of interest.
It was about establishing ties with local national governments and declaring the independence of Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasus, Poland, Finland and other Baltic countries, as well as Of the Far East... A month later, at a special convention, England and France divided Russia into spheres of invasion.
The French zone was supposed to consist of Bessarabia, Ukraine and Crimea, and the English zone was to consist of the territories of the Cossacks, the Caucasus, Armenia, Georgia and Kurdistan. The American government, remaining in the shadows, accepted the report of Secretary of State Lansing on the provision of covert support to British and French initiatives.
As the historian Kirmel writes, the appendix to the map of New Russia, compiled by the US State Department, said: “All of Russia should be divided into large natural regions, each with its own distinct economic life. Moreover, no region should be independent enough to form a strong state. "
The threat to the integrity of Russia came not only from the West, but also from the East. On February 26, 1918, Allied Commander-in-Chief Marshal Foch declared that "America and Japan must meet Germany in Siberia - they have the opportunity to do so." This was the beginning of agitation for Japanese military intervention in the Far East. Already on March 5, the Daily mail insisted on the need to invite Japan to Siberia and the creation of an "Asian Russia", as opposed to a European one, under the rule of the Soviets.
Discord in the Allied camp
And yet, for a long time, the Allied troops did not dare to invade Russia. First, the unfinished war with Germany created too great risks for the dispersal of human resources. Secondly, for a long time, no one took the October coup and the Bolsheviks seriously, expecting that the latter would fall after the defeat of Germany.
According to the American historian Richard Pipes, Lenin and his party were unknown quantities, and no one took their utopian plans and statements seriously. The prevailing opinion, especially after Brest-Litovsk, was that the Bolsheviks were Germany's henchmen and would disappear from the political arena at the same time as the end of the war.
Therefore, in late 1917 - early 1918, the "allies" took a cautious course and preferred, for the most part, to stay on the sidelines. In addition, for a long time there was no consensus among the Entente countries about open intervention. In particular, American President Wilson opposed it, who considered the formation of independent states in the border regions of Russia as paramount, and regarded intervention as unnecessary interference in the affairs of another country.
His ardent opponents were Churchill, who, after the General Staff of the main command of the Entente armies adopted the resolution "On the need for Allied intervention in Russia" and the occupation of Murmansk by Britain, saw in a weakened Russia, in particular, an excellent sales market and a cheap source of raw materials.
This made it possible to freely compete with Germany, whose industry was better. Many American politicians also actively advocated the introduction of troops and the dismemberment of Russia. In particular, the American ambassador provoked his president with statements that the White movement was losing patience, waiting for an allied intervention, and could come to an agreement with Germany.
It must be said that Germany also did not promise longevity to its new ally. The German ambassador Mirbach wrote that he saw no further point in supporting the Bolsheviks: “We are certainly standing at the bedside of a hopelessly sick person. Bolshevism will soon fall ... In the hour of the fall of the Bolsheviks, German troops must be ready to capture both capitals and begin to form a new government. " The core of the pro-German government, according to Mirbach, should have been made up of moderate Octobrists, cadets and big businessmen.
On August 27, in Berlin, new treaties were signed between Germany and exhausted Russia. According to them, the Soviet government pledged to fight against the Entente in the European and northern parts of Russia. Germany was given control over the remnants of the Black Sea Fleet and port equipment on the Black Sea. It was also decided that if Baku is returned to Russia, a third of oil production will go to Germany. In addition, secret articles were added to the treaty, according to which the Soviet government promised to drive out the troops of the West from the territory of the country with the help of German and Finnish troops. The agreement of August 27 was the last straw in relations between the Soviet government and the West. A large-scale intervention has begun.
In the name of democracy
The West found more and more reasons to continue the intervention. At first, these were Churchill's slogans: "In the name of victory in this great war." Then they turned into loud appeals: "In the name of democracy", "assistance in the restoration of the constitutional order in Russia" and so on. At the same time, the Allies were in no hurry to provide active assistance to the White movement and to free their "close neighbor" from "openly recognized enemies," according to Churchill. According to the historian Kimel, the main difficulty was that as a result of the establishment of close relations between the white governments and the Entente, the different goals of the White Guards and European countries immediately became visible. The main stumbling block was the desire of the tsarist generals to restore the "United and indivisible Russia", in which the West, especially Great Britain, saw a potential threat to its colonial lands.
The report of the parliamentary meeting of the British Parliament on November 8 and 17 states the following opinion: “The expediency of assisting Admiral Kolchak and General Denikin is controversial, since they are“ fighting for United Russia ”... It’s not for me to indicate whether this slogan is in line with British policy ... One of our great people , Lord Beaconsfield, saw in the huge, mighty and great Russia, rolling like a glacier towards Persia, Afghanistan and India, the most formidable danger for the British Empire. " The "policy of double standards" of the allies, even without intelligence reports, was not a secret for the white generals. According to Major General Batyushin, it was enough just to read the foreign press every day to understand the true goals of the West. Denikin himself with indignation recalled in his diaries: “From Paris they often wrote to us: the help of the allies is insufficient because the struggle between the South and the East is unpopular among European democracies; that in order to gain their sympathy, two words must be said: Republic and Federation. We did not say these words. "
Solidarity movement
In addition to the uncompromising position of the leaders of the White movement on the integrity of Russia, the intervention was greatly complicated by the movement of solidarity in the Entente countries in relation to Soviet Russia. The working class sympathized with the Soviets and their support resulted in mass demonstrations throughout Europe with the slogans: "Hands off Soviet Russia." They refused to equip warships for intervention, obstructed the work of factories, which in war and post-war conditions threatened a major economic crisis that would put England in dependence on the United States. Soldiers' riots were also a big problem. In 1919, the 55th infantry regiment and the French fleet on the Black Sea rebelled near Tiraspol. The war in a revolutionary country threatened to develop into a revolution in the interventionist countries.
Compromise with the Bolsheviks
The end of the First World War finally determined the further fate of the intervention. Under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, many independent political entities were created on the borders of the RSFSR: the Ukrainian People's Republic, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, the Republic of Estonia, which was the original goal of the Entente countries. Therefore, in January 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, it was decided to abandon a further invasion of Russian territory, limiting its assistance to the White movement only with military supplies. The latter decision was also not a generous gift. Arms had to pay in gold and grain, as a result of which the peasants suffered and the popularity of the movement for the restoration of "old" Russia, led by white generals, was steadily falling.
At this stage of "allied relations" between the whites and the West, one might say that there was no help from the latter. The usual trade was going on - they sold surplus weapons of the allied armies under unprofitable contracts. And even then in insufficient quantities: Denikin, for example, the British delivered only a few dozen tanks, although they had thousands in service after the First World War.
There is another version that after the end of the First World War and the creation of the so-called "cordon sanitaire" around the RSFSR, the allies, despite their dislike for the new Soviet government, found it easier to find a language with the Bolsheviks, who were ready to make many compromises. In addition, the post-war economy required the restoration of previous economic ties with Russia in order to avoid major crises and social tensions. Therefore, despite the fact that the last military formations were ousted from the territory of the USSR (in the Far East) in 1925, in fact, the whole meaning of intervention for the Entente countries became obsolete after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. As for the White movement, being on the outskirts of the former empire, without outside help and supply of weapons, they were doomed.
Assignment 2
Use the tutorial materials to select the correct answers.
1. The exclusion of representatives of the Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionary parties from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was the Bolsheviks' reaction to:
a) the creation of the Committee Constituent Assembly in Samara after its capture by Czechoslovak troops;
b) the assassination of the German ambassador V. Mirbach;
c) an attempt on V.I. Lenin.
2. Democratic governments, formed after the overthrow of the Bolshevik regime, did not recognize the Decree on Land, because:
a) he was declared illegal, in their opinion, by the authorities;
b) these governments were adherents of private ownership of land;
c) the decree did not meet the aspirations of the majority of the peasants.
Assignment 3
Analyze the materials in the paragraph and the document below. Write down the answers to the questions.
From the address of Admiral A.V. Kolchak to the population
On November 18, 1918, the All-Russian Provisional Government collapsed. The Council of Ministers took over all power and handed it over to me, Admiral of the Russian Navy, Alexander Kolchak. Having accepted the cross of this power in the extremely difficult conditions of the civil war and the complete disorder of state life, I declare: I will not follow the path of reaction, nor the disastrous path of partisanship. My main goal is to create a combat-ready army, victory over the Bolsheviks and the establishment of law and order, so that the people can freely choose the way of government they want and implement the great ideas of freedom that are now proclaimed throughout the world.
1. What are the political views of Admiral Kolchak? Can he be considered a supporter of the restoration of the tsarist order? 2. What was the main political goal he set for himself?
1. Victory over the Bolsheviks, and the establishment of law and order.
3. Creation of an efficient army.
Assignment 4
Analyze the materials in the paragraph. Find errors in the text below and write statements corresponding to historical reality.
1. On July 16, 1918, despite V.I. Lenin, the revolutionary tribunal sentenced Nicholas II to death.
In agreement with the Council of People's Commissars, the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot Nicholas II.
2. The verdict was carried out in the city of Tobolsk, where since August 1917 Nicholas II and his family were in exile.
At the end of April, the royal family was transferred to Yekaterinburg, where on the night of July 17, they were shot.
3. Together with Nicholas, his wife, children and the Tsar's brother Mikhail were shot.
4. The news of the execution of the former emperor and his family caused a wave of peasant uprisings in Russia.
There were no uprisings
Assignment 5
Read the documents and provide written answers to questions.
From the memoirs of the Secretary of War of Great Britain W. Churchill
Were the allies at war with Soviet Russia? Of course not, but they killed Soviet people as soon as they caught their eye; on Russian soil they remained as conquerors; they supplied weapons to the enemies of the Soviet government; they blocked its ports; they sunk his warships. They were passionate about the fall of the Soviet government and made plans for this fall. But declaring war on him is a shame! Intervention is a shame! They kept repeating that they were completely indifferent to how the Russians dealt with their internal affairs. They wished to remain impartial and struck blow after blow ...
It would be a mistake to think that throughout this whole year we fought on the fronts for the cause of the Russians hostile to the Bolsheviks. On the contrary, the Russian White Guards fought for our cause.
From the memoirs of British Prime Minister D. Lloyd George
It is quite obvious that, although the Bolshevik government broke with the Entente and concluded a separate peace with Germany, we could not, under these circumstances, leave Russia under German rule. We could not reconcile with the tremendous growth of German imperialism, which was fed by the production stipulated in the treaties, especially the German domination over Ukraine with its reserves of grain and cattle, coal from the Donetsk basin and, later (across the Black Sea and the Caucasus), vast reserves of Caspian oil. ..
In addition, there were significant stocks of war materials in military warehouses and docks in the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk ports, in Vladivostok. We sent them these materials to fight the Central Powers. Now that Russia has signed a peace treaty with the Germans, these war materials could fall into the hands of our enemies and be used against us.
1. What features of foreign intervention are discussed in the documents? 2. What circumstances justified the presence of their troops in Russia by the leaders of the Entente countries? 3. Explain how you understand the words of W. Churchill that the Russian White Guards fought for the cause of the Entente.
1. Intervention is not for the purpose of confronting Soviet power, but for the purpose of defending against Germany.
2. The destruction of the Soviet regime, dissatisfaction with the terms of the treaty, according to which Germany gained access to some mineral resources.
3. For the fall of the Soviet regime.
Assignment 6
Assignment 7
Analyze the materials in the paragraph. Fill in the gaps in the text.
Tukhachevsky led his troops to Warsaw under the slogan "Forward to Berlin, Forward to Warsaw!" And very many in the party believed that as soon as our Red Guards appeared in Poland and Germany, the proletarians of these countries would rise and make a revolution by joining us.
It turned out differently. The appearance of the Red Army in Poland rallied Poles of all classes, and they fought back. As a result, we had to give Poland the regions of Belarus and Ukraine. The war with Poland has clearly demonstrated that not all peoples share the ideas of the revolution, that the people's desire to be independent can unite them.
Assignment 8
Using the materials in the tutorial, choose the correct answers.
1. On May 30, 1920, Pravda published an appeal “To all former officers,” in which some prominent tsarist officers urged their former colleagues to voluntarily join the Red Army. What event caused this proclamation to appear:
a) the capture of Crimea by Wrangel;
b) the capture of Kiev by the Poles;
c) the occupation of the Far East by the Japanese?
2. Whose signature was under the appeal "To all former officers":
a) A.A. Brusilov; b) A.I. Denikin; c) P.N. Krasnova?
Introduction
Foreign military intervention in Russia (1918-1921) - military intervention of the Entente and Quadruple Alliance countries in the Russian Civil War (1917-1922). In total, 14 states took part in the intervention.
1. Background
Immediately after the October Revolution, during which the Bolsheviks came to power, the "Decree on Peace" was announced - Soviet Russia on December 2, 1917 concluded an armistice and withdrew from the First World War.
On December 3, 1917, a special conference was held with the participation of the United States, England, France and their allied countries, at which a decision was made to delimit zones of interest in the territories of the former Russian Empire and establish contacts with national democratic governments. The Caucasus and the Cossack regions were designated as the zone of influence of England, Ukraine and the Crimea were assigned to France. On January 1, 1918, Japan brought its warships into the Vladivostok port under the pretext of protecting its subjects. On January 8, 1918, US President Wilson, in his message to Congress, declared the need to withdraw German troops from Russian territories, recognize the independence of the Baltic states and Ukraine with the possibility of their further unification with Great Russia on a federal basis.
On March 1, 1918, the Murmansk Council sent a request to the Council of People's Commissars, asking in what form it was possible to accept military assistance from the allies, proposed by British Rear Admiral Kemp. Kemp offered to land British troops in Murmansk to protect the city and railroad from possible attacks by Germans and White Finns from Finland. In response, Trotsky, who held the post of People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, sent a telegram:
You are obliged to immediately accept any assistance from allied missions.
On March 6, 1918, in Murmansk, a detachment of 150 British marines with two guns landed from the English battleship Glory. The next day, the English cruiser Kokren appeared on the Murmansk roadstead, on March 18 - the French cruiser Admiral Ob, and on May 27 - the American cruiser Olympia.
2. The intervention of the Entente
On March 15-16, 1918, a military conference of the Entente was held in London, at which the question of intervention was discussed. In the context of the outbreak of the German offensive on the western front, it was decided not to send large forces to Russia. In June, another 1,500 British and 100 American soldiers landed in Murmansk. On June 30, the Murmansk Soviet, with the support of the interventionists, decided to break off relations with Moscow.
On August 1, 1918, British troops landed in Vladivostok. On August 2, 1918, with the help of a squadron of 17 warships, the 9,000th Entente detachment landed in Arkhangelsk. Already on August 2, the interventionists with the help of the white forces captured Arkhangelsk. In fact, the invaders were the masters. They established a colonial regime; declared martial law, introduced military courts, during the occupation they exported 2,686 thousand poods of various cargoes totaling over 950 million rubles in gold. The entire military, merchant and fishing fleet of the North became the prey of the invaders. American troops acted as punishers. Over 50 thousand Soviet citizens (more than 10% of the total controlled population) were thrown into prisons in Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Pechenga, Yokangi. In the Arkhangelsk provincial prison alone, 8 thousand people were shot, 1020 died of hunger, cold and epidemics.
Due to the lack of prison space, the battleship Chesma, plundered by the British, was turned into a floating prison. All forces of the interventionists in the North were under British command. The commander from May to November 1918 was Major General F. Pull (Poole, Eng. Pull), and from 11/17/1918 to 11/14/1919 Brigadier General Ironside.
On August 3, the US War Department orders General Graves to intervene in Russia and send the 27th and 31st Infantry Regiments, as well as volunteers from the 13th and 62nd Graves Regiments in California, to Vladivostok. In total, the United States landed about 7,950 soldiers in the East and about 5,000 in the north of Russia. According to incomplete data, only for the maintenance of its troops - without the fleet and assistance to the whites, the United States spent over $ 25 million.
After Germany's defeat in World War I, the Allies' interest in internal Russian strife quickly faded away. In January 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, the Allies decided to abandon plans for intervention (and concentrate efforts on supplying weapons to the white armies). An important role in this was played by the fact that the Soviet representative Litvinov, at a meeting with the American diplomat Baket, held in January 1919 in Stockholm, announced the readiness of the Soviet government to pay off pre-revolutionary debts, grant the Entente countries concessions in Soviet Russia, and grant independence to Finland, Poland and the countries Transcaucasia in case of termination of the intervention. Lenin and Chicherin conveyed the same proposal to the American representative, Bullitt, when he arrived in Moscow.
In March 1919, faced with the 6th Ukrainian Soviet division of Grigoriev, French troops left Kherson and Nikolaev. In April 1919, the French command was forced to leave Odessa and Sevastopol due to discontent among the sailors (who, after the victory over Germany, expected a quick demobilization). In the summer of 1919, 12,000 British, American and French troops stationed in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk were evacuated from there. By 1920, most of the invaders left the territory of the RSFSR. In the Far East, they held out until 1922. The last regions of the USSR liberated from the invaders were Wrangel Island (1924) and Northern Sakhalin (1925).
The invaders practically did not engage in battles with the Red Army. The most violent clashes took place in the Baltic Sea, where a British squadron tried to destroy the Red Baltic Fleet. At the end of 1918, the British captured two of the newest Novik-class destroyers - Avtroil and Spartak. British torpedo boats twice attacked the main base of the Baltic Fleet - Kronstadt. As a result of the first attack, the cruiser Oleg was sunk. During the second attack on August 18, 1919, 7 British torpedo boats torpedoed the battleship Andrei Pervozvanny and the submarine floating base Pamyat Azov, losing three boats in the attack. On August 31, 1919, the Panther submarine sank the newest British destroyer Vittoria. On October 21, 1919, three Novik-class destroyers - Gabriel, Svoboda, Konstantin - were killed on British mines. The mines also blew up the British submarine L-55, the cruisers Kassandra and Verulam, and several smaller boats.
2.1. List of Entente powers that took part in the intervention
from March 1918 Arkhangelsk
from October 1918 Murmansk
from the end of 1918 the Baltic Sea - the 6th British light cruising squadron of Edwin Alexander-Sinclair (eng. en: Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair), replaced in January 1919 by Rear Admiral Cowan's 1st Light Cruiser Squadron
july to November 1919 - Revel, Narva (Volunteer training tank detachment)
Sevastopol (from December 1919), Novorossiysk (March 12-26, 1920) - British military mission under the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFYUR), South Russian Tank Detachment (from April 12, 1919 in Batum, then Yekaterinograd, Tsaritsyn, Novorossiysk, Crimea; withdrawn on June 28, 1920), 47th Squadron (Tsaritsyn, Crimea, March 1919 - March 1920).
Black Sea - 6 battleships, 1 hydro-cruiser and 13 destroyers (1920)
Caspian Sea - 11 warships and 12 coastal fighter boats (1920)
Transcaucasia (from August 1918 Baku, from December 1918 Batumi, then Krasnovodsk, Petrovsk, Shusha, Julfa, Erivan, Kars and Gagra). Released in July 1920.
Vladivostok - from April 1918 (25th battalion of the Own Duke of Cambridge Middlesex Regiment in 829 people, and other units)
Canada - from October 1918 Arkhangelsk, Murmansk 500 artillerymen (withdrawn on June 11, 1919), Siberia 3500-4000 soldiers (withdrawn April 1919).
India - battalions of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Forces, Transcaucasia 1919-1920.
Siberia - Siberian Colonial Infantry Battalion and Siberian Colonial Artillery Battery
-
Black Sea November 1918 - March 1920 2 battleships, 1 battle cruiser, 8 destroyers, 1 hospital ship and 1 transport
Far East - II rank armored cruiser "Haizhong" (海 容) under the command of Commodore Lin Jianzhang (林 建 章), part of the 33rd Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division under the command of Song Huangzhang (宋焕章), guard units and border guards
Arkhangelsk and Murmansk 1918-1919 - Chinese battalion
Great Britain - SPSR (Support Forces of Northern Russia) of up to 28 thousand people (evacuated June-October 1919), a military mission, the South Russian Tank Detachment and the 47th Squadron under the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, also - the intervention in the Caucasus (Georgia) ...
British colonies and dominions:
USA - since August 1918 participated in the SPSR, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk (withdrawn June-October 1919). By agreement between the interventionists, they guarded the Transsib in the sections from Mysovsk to Verkhneudinsk and from Iman to Vladivostok (withdrawn January-March 1920). The total number of American troops in the North of Russia is up to 6 thousand people, in Siberia up to 9 thousand people;
France - since March 1918 the north of Russia (cruiser "Admiral Ob"), the participation of French artillerymen as part of the command of the armored train of the Murmansk-Petrograd railway.
Colonial French troops (Odessa, November 1918 - April 1919) - 4th African Horse Jaeger Regiment, 21st Native Rifle Regiment, 10th Algerian Rifle Regiment, 9th Battalion of the 8th Algerian Rifle Regiment, 1st marching Indochinese battalion; Sevastopol - 129th battalion of Senegalese riflemen.
Romania - occupation of Bessarabia early 1918
Poland - a contingent in the SPSR (1918-1919), the Soviet-Polish war of 1920 (the Wielkopolska army, the remnants of the illegal "Polish military organization")
Japan - Vladivostok, the Transsib section from Verkhneudinsk to Khabarovsk and Iman, Sakhalin since April 1918. Withdrawn in 1921. Two divisions of about 28,000 bayonets.
China - active participation did not take in the intervention
Also in the SPSR were: the Serbian battalion, the Finnish Karelian Legion (Karelian Regiment) and the Finnish Murmansk Legion (corresponding to the brigade).
3. Intervention of the Central Powers
In February-May 1918, Poland, the Baltic States, Ukraine and the Transcaucasus were occupied by the troops of the Quadruple Alliance. On March 1, Kiev was occupied by the Germans, Taganrog on May 1, Rostov on May 8. Ataman of the Great Don Army Krasnov P.N. concluded an alliance with the Germans. A project was discussed to unite the Ukrainian State, the Great Don Army and the Kuban People's Republic on a federal basis.
The German occupation forces on the eastern front numbered about 1.045 million people. , which accounted for more than 20% of all the forces of Germany, the Turkish - about 30 thousand people. The abandonment of significant occupation forces in the east after the conclusion of the Brest Peace is considered a strategic mistake of the German command, which became one of the reasons for Germany's defeat in the First World War.
After the defeat of Germany in the First World War, in accordance with the secret protocol to the Compiegne Armistice of November 11, 1918, the German troops were to remain on the territory of Russia until the arrival of the Entente troops, however, by agreement with the German command, the territories from which the German troops were withdrawn, began to be occupied by the Red Army, and only in some points (Sevastopol, Odessa) German troops were replaced by the Entente troops.
3.1. List of Central Powers who took part in the intervention
German Empire - Ukraine, part of European Russia 1918 - early 1919. Baltic states - until the end of 1919.
Austro-Hungarian Empire - ibid;
Ottoman Empire - Transcaucasia from February 1918;
Finland - the territory of Russian Karelia 1918 - 1920.
4. The role of foreign intervention in the civil war
There are various assessments of the role of foreign intervention in the Russian civil war. Their main common feature is the recognition of the fact that the interventionists pursued their own interests, and not the interests of Russia. Both the Entente and the Central Powers sought to remove from the jurisdiction of the central Russian power the national borderlands under the rule of puppet governments (which contradicted the interests of both the Reds and the Whites), while their interests often clashed. For example, until the end of the First World War, France and Germany simultaneously claimed Ukraine and Crimea, respectively, Britain and the Ottoman Empire - the Caucasus (the United States opposed Japan's attempts to annex the Russian Far East).
Both belligerent blocs continued to view Russia as one of the theaters of military operations in the ongoing World War (in which Russia was a member of the Entente, and since March 1918 was at peace with Germany), which was the reason for both the preservation of a significant military presence in Russia of German troops, and and the creation of a military presence for the Entente troops.
Colonel Stolzenberg, representative of the high command at the headquarters of the Kiev group of German forces, wrote:
The available troops are insufficient both in terms of their personnel and in armament. Additional parts are required to proceed with the operation.
Hindenburg wrote in his memoirs:
Even now, of course, we could not withdraw all our combat-ready forces from the East ... The very desire to establish a barrier between the Bolshevik authorities and the lands liberated by us demanded the abandonment of strong German military units in the East.
The very beginning of the civil war is often explained by the uprising of the Czechoslovak corps - former soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army who went over to the side of Russia and were evacuated to France through Vladivostok. In addition, the presence of the interventionists in the rear of the White armies and their control over the internal political situation there (when considered, foreign intervention is often reduced to the intervention of the Entente) is considered the reason why the civil war continued for quite a long time.
The commander of the First Division of the Czechoslovak Corps Stanislav Chechek gave an order, in which he especially emphasized the following:
Our detachment is identified as the predecessor of the allied forces, and the instructions received from the headquarters have the sole purpose of building an anti-German front in Russia in alliance with the whole Russian people and our allies.
A citizen of the British crown, Minister of War Winston Churchill was more categorical:
It would be a mistake to think that throughout this whole year we fought on the fronts for the cause of the Russians hostile to the Bolsheviks. On the contrary, the Russian White Guards fought for our cause. This truth will become unpleasantly sensitive from the moment the white armies are destroyed and the Bolsheviks establish their rule throughout the vast Russian Empire.
5. Intervention in eyewitness accounts
6. Photo gallery
Soviet propaganda poster
Japanese propaganda poster depicting the capture of Blagoveshchensk by Japanese troops
Japanese propaganda poster depicting the capture of Khabarovsk by Japanese troops
American troops in Vladivostok
Red Army prisoners of war guarded by US troops in Arkhangelsk, 1918
Traders at the train with invaders
Russian-language poster of the British invaders.
British squadron on the Murmansk roadstead, 1918
The atrocities of the Japanese troops in Primorye
List of references:
RUSSIA AND THE USSR IN THE WARS OF THE XX CENTURY
Kozlov I. A., Shlomin V. S. Red Banner Northern Fleet. - Moscow: Military Publishing, 1983.
Loans to Foreign Goverments, 67 congress, 2 sess. Senate USA. Doc. 86, Wash., 1921, p.92)
[N] either in the closing year of World War I nor following the Armistance, were attempts made to rid Russia of the Bolsheviks. Until November 1918 the great powers were too busy fighting each other to worry about developments in remote Russia. Here and there, voices were raised that Bolshevism represented a mortal threat to Western civilization: these were especially loud in the German army ... But even the Germans in the end subordinated concern with the possible long-term threat to considerations of immediate interest. Lenin was absolutely convinced that after making peace the belligerants would join forces and launch an international crusade against his regime. His fears proved groundless. Only the British intervened actively on the side of the anti-Bolshevik forces, and they did so in a half-hearted manner, largely at the initiative of one man, Winston Churchill. ( Richard Pipes.The Russian Revolution)
Ultra-small submarines 1914-2004
Krasnov Petr. Great Don Host
Kuhl and G. Delbrück. The collapse of the German offensive operations in 1918, M., 1935, p. 24
Strokov A.A. History of military art. vol. 5. "Omega-polygon", St. Petersburg, 1994
History of Russia from Antiquity to the Present Day: A Guide for Applicants to Universities / MM Gorinov, AA Gorskiy, VO Daines, etc .; Ed. M.N. Zueva. - M .: Higher school - 1994 (recommended for publication by the State Committee of the Russian Federation for higher education; under the auspices of the Federal Target Program of Book Publishing of Russia)
E. Gorodetsky. Eastern Front in 1918. "Questions of history", 1947, No. 9.
Moser. A Brief Strategic Review of World War 1914-1918
Churchill V. World crisis M .; L .: State military publishing house, 1932. - 328 p.
Vertinsky A.N. On a long road ... M., 1991, pp. 115-116.
Armed intervention of foreign states in the events of the revolution and civil war on the territory of the former Russian Empire.
Prerequisites for the intervention
The Entente states did not recognize Soviet power and considered the Bolsheviks to be a pro-German force. The British War Cabinet discussed the possibility of military intervention in Russia on December 7, 1917. On December 7-10 (20-23), 1917, an Anglo-French agreement was reached on the division of spheres of influence when interfering in Russian affairs. France was to enter into interaction with anti-Bolshevik forces in Ukraine, Crimea and Bessarabia, Great Britain - in the Caucasus. Despite the fact that formally the Allies refused to interfere in Russian internal affairs, they considered themselves "obliged to maintain ties with Ukraine, the Cossacks, Finland, Siberia and the Caucasus, because these semi-autonomous regions represent a significant part of Russia's power."
Central Block Intervention
Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire used the Brest-Litovsk Treaty of 1918 to occupy Ukraine, the Baltic States, Finland, part of the Transcaucasus and Belarus. Contrary to the conditions of peace, their troops continued to move also within the RSFSR. The strategic task of Germany was to establish control over the eastern coast of the Black Sea. On April 18, 1918, the Germans entered the Crimea, took Taganrog on May 1, and occupied Rostov on May 8. At Bataisk, German troops clashed with the forces of the Kuban-Black Sea Republic, which was part of the RSFSR. After several days of fighting on May 30, 1918, Bataysk was taken by the German-Cossack troops. A demarcation line was established behind Bataisk, but on June 10, the Red Army landed troops in Taganrog. On June 12, the Germans defeated it and, as a retaliatory measure, landed on the Taman Peninsula on June 14, however, under pressure from the Reds, they were forced to withdraw.
On May 25, 1918, the Germans landed in Poti and, with the consent of the authorities of the Georgian Democratic Republic, occupied Georgia. The Ottoman Empire launched an offensive against Baku, which was controlled by the Baku Commune and then the Central Caspian. A British detachment took part in the defense of Baku. On September 15, 1918, Baku was taken by the Turks. On November 8, 1918, they also took Port-Petrovsky (Makhachkala). Germany supported the anti-Bolshevik movements in Russia, primarily the Don army of P. Krasnov.
Entente intervention
The intervention of the Entente gradually developed. Romania was the first to oppose Soviet Russia. On December 24, 1917 (January 6, 1918), a shootout took place between a Romanian detachment moving from Kiev and Russian soldiers at the station. Kishinev. The Romanians were disarmed. On December 26, 1917 (January 8, 1918), the Romanian troops crossed the Prut, but they were repulsed. On January 8 (21), 1918, Romanian troops launched an offensive in Bessarabia. The Romanian command claimed that it had come at the invitation of the Moldovan representative body of power, Sfatul tarii, which officially denied it. On January 13 (26), 1918, Romanian troops occupied Chisinau, and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR broke off relations with Romania. The Romanian command formally restored the power of Sfatul tarii and launched repression against the left forces. Supporters of Soviet power and the preservation of Moldova as part of Russia retreated to Bender. The Revolutionary Committee for the Salvation of the Moldavian Republic was created here. In the Danube Delta, fighting broke out between Romanian and Russian ships around Vilkovo. Taking Bender on February 7, 1918, the Romanian troops carried out executions of the captured defenders of the city. In February, there were battles between Soviet and Romanian troops on the Dniester. On March 5-9, 1918, a Soviet-Romanian agreement was signed, according to which Romania pledged to withdraw its troops from Bessarabia within two months. However, in the context of the Austro-German offensive in Ukraine, which was abandoned by Soviet troops, Romania did not fulfill the agreement. Moreover, the Romanians captured Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. On April 9, 1918, Romania annexed Bessarabia (Moldavia).
On March 5, 1918, a small British detachment, with the consent of Leon Trotsky and the Murmansk Soviet, landed in Murmansk to protect the property of the Entente from a possible attack by pro-German forces. On May 24, 1918, the USS Olympia arrived in Murmansk. On March 5, 1918, in response to the murder of Japanese subjects in Vladivostok, a Japanese landing of 500 soldiers and a British landing of 50 were landed. However, the city was not captured by them; Soviet power remained in it.
A large-scale civil war in Russia unfolded in May 1918, in particular thanks to the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps. Since the corps was formally subordinate to the French command, this action can be viewed as an act of intervention, although initially the Czechoslovak soldiers acted on their own initiative. In July 1918, the Supreme Union Council left the corps in Russia, deploying its movement from the east, aimed at evacuation to France, to the west, in the direction of Moscow.
On June 1-3, 1918, the Supreme Military Council of the Entente decided to occupy Murmansk and Arkhangelsk by the allied forces.
In August, Japanese and American contingents of 7,000 soldiers were brought into Vladivostok. Japanese troops, the number of which increased to more than 25 thousand, occupied the Trans-Siberian to Verkhneudinsk and Northern Sakhalin.
On July 17, representatives of the Murmansk Soviet, contrary to the position of the central Soviet government, signed an agreement with the allies to invite their troops to Murmansk. The allies have increased their grouping here to 12-15 thousand soldiers.
On August 2, 1918, the Entente troops landed in Arkhangelsk. With their support, the anti-Bolshevik government of the north of Russia was created, headed by N. Tchaikovsky. On August 23, 1918, a concentration camp was established on Lake Mudyug by the invaders.
On July 29, 1918, speaking at an expanded meeting of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, Lenin declared: “Our civil war ... has merged with the external war into one indissoluble whole ... We are now at war with Anglo-French imperialism and with everything that is bourgeois, capitalist in Russia, making an effort to disrupt the whole cause of the socialist revolution and drag us into the war. " The intervention became a factor in the deepening of the civil war in Russia, without contributing to the success of the Entente in the struggle against Germany and her allies, which was the official motive for the intervention. In reality, the intervention was aimed at eliminating Soviet power.
After the defeat of the Central Bloc in World War II, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had to evacuate their troops, giving way to the Entente.
After the departure of the Austro-German troops in the Black Sea ports in December 1918, the troops of France and Greece landed. Italy and Serbia sent small contingents. In Transcaucasia, the Turks were replaced by the British, who also entered Turkestan. On November 14, 1918, a battle took place between the Red and British troops for the Dushak station. The battlefield remained with the Reds.
The intervention continued in the Far East, where Japan and the United States played a key role, but other Entente states, including China, also participated. In 1918-1920, Soviet Russia was at war with the new states that had formed on the territory of the former Russian Empire - with Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. These events are associated with the intervention and at the same time are part of civil war in the territory of the former Russian Empire. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania defended themselves from the Red troops, which included Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians. German troops, with the approval of the Entente, fought in Latvia. Thus, the intervention was attended by nine Entente powers (Great Britain and its dominions, France, USA, Japan, Greece, Italy, Serbia, China, Romania), German troops and soldiers of five new states (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland) ...
In Ukraine, there were about 80 thousand invaders, in the Far East - more than 100 thousand. In the north - about 40 thousand. However, these forces did not actively attack Moscow and Petrograd.
Each of the participants in the intervention pursued their own goals. The leading Entente powers hoped that a dependent liberal government would emerge in Russia, neighboring states from Romania to Japan hoped to receive part of the territory of the disintegrating Russian Empire, the new states pushed the border as far east as possible, entering into conflict with other contenders for these lands and with the white movement assisted by the Entente.
In the Entente states themselves, the intervention was unpopular, the soldiers and the population were tired of the war. In March 1919, under the blows of the Red Army division under the command of N. Grigoriev, the French, Greeks and White Guards left Kherson and Nikopol, and were defeated at Berezovka. On April 8, 1919, the Reds entered Odessa, abandoned by the invaders.
Japanese troops took an active part in the battles in the Far East. On April 5, 1920, in the midst of negotiations on the withdrawal of Japanese troops from the Far East, the Japanese attacked Soviet troops and, with the help of Cossack formations, carried out terror. More than 7 thousand people died, including the leader of the Primorsky partisans S. Lazo. On April 6, 1920, to prevent a clash between Japan and the RSFSR, a "buffer" Far Eastern Republic was created.
In April 1919, France and its allies withdrew from the northern coast of the Black Sea. In March 1919, it was decided to begin the evacuation of British troops from Turkestan. In August, the British and their allies left Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and by October 12, 1919, the North. After the withdrawal of interventionist troops from the European part of Russia, the support of the White movement by the Entente states continued. In October 1918 - October 1919, about 100 thousand tons of weapons, equipment and uniforms were supplied to whites by Great Britain alone. Denikin in the second half of 1919 received more than 250 thousand rifles, 200 guns, 30 tanks, etc. The USA left the Far East only in 1920. Japan tried to maintain control of the Russian Far East for longer, but this was contrary to US policy. By July 15, 1920, an agreement was reached on the evacuation of Japanese troops from the Russian Far East, but its implementation was delayed by the Japanese side. In 1922, under pressure from the United States, Japan was nevertheless forced to evacuate its troops from the Russian Far East. However, Japan returned Northern Sakhalin to Russia only in 1925.
The civil war began in October 1917 and ended with the defeat of the White Army in the Far East in the fall of 1922. During this time, various social classes and groups on the territory of Russia were using armed methods to resolve the contradictions that arose between them.
The main reasons for the outbreak of the civil war include the discrepancy between the goals of transforming society and the methods of achieving them, the refusal to create a coalition government, the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, the nationalization of land and industry, the elimination of commodity-money relations, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the creation of a one-party system, the danger of the revolution spreading to other countries, economic losses of Western powers during regime change in Russia.
In the spring of 1918, British, American and French troops landed in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The Japanese invaded the Far East, the British and Americans landed in Vladivostok - the intervention began.
On May 25, an uprising of the 45-thousandth Czechoslovak corps took place, which was transferred to Vladivostok for further dispatch to France. A well-armed and well-equipped corps stretched from the Volga to the Urals. In the conditions of the decayed Russian army, he became the only real force at that time. The corps, supported by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and White Guards, put forward demands for the overthrow of the Bolsheviks and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly.
In the South, the Volunteer Army of General A.I.Denikin was formed, which defeated the Soviets in the North Caucasus. The troops of P.N. Krasnov approached Tsaritsyn, in the Urals the Cossacks of General A.A. Dutov captured Orenburg. In November-December 1918, British troops landed in Batumi and Novorossiysk, and the French occupied Odessa. In these critical conditions, the Bolsheviks managed to create a combat-ready army by mobilizing people and resources and attracting military specialists from the tsarist army.
By the fall of 1918, the Red Army liberated the cities of Samara, Simbirsk, Kazan and Tsaritsyn.
The revolution in Germany had a significant impact on the course of the civil war. Having admitted defeat in the First World War, Germany agreed to annul the Brest Peace Treaty and withdrew its troops from the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic states.
The Entente began to withdraw its troops, providing only material assistance to the White Guards.
By April 1919, the Red Army managed to stop the troops of General A.V. Kolchak. Driven into the depths of Siberia, they were defeated by the beginning of 1920.
In the summer of 1919, General Denikin, having seized the Ukraine, moved to Moscow and approached Tula. The troops of the first cavalry army under the command of MV Frunze and Latvian riflemen were concentrated on the southern front. In the spring of 1920, near Novorossiysk, the Reds defeated the White Guards.
In the north of the country, the troops of General N.N. Yudenich fought against the Soviets. In the spring and autumn of 1919, they made two unsuccessful attempts to capture Petrograd.
In April 1920, the conflict between Soviet Russia and Poland began. In May 1920, the Poles captured Kiev. The troops of the Western and Southwestern Fronts launched an offensive, but they failed to achieve the final victory.
Aware of the impossibility of continuing the war, in March 1921 the parties signed a peace treaty.
The war ended with the defeat of General P.N. Wrangel, who led the remnants of Denikin's troops in the Crimea. In 1920, the Far Eastern Republic was formed, and by 1922 it was finally liberated from the Japanese.
The reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks: support for the national outskirts and Russian peasants, deceived by the Bolshevik slogan "Land for the peasants", the creation of a combat-ready army, the lack of a general command of the whites, support for Soviet Russia from the workers' movements and the communist parties of other countries.
