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Example research essay topic: Russian Civil War First World War - 1,812 words

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International support for the Whites during the Russian civil war was woefully inadequate. How valid is this judgement? I will attempt to show that allied support for the Whites in the Russian civil war was inadequate by looking at the reasons for support and how they might impact on the level of support that was given, I will also look at the extent of support to see if it was inadequate, and finally, the relative importance of international support compared to other reasons for the White defeat on the outcome of the war to see if the lack of international support had a critical impact on the outcome of the Russian civil war. Firstly, it must be mentioned that each nation that intervened in the Russian civil war had some similar but many different reasons for doing so and that while many nations sent troops to Russia, not to help the Russians but for their own reasons, the White armies were supported much more than the Reds who had no intentional support.

Equally important is the fact that the Allied nations which intervened in Russia at the time of the civil war never intended to crush communism and to illustrate this; Britain had originally landed at the port of Archangel at the request of Trotsky to help fight the Germans and had been given permission to land by the Archangel Soviet. It was only after the surrender of the Russians in World War 1 that Britain began to help the Whites. Knowing why the allied nations sent limited support for the Whites goes a long way to explaining why support was so limited. Before the end of World War 1, the Russians surrendered to the Germans, signing the treaty of Brest-Litvosk. This freed up German armies and resources on the eastern front, allowing the Germans to fight a war on one front instead of two, giving them a great advantage. So the allied nations first reason for supporting the Whites in the Russian civil war was the restart the eastern front, stopping Germany making use of the Russian raw materials made available to them under the treaty and to make them once again spread their forces over two fronts.

However, shortly after the Russians surrendered the First World War ended with an allied victory and there was no need for the allied nations to intervene to restart the Eastern front. The allied nations still did intervene however, but now their intentions had become much more murky. David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister at the time did not want to intervene in Russia, our honourable obligations to the remnants of the Russian army, which, disregarding the treaty of Brest-Litvosk, remained in the field to fight the Germans, put us in the embarrassing position of being obligated to help one of the parties in the Russian civil war ([ 1 ] David Lloyd George). However, the creation of a coalition government in the UK in 1918 meant that David Lloyd George now had to rely on the Conservative party, who supported intervention on the side of the Whites in the Russian civil war; Lloyd George had to cave to popular pressure within his government. The Japanese saw the opportunity to gain the most out of allied intervention; they wanted to annex territory from the Russians in their time of crisis and turmoil. The Americans sent troops to Russia to prevent the Japanese from making their territorial gains.

The French had lost massive investments in Russia (16 Billion Francs) after the nationalisation of the Russian economy and were left without compensation. By far the most honourable intervention in the Russian civil war on the side of the Whites appeared to be the Czech Legion, a 50, 000 strong force of Czech prisoners of war which had fought for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and had now been released from the Tsars POW camps. The Czech Legions only concern at the time was to leave Russia, by way of travelling to Vladivostok were they would be transported out of Russia by Allied ships. On their way to Vladivostok, the Czech Legion was given an ultimatum by Trotsky join the Red army or go to the concentration camps, not wanting to join the Red army and stranded in Russia the Czech legion took over the railroad and looked for allies; the Whites. But the allied nations also wanted a stable Russia, as expressed by Woodrow Wilson, US President at the time Europe and the world cannot be at peace if Russia is not [ 2 ].

The French also wanted a stable, strong and friendly Russia to help them prevent Germany from becoming a military power again. With each nation intervening for their own interests and making a stable Russia quite low on their agendas, international support from the allies was doomed to fail. The extent of allied intervention in the Russian civil war and so allied support for the Whites was very limited. Lenin had expected much more intervention in the form of a capitalist crusade against the newly formed Communist Russia. However allied troops in Russia only number 150, 000 at their peak who were suffering from acute war weariness from the last four years of war in Europe, the nations that sent them were considerably weakened and only at the start of the road to recovery.

It could be questioned whether international support would have been greater if it were not for the obstacle of the First World War. If the allied nations were stronger they may have committed more support, but then, without the First World War, which had a major impact on the Russian revolution, there may not have been a civil war to fight. Also quite significant, was that the massive allied crusade that was expected by the Reds was never even contemplated by the allied nations. What was most important though in the extent of allied support for the Whites in the Russian civil war was that without such support there would have been no civil war, in the fighting sense at least, because the immense firepower and weaponry of the Bolsheviks would have quickly overcome all armed resistance, so, even the limited support that was given was still vital to the Whites very survival. In 1918 the British and United States attempted to get the Reds and Whites together for a peace conference which would have avoided much of the civil war. The conference was originally to take place in Paris, France.

However, after the French refused permission the conference was moved to Prinkipo Island off Istanbul and was known as the Prinkipo conference. The Whites were appalled by the idea of the peace conference and had originally thought it a miscommunication from the allies for an anti-Bolshevik conference. The Prinkipo conference never materialised however due to the fact that the French had privately advised the Whites not to go and also that Winston Churchill; the only person in the British government who supported intervention to in the form of an international crusade against communism, (he was in a minority in the view) offered the Whites British support whether they went to the conference or not. This was the only time the allied nations intervened in the Russian civil war trying to stop it and not supporting either side, all over intervention was either to support the Whites or for that particular nations own reasons. Of the three main powers involved in the Russian civil war; Britain, France and the United States only Britain made a serious commitment to the Whites and it was Britain who bore almost the entire cost of assistance to the Whites. Early in 1919 David Lloyd George laid down guidelines for British support [ 3 ]: 1.

There must be not attempt to conquer Bolshevik Russia by force of arms. 2. Support would only be continued as long as it was clear that in the areas controlled by Kolchak and Denikin the population was anti-Bolshevik in sentiment. 3. The anti-Bolshevik armies must not be used to restore the old tsarist regiment re-impose on the peasants the old feudal conditions under which they held their land. The last guideline made can be questioned in terms of Lloyd Georges true reason; Britain did not want the old expansionist Tsarist regime back because Britain and Russia had historically been in competition for the middle-east and a return of the Tsarist regime could threaten Britains interests there. The British government would have wanted this reason to remain private and so it would have unlikely made it into the guidelines, instead being replaced by something that would be much more acceptable and popular; the continuing freedom of the peasants which they had experienced since the Reds took over. British intervention took several forms; they provided the anti-Bolshevik forces with material such as uniforms, tanks and planes, they placed military contingents in Russia which would only perform guard duty and so not fight, but they could defend themselves if threatened.

They trained White officers and helped with intelligence and communications and finally they would evacuate the remnants of the White armies after they had been defeated. The aid that Britain offered was far below what they could offer but was -as mentioned earlier- critical to the Whites cause. French involvement has been described as lukewarm. They appeared to be against the Reds and Whites making peace- as illustrated by their involvement against the Prinkipo conference- but they didnt seem to want to help either side win. The French did send support, however this can be said to have failed quite miserably, with them abandoning the territory they had not long after they landed and leaving Russia full stop. The Japanese by far sent the most troops, which was as much as 70, 000 at its peak.

It was originally planned by the allies for them to be deployed against Germany on the reactivated eastern front. However their intention was always to annex Russian territory. The Japanese actually opposed Kolchak and were the only allied nation to oppose the Whites. They feared that Kolchak would oppose the Japanese annexation of Russian territory. The Japanese did have support in Russia in the form of two Cossack warlords who the Japanese used to form a buffer between them and Kolchak west of Lake Baikal.

Japanese intervention hurt the White armies more than anything else, Kolchak never actually controlled any territory east of Lake Baikal. In a war were the Whites were at a disadvantage in terms of material and manpower Kolchak needed all the territory he could get and so could have been put at a further disadvantage by the loss of territory to the Japanese. Aware of Japanese intention, the United States sent troops into Russia however; they were purely used as a deterrent against the Japanese and as such never engaged the...


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Research essay sample on Russian Civil War First World War

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