President Woodrow Wilson dispatched 5000 American troops to northern Russia and 8000 troops to Siberia without seeking approval from the US Congress. The Allies wanted to overthrow the new communist government in Russia to restore a monarchy that would renew war with Germany. Moreover, they wanted to crush the idea that workers can oust monarchs and take control of governments.
20 thoughts on “The American Invasion of Russia in 1918”
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Since the Bolsheviks were largely financed by New York bankers like Jacob Schiff from the start it was unlikely that the Americans would put much effort into preventing Lenin and his murderous thugs from taking over a prostrate Russia. It was American wheat which prevented total collapse later after the disastrous effects of the Bolshevik agricultural policies in 1921-23. Again, in the 1940s it was American industrial might which helped Stalin survive and go on to capture and enslave half of Europe. The troops sent to Russia were just a sop to the Allies. There was never any intention to prevent communism from taking hold. The so called ‘Cold War’ was also a fraud. A gigantic boon to American arms producers. When the Soviet Union collapsed the Americans went into Russia again and robbed it blind until Putin put an end to their dirty games.
I gave an interview on this subject with Voice of Russia almost seven years ago:
https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/interview-american-war-with-russia-in-the-arctic/
The audio link is broken. The first part is also unavailable.
The real beginning of the Cold War. Thank you for posting this.
The west was a geopolitical rival with Russia prior to communism. Even with the monarchs being related. Imperialism was the order of the day.
And in 1905 Japan suddenly joined imperialism out of nowhere.
“Out of nowhere”…not exactly…in 1853 US admiral Perry sailed into a defenseless Tokyo Bay, forcing the Japanese to end their “Japan First, heh) system, and open up “free markets…of course under threat of naval bombardment.
Simply, the Japanese recognized this affront was only the beginning of western imperialism into the Pacific rim, they were right about that. Industrialization soon followed, battleships on the way.
Interesting that folks pretend there was a time when the US was not a militant imperialist power. The gap between the culmination of manifest destiny, and overseas imperialism was just the time it took for the US to build a navy to make imperialism happen, which, wasn’t very long.
When I was in high school, circa 1983, I was on the staff of a “cultural journalism” magazine and accompanied another writer on an interesting interview. The subject’s name was Russell Harper. He was 95 years old at the time, and was the treasurer of Camden County, Missouri.
The interview was about the several years he spent under “house arrest” on a train car in Vladivostok. He was (IIRC) a “wireless” operator in the US Army, and was there as part of a US/Russia liaison team when Russia was still in World War One. After the revolution and the US invasion this article mentions, their equipment was confiscated and they were held (in the train car they had worked out of) until things settled down.
Interesting guy.
And then there was the Czechoslovakian Legion which fought with the “Whites” against the “Reds” in Siberia. The legion was eventually evacuated through Vladivostok. That fighting was completely unnecessary because Czechoslovakia and Hungary became independent anyway without the help of Russia.
Good cause, but not our fight and he went about it the wrong way. The Czar should have stayed out of WWI. Then he would have had the forces to crush the Reds.
Everyone remembers reading about this in their “government-approved” history textbooks…..right?? He who controls the past, controls both the present and the future.
If Russia and China had not modernized and became militarily powerful, no matter what you call their forms of government, they would probably now be paying for a US occupation and protection plan of their countries and pledging allegiance to Uncle Sam
The Bolsheviks NEVER won an election or had a mandate from the people. They relied on illiterate miscreants of the worst sort to be their shock troops. After the dust settled, they were worse off.