Presidents and Russia: Woodrow Wilson and the Russian Revolution
The First World War had begun in 1914 and the Russian Empire had joined the side of the Allies. Russia had been demoralized by its poor performance in an earlier war with Japan that it had expected to win easily (a war ending in a peace mediated by Theodore Roosevelt). By early 1917 the Russian Empire was inundated by political strife. Public support for World War I was waning as casualties mounted without any apparent end in sight. Tsar Nicholas II was very unpopular, and an uprising known as the February Revolution affected the course of the war. The Tsar abdicated the throne in March and a Russian Provisional Government formed, led initially by Georgy Lvov (March to July 1917) and later by Alexander Kerensky (July to November 1917). The Provisional Government pledged to continue fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front.
The Allied Powers had been shipping supplies to Russia since the beginning of the war in 1914 through the ports of Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Vladivostok. In April 1917 the United States entered the war on the Allied side. President Woodrow Wilson, who had previously disliked the Tsar, now approved the US providing economic and technical support to Kerensky's government.
But the war continued to grow increasingly unpopular with the Russian people. Political and social unrest grew, and the majority of the people threw their support behind the Marxist antiwar Bolshevik Party, under Vladimir Lenin. Large numbers of common soldiers either mutinied or deserted from the Imperial Russian Army. A Russian military operation known as the Kerensky Offensive began on July 1, 1917, but German and Austro-Hungarian forces counterattacked and defeated the Russian forces. A demoralized Russian Army was left in shambles and many soldiers deserted the front lines. Kerensky changed military commanders.
Kornilov attempted to set up a military dictatorship in September, doing so with British Support. But Lenin's October Revolution led to the overthrow of Kerensky's provisional government on October 25, 1917 and the Bolsheviks assumed power.
In early 1918 forces of the Central Powers invaded Russia, and threatening to capture Moscow. Lenin wanted to negotiate with Germany, and on March 3, 1918 the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending the conflict between the two sides. The Allied Powers felt betrayed and turned against Lenin's new regime.
After Russia left World War I following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the Allies sent troops there to prevent a German or Bolshevik takeover of weapons, munitions and other supplies that they had previously shipped as aid to the Kerensky government. Woodrow Wilson despised the Bolsheviks, and believed that they did not represent the Russian people. But he was also concerned that foreign intervention would only strengthen Bolshevik rule. Britain and France pressured Wilson to intervene in order to potentially re-open a second front against Germany. Wilson acceded to their request. The United States sent armed forces to assist the withdrawal of Czechoslovak Legions along the Trans-Siberian Railway, and to hold key port cities at Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok. Even though they were specifically instructed not to do so, U.S. forces engaged in several armed conflicts against forces of the new Russian government. Revolutionaries in Russia resented the United States intrusion. This would be the basis for later mistrust of the United States by Russia's communist government.
A lengthy struggle continued within Russia between the Bolsheviks and their opponents known as the Socialist Revolutionaries, and the anti-Bolshevik White movement. The Allied powers sent several expeditionary armies to support the anti-Communist forces. The Bolsheviks fought against both these forces and by 1921, they had defeated their internal enemies. They were able to place a number of independent states under their control, but could not control Finland, the Baltic States, the Moldavian Democratic Republic (which joined Romania), and Poland. In the conflict, both sides committed brutal atrocities against civilians. For example, Bolshevik forces massacred 100,000 to 150,000 Jews in Ukraine and southern Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were left homeless.
Thee atrocities carried out by the Bolsheviks became known as the "Red Terror" and the total number of victims of repression campaigns were estimated at between 100,000 and 200,000 people.
The Allied Powers had been shipping supplies to Russia since the beginning of the war in 1914 through the ports of Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Vladivostok. In April 1917 the United States entered the war on the Allied side. President Woodrow Wilson, who had previously disliked the Tsar, now approved the US providing economic and technical support to Kerensky's government.
But the war continued to grow increasingly unpopular with the Russian people. Political and social unrest grew, and the majority of the people threw their support behind the Marxist antiwar Bolshevik Party, under Vladimir Lenin. Large numbers of common soldiers either mutinied or deserted from the Imperial Russian Army. A Russian military operation known as the Kerensky Offensive began on July 1, 1917, but German and Austro-Hungarian forces counterattacked and defeated the Russian forces. A demoralized Russian Army was left in shambles and many soldiers deserted the front lines. Kerensky changed military commanders.
Kornilov attempted to set up a military dictatorship in September, doing so with British Support. But Lenin's October Revolution led to the overthrow of Kerensky's provisional government on October 25, 1917 and the Bolsheviks assumed power.
In early 1918 forces of the Central Powers invaded Russia, and threatening to capture Moscow. Lenin wanted to negotiate with Germany, and on March 3, 1918 the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ending the conflict between the two sides. The Allied Powers felt betrayed and turned against Lenin's new regime.
After Russia left World War I following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the Allies sent troops there to prevent a German or Bolshevik takeover of weapons, munitions and other supplies that they had previously shipped as aid to the Kerensky government. Woodrow Wilson despised the Bolsheviks, and believed that they did not represent the Russian people. But he was also concerned that foreign intervention would only strengthen Bolshevik rule. Britain and France pressured Wilson to intervene in order to potentially re-open a second front against Germany. Wilson acceded to their request. The United States sent armed forces to assist the withdrawal of Czechoslovak Legions along the Trans-Siberian Railway, and to hold key port cities at Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok. Even though they were specifically instructed not to do so, U.S. forces engaged in several armed conflicts against forces of the new Russian government. Revolutionaries in Russia resented the United States intrusion. This would be the basis for later mistrust of the United States by Russia's communist government.
A lengthy struggle continued within Russia between the Bolsheviks and their opponents known as the Socialist Revolutionaries, and the anti-Bolshevik White movement. The Allied powers sent several expeditionary armies to support the anti-Communist forces. The Bolsheviks fought against both these forces and by 1921, they had defeated their internal enemies. They were able to place a number of independent states under their control, but could not control Finland, the Baltic States, the Moldavian Democratic Republic (which joined Romania), and Poland. In the conflict, both sides committed brutal atrocities against civilians. For example, Bolshevik forces massacred 100,000 to 150,000 Jews in Ukraine and southern Russia. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were left homeless.
Thee atrocities carried out by the Bolsheviks became known as the "Red Terror" and the total number of victims of repression campaigns were estimated at between 100,000 and 200,000 people.