Fighting the war in Russia during the winter is not a good idea, but once again, people keep trying. The United States became as mistaken as Napoleon.
In November of 1918, much of the world celebrated the end of World War I, “the war to end all war.” While the celebration was attracting the attention of newspapers and newsreels across the United States, there was an American group whose battle was not over.
Approximately 5,000 American soldiers were part of an allied expedition to intervene in the ongoing Russian civil war against the Bolshevik “Red” forces. For a little over a year, the American Expeditionary Forces in Northern Russia fought to give anti-Bolshevik “White” Russia the upper hand.
During the summer until the fall of 1918, the combined forces of Britain, France, Italy, the United States and the remnants of the allies made drastic progress against the enemies of World War I. It looked bleak for the Central Powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. .
In France, allied forces had pushed the German Army back into the Hindenburg Line, almost pushing it out of France. Soon, German soldiers and sailors would revolt against the war constantly, the Kaiser would be forced to abdicate and a ceasefire would be negotiated to end the war.
Everything looked good for the allies, but Russia, which had separate peace talks in March 1918, was still locked in a brutal struggle for who would control Russia. Britain, France and the United States had sent the Tsar 110,000 new rifles and other war materials to help protect the Russian Empire in World War I. Because the Russian military could not distribute any of them, Russia dropped out anyway.
Arms and supplies were sitting in a warehouse in the northern city of Arkhangelsk. The “Polar Bear Expedition,” as the mission had come to be called, was simple on paper. They seized stored weapons and secured areas large enough for White Russia to form a stable government and army. It doesn’t happen.
The Americans, at the request of Britain and France, landed in the city in September 1918. They found the city had been controlled by the British, and they also found that a cache of weapons had been discovered by the Bolsheviks, who’d created it. out with them.
To make matters worse, Czech and Slovak troops called the Czech Legion were in extreme danger when fighting along the Trans-Siberian Railway, the front of which was hundreds of miles long. The American 339th Infantry, which was largely overcome by the Spanish flu, was sent to succeed them.
The Americans, with British help, broke out of the perimeter of Arkhangelsk and into Bolshevik territory. For six weeks, they fought their way along the Dvina River, but at the end of it, they found themselves just as stretched out as the Czech Legion. With winter starting, they need to do that fast.
With the Czech Legion firmly out of reach, the allies tried to raise an anti -Bolshevik army from members of the local population. When the season came in force, the Allies were without recruits. Then came the Bolshevik counterattack.
In October 1918, the Red Army inflicted large numbers of casualties to the Americans, who had expected a relatively quiet winter. Instead, the Red attack forced the allies to retreat back to Arkhangelsk. They had to give up all their gains and take a 10% loss of their power: 110 killed in combat, 30 lost and 70 died from the Spanish flu.
When the Polar Bears secured their position in Arkhangelsk, World War I ended in a truce, and the port of Arkhangelsk was frozen. Even if the war is over, the United States in Russia must survive the winter until the ships can repel them.
Soldiers became restless, subject to defending areas the size of Texas and Oklahoma alongside the Russians who seemed disinterested in the outcome of the battle. Americans struggle to distinguish between Bolsheviks and anti -Bolsheviks. Meanwhile, they were inundated with ambushes and Red propaganda, asking: “If the war is over, why are you still here?”
The Red Army continued to push the aliens throughout the season. The new attack was very successful, the allies decided that the ultimate goal was to get out of there as soon as possible. It was not until June 1919 that the USS Des Moines sailed into port and picked up the Polar Bears.
In all, Americans lost 344 deaths to fight with the disease, and 305 were injured. They even left 125 men. These men would not be returned to earth until the Veterans of Foreign Wars were allowed to take the remains inside the Soviet Union in 1929.
– Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook.
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Why did the Allies invade Russia?
The purpose of this small -scale intervention was partly to stop Germany from utilizing Russian resources, to defeat the Central Powers, and to support some of the Allied forces that were trapped in Russia after the Bolshevik revolution.
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Why did Churchill want to invade Russia?
The aim was to push them out of East Germany and Soviet -occupied Poland, giving Stalin a bloody nose, and forcing him to reconsider his dominance in Eastern Europe. To see also : Departmental Press Briefing – June 21, 2022 – United States Department of State.
Why did US invade Russia?
In 1918, after the Bolshevik revolution, President Woodrow Wilson ordered 8,500 ’American troops to Siberia to help Czechs and Russian anti -Bolsheviks overthrow the Soviet Government as a first step in rebuilding the Eastern Front against the Central Powers.
When did Russia become Communist?
November 7, 1917: With Vladimir Lenin at the helm, the Bolsheviks, ascribes to Marxism, seize power during the Russian October Revolution and become the first communist government.
How long has Russia been a socialist country? On November 7, 1917, as a result of the October Revolution, the Russian Soviet Republic was proclaimed as a sovereign state and the first constitutional socialist state in the world guided by communist ideology.
What was Russia before it was communist?
The Soviet Union originated in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Radical left-wing revolutionaries overthrew Czar Nicholas II of Russia, ending centuries of Romanov rule. The Bolsheviks established a socialist state in the area that had become the Russian Empire.
When did Russia start Communism?
In 1922, the Red Communists won and formed the Soviet Union, creating communist Russia.
Did the US invade Russia in 1919?
The Polar Bear Expedition: The Heroes of America’s Forgotten Russian Invasion, 1918-1919.
When did the US invade Russia? On September 4, 1918, United States troops arrived at Archangel, in northern Russia.
Did the US invade Soviet Russia?
The United States actually invaded and occupied Russia during the end of World War I. Understanding the American invasion and the occupation of the Soviet Union in 1919 is important for two reasons.
Did America invade Russia ww1?
U.S. soldiers and their allies in northern Russia, November 1918. Americans fought under British command as part of a multinational expeditionary force. French troops were sent to Russia after years of fighting in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I.
