Reed 1
Candidate
#: D0993112
American
Intervention in the Russian Civil War: 1918-1920
Why
did President Woodrow Wilson decide to send American troops into
Siberia and Northern Russia on August 16, 1918?
-History-
Word
Count: 4090
Scott
Reed
Candidate
#: D0993112
International
Academy
Marc
De Zwaan
May
2007
Reed
2
Candidate
#: D0993112
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
...
2
Abstract
..
3
Acknowledgements
4
Introduction
5
·
Background to the Conflict
..
7
·
Wilson as an Anti-Bolshevist
...
9
·
Forced into Intervention
.
13
Conclusion
...
18
End Notes
.
21
Works Cited
.
24
Reed 3
Candidate #: D0993112
Abstract
The
purpose of this essay is to investigate American President
Woodrow Wilsons decision to send troops to North Russia and
Siberia during the Russian Civil War, and to what extent, if at
all, the troops were intended as a means to destroy the Bolshevik
Regime to which Wilson was ideologically opposed. The
central question throughout the essay is whether Wilsons
ideological opposition to Lenins regime was strong enough
to overcome his resistance to directly interfering with the
Russian political situation.
The time period that the essay will focus on is between Germanys
launching of its Spring Offensive starting in March 1918 and the
return of American troops from North Russia in 1920. The
investigation is based mainly on information included in
secondary sources along with selected primary sources such as Wilsons
Aide-Memoir outlining his objectives in Russia and several
memorandums, letters, and oral messages between diplomats and
ambassadors of various powers involved in the Russian situation.
The conclusion reached at the end of the investigation suggests
that Wilsons ideological conflict with Bolshevism was
subordinated to his political and strategic motivation of
stopping Japanese expansion. Wilsons personal
ideological conflict, according to the essay, only shows up in
his decision to provide aid to the Czech Legion, which was under
attack from the Bolsheviks en route to continue its fight against
the Germans on the Western Front.
The larger conclusion that can be
drawn from the essay is that the claims of Soviet historians and
political figures during the cold war, made by Nikita Khrushchev
in particular, that Americans invaded Russia, are
exaggerated. America did send troops to
Reed
4
Candidate
#: D0993112
Russia, a fact that not all Americans are
aware of, but with no serious intention on the part of Wilson of
undermining Bolshevik control.
Acknowledgements
For helping to guide me through the process of writing the
extended essay, I would first like to thank my mentor, Marc de
Zwaan. His input and suggestions were invaluable both
in finding sources and developing a coherent argument. Secondly,
I would like to thank Mike Grobbel, President of the Polar Bear
Memorial Association, who was generous enough to meet with me to
help explain the conflict and his grandfathers personal
involvement in it. He also introduced me to a wealth of
information on the subject of American involvement in the Russian
Civil War, which helped me to develop my own perspective on the
issue. Finally, I would like to thank Klaudia Janek for
helping me use the Michigan Interloan Library system.
Reed 5
Candidate #: D0993112
I.
Introduction
Some
orthodox Soviet Historians attribute the seeds of the Cold War to
President Woodrow Wilsons decision to Intervene
in the Russian civil war. Since the abortive, confusing
attempt failed in 1920 and American troops were brought home,
propaganda from the Kremlin began to vilify Wilson for trying to
destroy the first proletarian state in the world1.
In a visit to the USA in 1959, Nikita Khrushchev said: We
remember the grim days when American soldiers went to our soil,
headed by their generals, to help the White Guard
strangle
the new revolution2. Few in the audience
understood what Khrushchev was referring to, and even some
historians today are not aware of Americas role in the
Russian Civil war, or that it had two separate fronts in Northern
Russia and Siberia3. But the authors who have
written about Americas role in the war disagree on whether
it really constituted an Intervention, and what
exactly Wilsons intentions were.
Authors such as George F. Kennan, Georg Schild, and Victor M. Fic
hold that Wilson never intended for any large-scale intervention
that would interfere in Russian self-determination, and only sent
troops into Russia and Siberia under great pressure from other
Allied powers and diplomats. This school of thought
acknowledges the allied motivations of preventing war supplies
from falling into German hands, preventing Japanese expansion
into Russian territory, and protecting the Czech Legion from the
German and Austrian prisoners of war that could potentially be
rearmed. On the other side of the debate, authors such as N.Gordon
Levin and John Lewis Gaddis charge
Reed 6
Candidate
#: D0993112
Wilson
with anti-Bolshevik motivations for intervention, portraying him
as an aggressor working to undermine the Russian political system.
These sources are all limited by the fact they rely mainly on
historical records and selected primary sources. However,
the range of publication dates of the sources as a whole (1958-2004)
allows for a broader context in which to interpret Wilsons
actions.
The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the intentions of
Woodrow Wilson in his decision to send American troops to North
Russia and Siberia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1920.
It does so by examining the relationship between Wilson and the
other Allied leaders after Americas entry into the Great
War, assessing the pressures on Wilson to send troops into Russia
including the sentiment of the American public, analyzing the
ideological views that would have affected Wilsons decision,
and evaluating his statements and actions during the
intervention. Based on the results of the
evaluation, one can conclude that because Wilson vehemently
opposed any significant contribution of American troops and
forbade Japan to send more than 7,000 of potentially hundreds of
thousands of troops, he did not intend to overthrow the deeply
entrenched Bolshevik regime. Perhaps in the strictest sense,
Wilson did in fact intervene, but not with the
serious intention of strangling the new revolution.
His true intention in sending troops was to combat Japanese
expansion into Russian-held territory and to support the Czech
Legion. His antipathy for the Bolshevik revolution
from above served not as a motivation for intervention, but
as a mitigating factor in his resistance to violating the sixth
of his Fourteen Points.
Reed 7
Candidate
#: D0993112
II.
Background to the Conflict
The overthrow of the hated Tsar Nicholas II in the March
Revolution touched a feeling of sympathy in Americans. Newspaper
Editors, labor leaders, political statesmen, governors, public
meetings
hailed the [March] revolution4.
Teddy Roosevelt exclaimed I rejoice
that Russia
has ranged herself on the side of orderly liberty5.
Meanwhile, Jewish immigrants to America brought with them tales
of severe repression under the Romanovs, such as the Kishiniev
Slaughter of 1903, in which almost fifty Jews were killed and
hundreds were wounded in a government-encouraged pogrom6.
Some Americans responded with sympathy and outrage, while others
just resented the influx of poor, radical foreigners adding
to the
problems of eastern cities. These views
combined to form massive opposition to the Tsarist regime, and
satisfaction at its demise6. Wilson was at first
hesitant to fight alongside a Tsarist autocracy ironically to
make the world safe for democracy, but after the
revolution, Wilson claimed that the US had a fit partner
for a league of honor7.
Soon Americans had created for themselves an idealized,
sentimental view of the Russians with little basis in political
reality. With the trends toward Russian culture in music
and plays, the vision of quasi-mystical peasantry seeking
beauty and freedom planted itself in the mindset of the
American people8. Americans assumed that
democracy would reinvigorate Russias war effort, but they
failed to realize that much of what contributed to the downfall
of Nicholas II was disgust with war9. This
naiveté stemmed from the fact that America had sustained very
little damage at that point in the
Reed
8
Candidate
#: D0993112
war.
One year after America had joined, less than 2,000 men had died,
and the harsh realities of war that European belligerents had
come to accept had not yet set in America10. Everything
was still running smoothly, at least ostensibly- sports, music,
and other forms of entertainment remained healthy during the war
years10. Under these circumstances, it is not
surprising that Americans could scarcely conceive of anyone in Russia
voluntarily heeding the call of the traitors for
peace11.
In
April 1916, Germany exported a revolution to Russia
by smuggling in Lenin, an exile at the time, into Russia. After
Lenins successful November Revolution in 1917,
the social democratic provisional government established in March
under the leadership of Alexander Kerensky was dissolved, and the
Bolshevik party took over. One of Lenins first
actions was to call for an immediate cease-fire between Russia
and Germany12. Despite the harsh terms that Germany
demanded for peace and an initial refusal to accept the loss of Finland,
the Baltic States, and any land gained in the Russo-Turkish war, Russiasigned
the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918, effectively ending
the fight against Germany on the eastern front13.
At this point, Germany was free to move its troops from the
Eastern to the Western Front, gaining the numerical superiority
necessary to launch a massive Spring Offensive. The Allies
did not despair, but sought to avoid another year of war if
possible13. The German offensive hit the weary,
demoralized British troops the hardest. As the British
generals became more desperate, they began to consider the
possibility of renewed resistance on the eastern front to spread Germanys
forces more thinly14.
Reed 9
Candidate
#: D0993112
III.
Wilson as an Anti-Bolshevist School of Thought
Meanwhile, the realization began to dawn on the American people
that the Bolsheviks must have at least enjoyed some amount of
popular support. They felt betrayed, and projected their
anger onto the Bolsheviks and Russians in general15.
With the idea of manifest destiny ingrained into the American
mindset, applying the same principle in the east would not be
unnatural for many Americans15. Peter G. Filene
claims that [Wilson] fought the war in order to convert
other nations to his ideals, and he dealt with Russia on the same
terms15. N. Gordon Levin supports this
claim, arguing that Wilsons political creed, which centered
on American exceptionalism and the nations
mission to enlighten mankind with the principles of its
unique liberal heritage, was fundamentally incompatible
with Lenins16. Lenin was equally unwilling
to compromise, opposing any peace that maintained the capitalist
status quo, refusing to distinguish any difference between
Entente and Central Powers, and rejecting any attempts to
purify war aims.16 Inevitably, Levin
argues, these mutually exclusive Weltanschauungen led to a
direct conflict17.
It
was around this time, especially after the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
was finally agreed upon on March 3rd, 1918, that the
accusation that German agents were controlling the Bolsheviks
began to spread.18 It was known to Wilson and
the Allies that Lenin and Trotsky had been brought back from
exile to Russia by the Germans, and probably given support in the
toppling of the provisional government19. In a
June 1918 State Department memorandum, secretary of state Lansing
writes:
Reed 10
Candidate
#: D0993112
The
fact is that while Germany in a way has been using the Bolshevik
element either directly through bribes of some of its leaders or
as a result of the principles of government they espouse and
practice, Germany is appealing to the conservative elements of
Russia as their only hope against the Bolsheviks.19
Washington
was concerned that if the US did not make an attempt to intervene
against the Bolsheviks, the anti-Bolshevik elements would turn to
Germany for support, thus playing into the plan that Germany had
envisioned from the start. Examples of Germanys
success in the execution of this plan, Lansing argues,
are to be seen in Finland and Ukraine where all of the
conservative elements
were driven by desperation to request
German protection from Bolshevik terror.20
The so-called Kulaks the class of the
moderately successful that the Bolsheviks demonized could
become the political base from which the Germans could expand
their influence. During the crisis of Brest-Litovsk, the US
ambassador to Russia Francis cabled to Lansing, stating that even
if Lenin and Trotsky were not in the pay of Germany, they
could not have played more successfully into Germanys
hands21. The fact that Germany may have
been benefiting greatly from Wilsons policy of
nonintervention could only have given him more incentive to
counter the Bolsheviks.
The general attitude of the American people at the time was
vehemently against domestic socialists, anarchists, and radicals,
which set them against the Bolsheviks especially, since they
pulled Russia out of the war22. Despite this
fact, Americans forced themselves to remain optimistic regarding
the Russian situation, which led to the
Reed 11
Candidate
#: D0993112
formation
of such groups as the American League to Aid and Cooperate
with Russia and The Society of the Friends of Russian
Freedom23. The Bolsheviks were typically
written off as mere demagogues, who would soon lose popular
support and fade into oblivion23. Also, Filene
argues, as anxiety about the war grew, the emotional inability to
have more than one real enemy led Americans to sympathize with Russia;
the Hun was the real enemy, whereas the
Red could not have been equally despicable. The
Russians were thus interpreted as the victims in need of saving24.
Many liberals, though upset with the November Revolution, saw the
Russian crisis as the acid test of liberalism itself25.
So why, if Wilson indeed wanted to strangle the proletarian
revolution, did he not immediately capitulate to the pressures of
his diplomats, the other allied powers, and the anti-Bolshevik
sentiment of the American people? N.Gordon Levin suggests
two reasons: One, Wilson doubted whether reviving the eastern
front was even feasible; and two, he feared that the entrance of
Anglo-French and Japanese troops would alienate otherwise
supportive Russians26. Wilsons dilemma,
according to Miles Hudson, was that a small-scale intervention
could neither topple the Bolsheviks nor maintain order on its own,
while a large-scale intervention would be interpreted as a
foreign invasion by Western imperialists27. Also,
Wilson had to consider the establishment of his beloved League of
Nations, which was contingent upon his credibility and good
relations with the other Allied Powers once the war was over28.
Ironically, an intervention in Russia would have
violated the sixth of Wilsons Fourteen Points: The
evacuation of all Russian territory
as will secure
for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the
independent determination of her own political development and
Reed 12
Candidate
#: D0993112
national policy29.
Christopher Pallazolo, who characterizes Wilson as an ardent anti-Bolshevist,
holds that he had an opportune moment to intervene
when Lenin pinned down the troops of the Czech Legion on the
Trans-Siberian Railroad who were heading towards Vladivostok30.
The Czechs, still loyal to the Allied cause, were intended to
leave Russia via Vladivostok and rejoin the fight at the western
front, when the Bolsheviks suddenly halted the trains and
demanded assimilation into the Red Guard30. Intervening
with the ostensible cause of responding to the tragic plight of
the Czechs would appeal both to Wilsons idealism and the
many Czechs who had recently immigrated to the US31.
Also, the Czech Legion could form the nucleus around
which anti-Bolshevik forces could rally with the support of the
Allied Powers. In fact, after Wilson released his Aide-Memoir,
reports were emanating from American diplomats in Siberia that
the nucleus had already formed32.
Historian John Lewis Gaddis suggests that the idea that Wilson
was concerned about German influence in Russia is faulty, since Germany
had planned to move troops to the Western Front for its Spring
Offensive, and thus could not spare troops to occupy Russia33.
Also, the inefficiency of the Russian railroad system would have
prevented Germany from using the war supplies allocated to Russiaany
more effectively than the Russians did33. Despite
these facts, Gaddis argues, the true inhibition that Wilsonhad to
sending a larger intervention force was the fear of driving the
Bolsheviks into German hands33. Gaddis also
contends that all of Wilsons actions were based on a
loathing for Bolshevism, but that he masked his actions with the
pretext of bolstering the war effort,
Reed 13
Candidate
#: D0993112
promoting
allied unity, monitoring the Japanese, and helping the Czechs-
anything that would not engender sympathy for the Bolsheviks34.
IV.
Forced into Intervention School of Thought
Georg Schild argues that Wilson committed troops to Northern
Russia and Siberia under immense pressure, and only after
conciliatory efforts had been made to the new government. In
January 1918, Wilson stressed in his Fourteen Points speech that
his goal was to secure further Russian participation in the
war by expressing friendship and the willingness to aid the
country35. Wilson noted the differences
between the two nations, but envisioned for Russia a system
similar to that of the US, in which a diverse people could enjoy
self-determination without the dissolution of the
country36 From this perspective,
intervention in Russia so aggressive as to fracture its political
structure would be illogical. Schild emphasizes that,
although Wilsons ostensible reason for sending troops was
to prevent Germans from utilizing war materials stored in
Russia, his equally important aim was maintaining
Allied unity during the decisive period of the world war37.
According to Schild, Wilson eventually capitulated to Realpolitik,
but was far from oblivious to the necessity for Russian self-determination.
Historian Victor M. Fic holds the view that the US did not
intervene at all in Russia as part of his broader argument that
the US should have intervened with the goal of destroying
Bolshevism. He comments on the mindset of Wilsonafter the
armistice as a product of the glitter and hubris of the
celebrations accorded to him as the savior of
Reed 14
Candidate
#: D0993112
Europe
at the Versailles Peace Conference in 191938.
Fics argument centers around the
idea
that Wilsons true ambition in sending troops to Russia was
to salvage the Czech Legion, sacrificing any gains they had made,
rather than to grant Russians self-determination. At the
Supreme War Council meeting on July 2, 1918, Wilson disregarded
the Allied proposal to reopen the Eastern Front as well as
Lansings proposal on Allied action from Vladivostok to the
Volga39. Though Lansing disagreed ideologically
with Wilson on the matter of intervention, he faithfully
transcribed the memorandum of the council meeting of July 2,
which contains the following key points that reveal Wilsons
initial, uncompromised view:
1.
Establishment of an Eastern Front
is physically
impossible
2.
any advance west of Irkutsk
needs no further
consideration
3.
The present situation of the Czecho-Slovaks requires this
government and other governments to make an effort to aid those
at Vladivostok in forming a junction with their compatriots in Western
Siberia
4.
the furnishing of small arms, machine guns, and ammunition
to the Czecho-Slovak at Vladivostok by the Japanese
government40
Wilson
explains in his Aide-Memoir that intervention would not
Serve Russia but promote Allied Interests41.
However, information reaching Washington at the time, Fic
contends, confirmed the opposite. Russian people had
rallied around the Czechs since early June, and Czechs in turn
assisted them in setting up their own military
Reed 15
Candidate
#: D0993112
formations
The various types of provisional governments
issued
invitations to the
allies
to intervene41. Wilson did eventually
compromise his formerly obstinate opposition to intervention in
his July 17 Aide-Memoir, though he never used the word
intervention. The Allies wanted far more than
the paltry 14,000 troops offered by the Japanese and Americans,
but Wilsons refusal to compromise further essentially
killed any hopes for democracy in Russia for the next several
decades42. In the Aide-Memoir, Wilson acts as if
opening the door for unilateral Allied action when he states:
The government of the United States does not wish it to be
understood that in so restricting its own activities, it is
seeking
to define the policies of its associates43.
However, without support from the US, no plan for intervention
could go forth. The French and British were too committed
to the Western Front to dispatch any significant force of troops
to Russia. Additionally, Wilson had the ability to simply
threaten to remove troops from the Western Front if the Allies
ignored Wilsons policy and relocated troops to Vladivostok43.
Finally, Wilson had the ability to send to Russia vast numbers of
Japanese if he was unwilling to divert troops from the Western
front. If he truly wanted to crush Bolshevism absolutely,
he had in all about 142,000 men, 35,000 horses, and 90,000 men in
reserve from Japan waiting for his order to intervene44.
Betty
Miller Unterberger argues that after the negotiations at Brest-Litovsk,
Wilson was sweating blood over the question of
intervention, but also that his military advisers strongly
opposed intervention. General Tasker H. Bliss, who was the
American representative on the Supreme War Council, believed that
Siberian Intervention was a Sideshow born of
desperation45. Unterberger, unlike Victor
M. Fic, argues that at least
Reed 16
Candidate
#: D0993112
in
the mind of France and Britain, intervention was primarily a
drive to reopen the eastern
front
rather than a war to crush Bolshevism45. Also,
the chaos at Vladivostok combined with widespread fear of
Japanese designs in Siberia increased pressure on Wilson both at
home and abroad46. Japan had issued its infamous
21 Demands in 1915 while the Allies were preoccupied
with the fight against Germany, revealing their dependence on
China, especially towards the north in Manchuria, for raw materials.47
Japans position was especially threatening because Wilson
did not have as much leverage to influence Japan as it did on
France and Britain, two nations that relied on the US to help
maintain the Western Front. It would hardly be a stretch
for Wilson to interpret Japanese eagerness to commit large
numbers of troops as a move to establish themselves in Siberia.
Stories
from the area claimed that Vladivostok was in flame While
the Bolsheviki were intent on an orgy of murdering and
plundering48. The French especially were
considering a large expedition to prevent Bolshevism from
spreading to Siberia. The British, meanwhile, pushed for
unilateral Japanese intervention, but Wilson flatly rejected this49.
When Ambassador Francis conceded that North Russia could have a
strategic advantage, the British quickly persuaded him that there,
unlike in Siberia, the Japanese would have no influence, and thus
could not be perceived as invaders. By June 1st,
1918, Wilson had capitulated and diverted troops from France to North
Russia. Meanwhile, to pressure Wilson into consenting to
Siberian intervention, the Allies warned that Japan would act
independently or even come to an understanding with Germany50.
These arguments had little effect on Wilson, but according to
Unterberger,
Reed 17
Candidate
#: D0993112
rescuing
the Czechs gave Wilson a moral justification to expand
intervention to Siberia51.
Wilson
proposed that Japan send a maximum of 7,000 troops to Siberia
for political reasons, but in a response to Secretary
Polk on July 24, Ambassador Ishii expressed the view that the
limitation was founded on a lack of faith in Japanese intentions52.
The Japanese proposed sending a division, approximately 12,000
troops, and possibly more depending on Bolshevik resistance52.
Wilsons final decision, Unterberger argues, was based on
two justifications. First, Wilson had by the time he wrote
his Aide-Memoir realized that intervention was inevitable,
and that without American counterbalance, Japan would take
advantage of its strategic position and available troops. Second,
he wanted to call the allies out of the intervention, should it
fail, from the inside rather than as a distant, uninvolved power
on the outside, so as to have more credibility. In her
words, the hand of the United States was forced53.
V.
Conclusions
In the assessment of Wilsons motives for sending troops to
North Russia and Siberia, regardless of whether it is labeled
intervention or not, the claim that Wilson intended
to crush the Bolsheviks for ideological reasons represents a
distortion of the character of the conflict. The most
obvious counterargument to this claim is the fact that Wilson
himself was the biggest advocate for limitations on troops.
One must also consider the ideological aspects of a proposed
intervention. Wilsons faith in self-determination and
hopes for a successful League of Nations would have strongly
Reed 18
Candidate
#: D0993112
influenced
his decisions. While Britain was urging Ambassador Francis
and President
Wilson
to allow Japan to take charge of the intervention using their
vast surplus of troops and equipment, Wilson refused to yield on
the issue, and ultimately sent his own troops as a means to
restrain Japan.
While
it is true that the Weltanschauungen of Wilson and Lenin
were mutually exclusive, this ideological conflict did not
necessarily lead to a military conflict. Wilson had enough
political experience to distinguish when to sacrifice ideology
for Realpolitik. For example, in the Mexican
revolution, Wilson chose not to send a traditional intervention
force to topple the oppressive government. Instead, he
chose to undermine Mexican feudalism from within by developing a
policy of aid to the Mexican constitutionalists, eventually
creating the prerequisites for liberalism, capitalism, and
stability in Mexico54.
One factor in Wilsons decision that must not be overlooked
in an assessment is the sentiment of the people. Despite
the fact that American sentiment was decidedly against prolonged
intervention soon after the armistice was signed, the general
mood leading up to Wilsons publication of the Aide-Memoir
was one fervently in favor of intervening in Russia. To a
leader as concerned as Wilson with rule by consent, public
opinion would have held a strong influence. While Wilson himself
may not have believed that the Russian people had been taken
advantage of by a despotic regime, he was certainly in favor of
the March revolution and the creation of a Provisional government
under Alexander Kerensky. The news of the November
Revolution and the dealings at Brest-Litovsk for a separate peace
with Germany would have dealt a severe blow to
Reed 19
Candidate
#: D0993112
Wilsons
perception of the Russian situation, ideologically if not
militarily. However, ideological differences alone would
not have been enough to provoke Wilson to intervene. The
most significant impact that ideological differences could have
had on Wilsons decision would have been to mitigate his
resistance to sending troops and encourage him to act against
Japanese designs.
Aside from ideological differences, and before the Armistice was
signed, much of Wilsons decision to send troops was based
on the fear that the middle and upper class Russians who held
political influence, so called Kulaks, who were
threatened by the ideology of the Bolsheviks, would turn to the
Germans as a solution. Considering the fact that the
Germans had brought Lenin and Trotsky out of exile and back into Russia
soon after the March Revolution, this fear would seem irrational.
But due to a similar situation in the Ukraine in which
conservative elements appealed to Germans for support, the fear
that Germans had anticipated and planned to take advantage of
conservative backlash against socialism could not have seemed too
far-fetched to Wilson, especially in light of German and Austrian
prisoners of war that could potentially be rearmed in Russia.
Regarding the plight of the Czech Legion and the massive
international and domestic support for providing them aid,
authors such as Christopher Pallazolo and E.M. Halliday claim
that Wilson used their crisis as a pretext to attack the
Bolsheviks. But evidence from Victor M. Fic suggests
otherwise, that Wilson only intended to form a
nucleus of popular support that would allow the
Czechs safe passage out of Russia so that they could rejoin the
fight on the Western Front.
Reed 20
Candidate
#: D0993112
In
Conclusion, Wilsons primary motivation was strategic, with
an ideological aspect that mitigated his initial resistance to
committing to a conflict that would violate the sixth of his
fourteen points and possibly undermine his credibility among
other nations and the Allies in particular. Lenins
ideology in which an elite vanguard who knew what was best for
the people would rule for them may have been antithetical to Wilsons
vision of self-determination, but his real, practical reason for
sending troops was to check Japanese ambitions in Siberia. In
light of Japans invasion of Manchuria during the Interwar
Crisis, and the Leagues subsequent inability to do anything
to stop it, this precaution on Wilsons part was justified.
The fact that Wilson, despite his devotion to freedom and self-determination,
only sent a minimal number of troops into Russia shows that his
anti-Bolshevik sentiment was subordinated to his strategic
mission of checking Japanese designs on Siberia without the
Russian people perceiving troops as the forefront of an American
invasion.
Word
Count: 4090
Reed
21
Candidate
#: D0993112
End Notes
1 Fic, Victor M. The Collapse
of American Policy in Russia and Siberia, 1918. Colombia University
Press, New York 1995 pp. 24
2 Halliday, E.M. When Hell
Froze Over. Ibooks, Inc., New York 2000 pp. Ii
3 Interview with Mike Grobbel
4 Filene, Peter G. Americans
and the Soviet Experiment, 1917-1933. Harvard University
Press, Cambridge 1967 pp. 10
5 Ibid., p. 10
6 Ibid., p. 11
7 Gaddis, John Lewis. Russia, The
Soviet Union, and the United States: An Interpretive History.
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1978 pp. 58
8 Filene, p. 12
9 Ibid., p. 12
10 Kennan, George F. Soviet-American
Relations, 1917-1920: The Decision to Intervene. Princeton UP,
Princeton 1958 p. 5
11 Filene, p. 13
12 Strachan, Hew. The First
World War. Penguin Group, New York 2004 pp. 263
13 Kennan, p. 3
14 Ibid., p. 4
15 Filene, p. 17
16 Levin, N. Gordon Jr. Woodrow
Wilson and World Politics: Americas Response to War and
Revolution. Oxford University Press, New York 1970 p. 13
17 Ibid. p. 76
18 Filene, p. 21
Reed
22
Candidate
#: D0993112
19
Levin, p. 92
20
Ibid. p. 92
21 Ibid. p. 94
22 Filene p. 21
23 Ibid. p. 23
24 Ibid. p. 24
25 Ibid. p. 27
26 Levin, p. 95
27 Hudson, Miles. Intervention
in Russia: 1918-1920. Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2004 p. 174
28 Pallazolo, Christopher. American
Intervention In Russia: A Study of Wilsonian foreign Policy.
Modus Vivendi 3.1 (1997) pp. 4
29 Halliday p. 23
30 Pallazolo, p. 5
31 Halliday, p. 26
32 Fic p. 190
33 Gaddis, p. 67
34 Ibid. p. 34
35 Schild, Georg. Between
Ideology and Realpolitik. Greenwood Press, Westport 1995 p.
61
36 Ibid. p. 61
37 Ibid. p. 70
38 Fic X
Reed
23
Candidate
#: D0993112
39 Ibid. p. 176
40 Ibid. p. 177
41 Ibid. p. 189
42 Ibid. p.192
43 Ibid. p. 195
44 Ibid. p. 196
45 Unterberger, Betty Miller. Americas
Siberian Expedition, 1918-1920: A Study of National Policy. Duke
University Press, Durham N.C. 1956 p. 21
46 Ibid. p. 22
47 Hanneman, Mary L. Japan
Faces the World, 1925-1952. Longman Publishing Group, Harlow
2001 p.7
48 Unterberger p. 23
49 Ibid. p. 11
50 Ibid. p. 52
51 Ibid. p. 60
52 Ibid. p. 82
53 Ibid. p. 88
54 Levin p. 20
Reed
24
Candidate
#: D0993112
Works Cited
Fic, Victor M. The Collapse of American
Policy in Russia and Siberia, 1918. Colombia
University Press, New York 1995
Filene, Peter G. Americans and the Soviet
Experiment, 1917-1933. Harvard University
Press, Cambridge 1967
Gaddis, John Lewis. Russia, The Soviet
Union, and the United States: An Interpretive
History. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York 1978
Halliday, E.M. When Hell Froze Over. Ibooks,
Inc., New York 2000
Hanneman, Mary L. Japan Faces the World,
1925-1952. Longman Publishing Group,
Harlow 2001
Hudson, Miles. Intervention in Russia:
1918-1920. Pen and Sword, Barnsley 2004
Kennan, George F. Soviet-American
Relations, 1917-1920: The Decision to Intervene.
Princeton UP, Princeton 1958
Levin, N. Gordon Jr. Woodrow Wilson and
World Politics: Americas Response to War
and Revolution. Oxford University Press, New York 1970
Pallazolo, Christopher. American
Intervention In Russia: A Study of Wilsonian foreign
Policy. Modus Vivendi 3.1 (1997)
Schild, Georg. Between Ideology and
Realpolitik. Greenwood Press, Westport 1995
Strachan, Hew. The First World War. Penguin
Group, New York 2004
Unterberger, Betty Miller. Americas
Siberian Expedition, 1918-1920: A Study of National
Policy. Duke University Press, Durham N.C. 1956