During the foreign intervention of 1918-1921, Russia was divided into zones of influence. If the plans of the interventionists were realized, our country would simply not exist within its present borders.
The beginning of the intervention
Immediately after the “Decree on Peace” and the armistice between Soviet Russia and Germany on the Eastern Front, on December 3, 1917, the USA, France, England and their allied countries decided to divide the former Russian Empire into zones of interest.
It was about establishing ties with local national governments and declaring the independence of Ukraine, Belarus, the Caucasus, Poland, Finland and other Baltic countries, as well as the Far East. A month later, at a special convention, England and France divided Russia into spheres of invasion.
The French zone was supposed to consist of Bessarabia, Ukraine and the Crimea, and the English zone was supposed to consist of the territories of the Cossacks, the Caucasus, Armenia, Georgia and Kurdistan. The American government, remaining in the shadows, adopted Secretary of State Lansing's report on the provision of covert support for British and French initiatives.
As the historian Kirmel writes, the appendix to the map of "New Russia" compiled by the US State Department said:
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“All of Russia should be divided into large natural areas, each with its own distinct economic life. At the same time, no region should be independent enough to form a strong state."
The threat to the integrity of Russia came not only from the West, but also from the East. On February 26, 1918, Allied Commander-in-Chief Marshal Foch said that "America and Japan must meet Germany in Siberia - they have the opportunity to do so." This was the beginning of agitation for Japan's military intervention in the Far East. Already on March 5, the Daily mail insisted on the need to invite Japan to Siberia and create an "Asian Russia", as opposed to the European one, under the rule of the Soviets.
Discord in the Allied camp
And yet, for a long time, the Allied troops did not dare to invade Russia. First, the unfinished war with Germany created too great risks for the dispersal of human resources. Secondly, for a long time, no one took the October coup and the Bolsheviks seriously, expecting that the latter would fall after the defeat of Germany.
According to the American historian Richard Pipes, Lenin and his party were unknown quantities, and no one took their utopian plans and statements seriously. The prevailing opinion, especially after Brest-Litovsk, was that the Bolsheviks were Germany's henchmen and would disappear from the political arena simultaneously with the end of the war.
Therefore, in late 1917 - early 1918, the "allies" took a cautious course and preferred, for the most part, to stay on the sidelines. In addition, for a long time there was no consensus among the Entente countries about open intervention. In particular, American President Wilson opposed it, who considered the formation of independent states in the border regions of Russia as paramount, and regarded intervention as unnecessary interference in the affairs of another country.
His ardent opponents were Churchill, who, after the General Staff of the High Command of the Entente armies adopted the resolution "On the need for Allied intervention in Russia" and the occupation of Murmansk by Britain, saw in a weakened Russia, in particular, an excellent sales market and a cheap source of raw materials.
This made it possible to freely compete with Germany, whose industry was better. Many American politicians also actively advocated the introduction of troops and the dismemberment of Russia. In particular, the American ambassador provoked his president with statements that the White movement was losing patience, waiting for an allied intervention, and could come to an agreement with Germany.
It must be said that Germany also did not promise longevity to its new ally. The German ambassador Mirbach wrote that he saw no further point in supporting the Bolsheviks: “We are certainly standing at the bedside of a hopelessly sick person. Bolshevism will soon fall … In the hour of the fall of the Bolsheviks, German troops must be ready to capture both capitals and begin to form a new government. The core of the pro-German government, according to Mirbach, should have been made up of moderate Octobrists, cadets and big businessmen.
On August 27, in Berlin, new treaties were signed between Germany and exhausted Russia. According to them, the Soviet government pledged to fight against the Entente in the European and northern parts of Russia. Germany was given control over the remnants of the Black Sea Fleet and port equipment on the Black Sea. It was also decided that if Baku is returned to Russia, a third of oil production will go to Germany. In addition, secret articles were added to the treaty, according to which the Soviet government promised to drive out the troops of the West from the territory of the country with the help of German and Finnish troops. The agreement of August 27 was the last straw in relations between the Soviet government and the West. A large-scale intervention has begun.
In the name of democracy
The West found more and more reasons to continue the intervention. At first, these were Churchill's slogans: "In the name of victory in this great war." Then they turned into loud appeals: "In the name of democracy", "assistance in restoring the constitutional order in Russia" and so on. At the same time, the Allies were in no hurry to provide active assistance to the White movement and to free their "close neighbor" from "openly recognized enemies," according to Churchill.
According to the historian Kimel, the main difficulty was that as a result of the establishment of close relations between the white governments and the Entente, the different goals of the White Guards and European countries immediately became visible. The main stumbling block was the desire of the tsarist generals to restore the "United and indivisible Russia", in which the West, especially Great Britain, saw a potential threat to her colonial lands.
The report of the parliamentary meeting of the British Parliament on November 8 and 17 states the following opinion: “The expediency of assisting Admiral Kolchak and General Denikin is controversial, since they are“fighting for United Russia”… It's not for me to point out whether this slogan is in line with British policy … One of our great people, Lord Beaconsfield, saw in the huge, mighty and great Russia, rolling like a glacier towards Persia, Afghanistan and India, the most formidable danger for the British Empire. " The "policy of double standards" of the allies, even without intelligence reports, was not a secret for the white generals. According to Major General Batyushin, it was enough just to read the foreign press every day to understand the true goals of the West. Denikin himself indignantly recalled in his diaries: “From Paris they often wrote to us:Allied assistance is insufficient because the struggle between South and East is unpopular among European democracies; that in order to gain their sympathy, two words must be said: Republic and Federation. We did not say these words."
Solidarity movement
In addition to the uncompromising position of the leaders of the White movement on the integrity of Russia, the intervention was greatly complicated by the movement of solidarity in the Entente countries in relation to Soviet Russia. The working class sympathized with the Soviets and their support resulted in mass demonstrations throughout Europe with the slogans: "Hands off Soviet Russia." They refused to equip warships for intervention, obstructed the work of factories, which in war and post-war conditions threatened a major economic crisis that would put England in dependence on the United States. Soldiers' riots were also a big problem. In 1919, the 55th infantry regiment and the French fleet on the Black Sea rebelled near Tiraspol. The war in a revolutionary country threatened to develop into a revolution in the interventionist countries.
Compromise with the Bolsheviks
The end of the First World War finally determined the further fate of the intervention. Under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, many independent political entities were created on the borders of the RSFSR: the Ukrainian People's Republic, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, the Republic of Estonia, which was the original goal of the Entente countries. Therefore, in January 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, it was decided to abandon a further invasion of Russian territory, limiting its assistance to the White movement only with military supplies. The latter decision was also not a generous gift. Armaments had to be paid for with gold reserves and grain, as a result of which the peasants suffered and the popularity of the movement for the restoration of the "old" Russia, led by white generals, was steadily falling.
At this stage of "allied relations" between the whites and the West, one might say that there was no help from the latter. The usual trade was going on - they sold surplus weapons of the allied armies under unprofitable contracts. And then in insufficient quantities: Denikin, for example, the British delivered only a few dozen tanks, although they had thousands in service after the First World War.
There is another version that after the end of the First World War and the creation of the so-called "cordon sanitaire" around the RSFSR, the allies, despite their hostility to the new Soviet government, it was easier to find a language with the Bolsheviks, who were ready to make many compromises. In addition, the post-war economy required the restoration of previous economic ties with Russia in order to avoid major crises and social tensions. Therefore, despite the fact that the last military formations were ousted from the territory of the USSR (in the Far East) in 1925, in fact, the whole meaning of the intervention for the Entente countries became obsolete after the signing of the Versailles Treaty. As for the White movement, being on the outskirts of the former empire, without outside help and supply of weapons, they were doomed.
