Versailles #44: From Russia, No Love

In our latest episode, we introduce you to the revolutionary wasteland that was Russia in 1919. Russia was a very confusing place at this time, because it was the subject of a lot of debate regarding that key question – should the allies launch some kind of military expedition against the Bolsheviks? That apparently simple question was complicated by the fact that the allies already had forces in different corners of Russia – 180,000 soldiers in total. How had they gotten here, why were they here, and if allied disunity over Russia’s future was the order of the day, then why hadn't they simply been allowed to return home?

These questions were all difficult to answer, but as we will learn in this episode, understanding Russia is impossible unless we first get to grips with the context of 1919 Russia, and the impact which the closing months of the Great War had had on the psyche of all sides. Different factions in Russia were a dime a dozen, with Siberia, Crimean, Ukrainian, Caucasian and Far Northern fronts, among others, but the Bolsheviks had one key advantage over all of these separated foes – they were not separated, they were more united in vision and purpose than these White factions could ever claim to be. Worldwide revolution, though it had lost some of its shine, had lost none of its edge, and Lenin still very much intended to unleash this nightmare on the Western world.

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