The Position of the Conservative and Liberal-Labour Circles of Great Britain Regarding the Civil War in Russia

Abstract

The Civil War of 1917–1922 is one of the most complex and controversial issue in the history of Russia. As a consequence of the revolutionary crisis that overtook the Russian state at the beginning of the XX century, these events became decisive for the further development of the country. Any political, economic, informational, military and other shocks do not go unnoticed by other world powers that are actively seeking benefits from the current situation within their national interests. In this aspect, the foreign intervention in Russia of 1918–1921, which represented the military intervention of the Entente countries and the Quadruple Alliance in the Civil War on the side of the White Movement, is noteworthy. One of the most active participants interested in the intervention was Great Britain, which on December 10 (23), 1917, at the Anglo-French negotiations in Paris, decided to delineate zones of interest in the territories of the former Russian Empire. The "Cossack and Caucasian regions", Armenia, Georgia and Kurdistan were identified as the zone of interests of Great Britain. Despite the fact that it was stated that the agreement was directed exclusively against the Central Powers, Great Britain subsequently introduced its armed forces into the territory of revolutionary Russia. Nevertheless, there were active debates in the ruling circles of Great Britain about the goals and necessity of intervention in Russia. The absence of a clearly developed plan and consolidation of the ruling elites in the end did not allow any effective measures to be carried out in Russia.