"A Nasty Little War" Topic

"This is Anna Reid's new book, looking at the West's fight to reverse the Russian revolution. The Allied interventions in support of a mixed bag of White warlords were undoubtedly nasty, but it wasn't that little. Some 180,000 allied troops from 16 countries participated, with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The conflicts ranged from the far north to Siberia, the Black Sea and Poland.

The nastiest element, which clearly shocked the author, was the consistent antisemitism. The White armies often spent more time carrying out pogroms than they did fighting the Bolsheviks. But what surprised the author was the frequent antisemitic jibes in the diaries of British officers. British officials and government ministers, including Churchill, at best, turned a blind eye to the atrocities that probably killed up to 200,000 Jews. General Holman, commanding the British military mission, was 'obsessed by the idea of wiping out the Jews everywhere, and can talk of little else'…"

Full Review here

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Armand

Another one Mr. Wilson's bright Ideas.

The 180,000 Allied soldiers is a stretch. At no point in the whole shebang were there anything like that.

By the time the Japanese -- who were the only ones who were seriously interested in fighting -- reached their peak the other powers had all pulled out. Sure the British sent a division to Siberia, but it barely fired in anger. The French sent a large number in paper to Odessa, but left after even the most moderate opposition, with most of the soldiers never seeing action.

The anti-semitism was real enough, with the Jews often being associated with the Communists. But the killings, although real, were not particularly associated with the Allied held territories. The Ukrainian nationalists -- who the Allies opposed -- were guilty of plenty of that total.

It wasn't a nasty little war. It was a nasty big war, and the Reds gave it that tone well before the Whites.

Thanks

Armand

+1 Mark
H