The Record of Arms

10 - American Intervention in Siberia 1918-1920

Feb 03, 2020 Episode 10

Mark Seven

During the closing months of the First World War a force of 7,000 American soldiers were sent to the Russian Far East as part of the Allied intervention in post-revolutionary Russia. Here they would encounter a many-sided political and social battle for control of the power vacuum left by the fall of the central government. This episode examines the turbulent situation in the region, the motivations for the Allied involvement, and the struggles of the American troops in the region to uphold their responsibilities under the Allied agreements in the face of partisan warfare, diplomatic and physical intimidation by their supposed partners, and the divergent policies of the American authorities involved. This lesser-known campaign illustrated the kind of thorny international problems confronting the United States, her leaders, diplomats, and soldiers, as the country took on the role of a great power on the world stage.