A Splendid Little War

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A Splendid Little War is based on fact. In 1919 Britain sent forces from all three Armed Services to Russia, in support of the White armies in their civil war against the Bolshevik armies. Britain also sent military supplies to the value of more than a hundred million pounds — a billion pounds in modern money — to help the White cause. This policy was known as “the Intervention”. It ended in failure. Many British personnel died in Russia or in Russian waters.

The Intervention was a complex affair. In the Baltic, the Royal Navy engaged in sea battles against the Soviet fleet and bombarded positions inland. In the far south, British units fought Bolshevik forces on the shores of the Caspian Sea, as they did in the far north, at Murmansk and Archangel. British troops were sent to Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast. Training units went to the heart of Siberia, to assist Admiral Kolchak’s anti-Bolshevik campaign, and took part in the fighting. At various times, Canadian, American, French, Greek, Japanese and Czech forces were all involved in the conflict. But Britain was by far the biggest actor, and the biggest spender.

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