and Conflict Management
University of Maryland
0145 Tydings Hall
College Park, MD 20742
(301) 314-7703
McGill University
855 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T7
(514) 398-4800
| Background: Bolshevik Russia, precursor to the Soviet Union (USSR), experienced three international crises during its civil war (1918-20). One occurred in Transcaucasia before the end of World War I and is therefore excluded from the IBC data set. Another, from May 1918 to 1 April 1920, took place in Siberia (see Case #3--Russian Civil War II). PRE-CRISIS The Communist regime, which had attained power in Russia on 7 November 1917, opted to withdraw from World War I through a separate peace with Germany--the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918. The Western Allies were anxious to maintain an eastern front against Germany and wished to prevent the Germans from seizing large stocks of arms in Vladivostok (the Far East) and Murmansk and Archangelsk (northern Russia). In pursuit of these goals the Allies attempted to use the 40,000 troops of the Czech. Legion then in Siberia. |
| Summary: The Czech. Legion, an anomalous nonstate actor (NSA), refused to be disarmed by Bolshevik forces. Serious clashes between them ensued triggering a crisis for Russia in May 1918. Intermittent fighting lasted for almost two years: the Czech. Legion, fighting alongside the "Whites," acquired control of large parts of western Siberia and the Urals. However, the lack of sustained military support from the Allies led to the Czech. Legion's decision to evacuate Siberia on 1 April 1920 and to return to the recently created independent Czechoslovakia, thus ending the crisis. Five state actors were highly involved in this crisis--Canada, France, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. All landed troops in Siberia. However, only the Czech. Legion fought against the Bolsheviks. As in Russian Civil War II (see Case #3), Russia was victorious by default because the Czech. Legion decided to disengage without achieving its--or the Allies'--principal objective. The League of Nations, whose Council first met on 16 January 1920, was not involved in this crisis. |
| References: Bradley 1975; Jackson 1972; Kennan 1960; Ullman 1968. |
| Last Updated: 1/5/2004 |
| Center for International Development and Conflict Management University of Maryland 0145 Tydings Hall College Park, MD 20742 (301) 314-7703 |
Department of Political Science McGill University 855 Sherbrooke Street West Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2T7 (514) 398-4800 |
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