Chapter 8 - Foreign relations and the attitudes to foreign powers 1918-24 Flashcards
What happened in March 1918?
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
British naval blockade imposed
What happened in August 1918?
Allied forces land in north Russia and the Far East
11,000 US forces in Vladivostok
Baku (home of much of Russia’s oil) occupied by the British
What happened in November 1918?
Armistice to end WWI
What happened in March 1919?
Russia is excluded from the Paris Peace Conference
First Comintern Congress in Moscow
What happened in June 1919?
US forces start to withdraw (civil war)
What happened in August 1919?
British naval assault on Petrograd
What happened in March 1920?
Withdrawal of Allied forces from south Russia
What happened in August 1920?
Westward advance of the Red Army halted at the Battle of Warsaw
What happened in November 1920?
The Bolshevik state is given recognition by Britain
What happened in March 1921
Treaty of Riga ends the Russo-Polish War
What happened in April 1922
Treaty of Rapallo moves Russia away from diplomatic isolation
Reasons for foreign intervention in the civil war
- Britain, France and the USA initially wanted the Whites to win so that Russia could keep fighting the war and stop Germany from moving troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front
- The Allies didn’t want the Bolsheviks getting control over the weaponry they’d sent in the war
- Post war, the Allies were combatting Bolshevism
- Foreign forces uncoordinated and unsure over which anti-Bolshevik forces to support
Why didn’t foreign intervention significantly impact the outcome of the civil war?
- most was too small-scale to have any impact
- major intervention (Japanese invasion of Siberia) was in the Far East and didn’t threaten Bolshevik control of Russia
What does Comintern stand for?
the Communist International
What was Comintern?
An international communist organisation that aimed to promote Marxism and spread proletarian revolution around the world
Founding Congress of the Communist International
Where did it take place?
When?
What were the key issues?
What was the outlook of delegates?
Moscow
March 1919
Lenin promoted the soviet system as the best way of spreading Marxism
Positive. Delegates were convinced worldwide communist revolution was immenent despite the civil war and the suppression of the Spartacist uprising
Second Comintern Congress
Where did it take place?
When?
What were the key issues?
What was the outlook of delegates?
Petrograd
July-August 1920
Lenin’s 21 Conditions: the requirements that must be met to become a member of Comintern
Mixed. Some parties broke away from Comintern because of the 21 Conditions. Bolshevik victory in the civil war looked certain
Third Comintern Congress
Where did it take place?
When?
What were the key issues?
What was the outlook of delegates?
Moscow
June-July 1921
The recovery of the bourgeoisie in countries like Poland and Germany
Disappointed. Expected revolutions had turned into support for bourgeois democracies. Germany ruled by ‘bourgeois-democratic’ Weimar Republic.
How did the focus of Bolshevik leaders change after the Third Comintern Congress
Shifted away from the world revolution to concentrate instead on rebuilding the economy in Russia
Why was there interest in reopening trade deals with Russia?
By 1921 it seemed less likely that revolution would spread in Russia
Who had been excluded from the League of Nations after WWI?
Bolshevik Russia and Weimar Germany
How did the Rapallo Treaty come about?
Chicherin was invited to an important international economic conference in Genoa in 1922
Chicherin and representatives from Weimar Germany held talks in nearby Rapallo
What were the key articles of the Treaty of Rapallo?
- Agreed to waive any claims for compensation arising from WWI
- Formal diplomatic relations reopened
- ‘Mutual goodwill’ stressed in commercial and economic relations
Also a secret treaty allowing Germany to carry out military training on Russian territory
When was a Labour government established in Britain and how did the public react?
1923
Strong opposition from much of the public who hated socialism
What was the Zinoviev letter?
A forged letter published in October 1924, designed to reduce votes for the Labour Party in the general election
More details on the Zinoviev letter
- supposedly from Zinoviev (chairman of Comintern) to one of the leaders of the Labour Party
- called for trade deals and said it was time to organise a revolution in Britain
What was the impact of the Zinoviev letter on the British election?
small
damaged relations between Britain and the Soviet Union
What was the situation in Russia by the time Lenin died?
Left behind a highly centralised, one-party state that had managed to revive the economy but the USSR still faced problems politically, economically, socially and in terms of its international relations
