Lenin's foreign policy Flashcards
Why were his foreign aims needed?
In 1920, Poland invaded Russia but was repelled. Lenin saw it as a chance to spread revolution to Germany, but Warsaw’s fall was a major failure. Polish resistance forced him to adopt a pragmatic, peaceful approach. Aware of the Soviet Union’s vulnerability,he aimed to prevent capitalist nations from uniting against Russia by exploiting their differences, leading to the Treaty of Rapallo (1922) and a British trade deal (1921). Diplomacy remained difficult due to the Comintern.
Aim to Boost Economic Stability
Evidence of Success:
Treaty of Rapallo 1922
1921 Trade Agreement with Anglo-Soviet Britain.
Evidence of limited success:
Zinoviev Letter 1924
Treaty of Rapallo relied on the German economy.
Aim of promoting socialist revolution in other countries
Evidence of Success:
1924 Zinoviev Letter gains recognition.
1921 Comitern 3 met for the 10th time with delegates from over 50 nations. Over 600 were present.
Evidence of limited Success:
1924 Zinoviev Letter was negative propaganda.
1921 was diplomatically isolated and excluded from the UN.
Winston Churchill strongly apposed the spread of Communism.
Aim in Gaining international
recognition for Bolshevik
Russia /the Soviet Union as
a country
Evidence of Success:
In 1924 official recognition of the USSR as a country by Britan France and Italy.
Anglo-Soviet 1921 trade agreements strengthed relationships and in 1923 the PM was a socialist and recognised the USSR in 1924.
Comintern 3
Bullitt mission
Evidence of Limited success:
1920 Poles mission failed, leading to change of Policy to focus on socialism in one country.
Diplomatically isolates in 1921 when excluded from the UN.
Treaty of Riga 18th Mar 1921 confirmed Poland’s borders.
Britain and Russia
Britain
Anglo-Soviet trade agreement in 1921
British PM was a socialist in 1923. Recognised the Ussr in 1924
The establishment was appalled by this. A letter of mysterious
provenance purporting to have been sent by Grigory Zinoviev,
head of the Communist International (Comintern), to the British
Communist Party with instructions
O
prepare for revolution. The
letter was first published on October 25, 1924, four days before
general election, in the British newspaper Daily Mail under the
headline “Civil War Plot by Socialists’ Masters.” Its appearance
caused great embarrassment to the Labour government of
Ramsey MacDonald, which on February 2 of that year had
bestowed diplomatic recognition on the Soviet Union. It was a
forgery by MI6.
Germany and the 1922 Rapallo Treaty
Secret negotiations began in 1921
Treaty of Rapallo, (April 16, 1922) treaty
between Germany and the Soviet Union, signed
at Rapallo, Italy. Negotiated by Germany’s Walther
Rathenau and the Soviet Union’s Georgy V. Chicherin, it
re-established normal relations between the two nations.
The nations agreed to cancel all financial claims against
each other, and the treaty strengthened their economic
and military ties.
Comitern 3
Comitern 3 met for the 10th time in 1921 with 600 delegates from over 50 nations.
Russo-Polish war
1919-1920 there was military conflict between Soviet Russia and Poland as both sought to seize Ukraine.
Resulted in the Treaty of Riga March 1921 which confirmed Poland’s boarders.
The league of Nations and Russia
The UN excluded Russia and Germany in 1921, diplomatically isolating them.
Germany and the Spartacists.
In January 1919, Marxists Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg led a failed Communist revolt in Berlin, believing revolution would spread from Russia. Ebert’s government fled to Weimar, leaving the Freikorps and the army to crush the uprising. The Spartacists, mostly untrained civilians, stood no chance against the well-armed Freikorps. Their leaders were arrested and murdered.
1919 Bullitt Mission (Russia and America)
The Bullitt Mission (1919) was a secret U.S. Effort to negotiate peace between the Allies and Soviet Russia at the Paris Peace Conference. Lenin proposed a ceasefire, lifting the Allied blockade, and Soviet repayment of pre-revolutionary debts. Its positives included economic relief, ending hostilities on the Eastern Front, preventing further civil war, establishing U.S.-Soviet relations, and promoting European stability.
However it failed because failed as the Allies backed the White Russians, giving them £100 million in aid. Wilson withdrew support, and by 1920, the Bolsheviks controlled 80% of Russia, making Lenin reject concessions.
