the Arctic 1918: Allied Intervention in Russia

On 7 November (25 October Old Style) 1917, Bolshevik Red Guards, led by Leon Trotsky, mounted an armed insurrection in Petrograd, capital of the Russian Republic, capturing several government buildings. The following day they seized the Winter Palace, the seat of Alexander Kerensky’s Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks declared a new government, the Council of People’s Commissars, with Vladimir Lenin as its head. Simultaneously and over the following days, other Bolshevik uprisings took place in towns and cities across Russia. in wikipedia

3 Mar 1918 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ▲

Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire at Brest-Litovsk, Russia. The treaty ended Russia’s participation in World War I and forced it to cede the Baltic States to Germany, to cede Kars to the Ottoman Empire, and to recognize the independence of Ukraine and Finland. Russia was also obliged to pay six billion German gold marks in reparations. in wikipedia

24 May 1918 Murmansk landing ▲

To prevent German forces in Finland from moving into northern Russia, the British North Russia Squadron landed troops in the strategic year round ice-free port of Murmansk. The intervention met no resistance from the Soviet garrison. in wikipedia

25 May 1918 Revolt of the Czechoslovak Legion ▲

Forces of the Czechoslovak Legion—a volunteer force of Czechs and Slovaks fighting on the Allied side—clashed with the Bolsheviks at several points along the Trans-Siberian Railway after attempts to evacuate the Legion from now-neutral Soviet Russia stalled. By June, the Czechoslovaks had seized much of the railway between Penza and Krasnoyarsk, gaining control of the entire length of the railway by September. The revolt signaled the start of the Russian Civil War, as the Czechoslovaks brought anti-Bolshevik factions to power across Siberia. in wikipedia

4 Aug 1918 Archangel landing ▲

British troops landed in Archangel (Arkhangelsk), northern Russia, with the intention of recovering Allied war materiel (which had been supplied to the Russians while they were still involved in the war) and resurrecting the Eastern Front by linking up with the Czechoslovak Legion and supporting anti-Bolshevik forces. Upon arrival they discovered that the war materiel had already been moved up the Dvina River by the retreating Bolsheviks. Over the following month, the British were joined in Archangel by French and American forces. in wikipedia

15–21 Aug 1918 Vladivostok landing ▲

As the first move of the Allied Siberian Intervention, 3000 troops of the American Expeditionary Force Siberia arrived in Vladivostok. The troops helped relieve the Czechoslovak Legion, which had already seized control of the town, as well as guard part of the railway north to Nikolsk-Ussuriski. The US forces in Vladivostok were joined by the Japanese, British and Canadians, Italians, and French. in wikipedia