US Intervention in Russia 1918-1920: The Forgotten Mutiny

After Russia withdrew from WWI, the Allied nations worried about Germany relocating its eastern front forces to the western front. Britain and France both urged the United States to militarily intervene in Russia to reopen the eastern front. Although President Wilson initially ignored this proposition of the Allied nations, he reconsidered in 1918 and ordered troops to Russia. Many scholars have examined the US intervention in Russia and debated why Wilson decided to use American troops in Russia. The preoccupation among historians as to why these troops were sent to Russia has caused them to overlook why some of these troops mutinied against their commanding officers. The 1919 mutiny forced President Wilson to consider withdrawing troops from Russia, which eventually occurred in 1920. My research on the causes of the mutiny found that the underlying reasons for the mutiny were that soldiers were tired of the ambiguity of the mission in Russia, were indifferent or favorably inclined toward the Bolshevik government, and were generally weary of the war. This mutiny would change the course of American Soviet Relations for the next seventy years