A multinational military intervention in Russia from 1918 to 1925, initially to contain German influence and later to support White forces against the Bolsheviks.
Key Facts
- Start Year
- 1918
- End Year (last forces)
- 1925 (Japan vacated N. Sakhalin)
- Key Landing Sites
- Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok
- Theatres of Operation
- North Russia, Siberia, Baltic, Caucasus, Southern Russia
- Czechoslovak Legion Evacuation
- September 1920
- Trigger Treaty
- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Following the 1917 October Revolution and the Bolshevik signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Allied powers feared that vast munitions and supply depots in Russia would fall into German hands. They also sought to rescue Allied personnel stranded within Russia, prompting coordinated military action.
Beginning in 1918, Allied nations launched multiple military expeditions into Russia, landing troops at Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok and intervening in the Baltic, Caucasus, and Southern Russia. After the November 1918 Armistice ended World War I, the mission shifted to supporting White forces against the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.
Divided objectives and post-war exhaustion undermined Allied cohesion. Western powers withdrew from the North Russia and Siberian interventions by 1920. Japan continued its Siberian intervention until 1922 and occupied northern Sakhalin until 1925, while the White forces ultimately collapsed and the Bolsheviks consolidated power.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Side B
1 belligerent