georgephillip
Diamond Member
"Many Americans would be surprised to learn that the USA, along with Britain, France, and Japan, fought a campaign in Russia just after the Great War (World War I)."The American Expeditionary Force Siberia was commanded by Major General William S. Graves and eventually totaled 7,950 officers and enlisted men. The AEF Siberia included the U.S. Army's 27th and 31st Infantry Regiments, plus large numbers of volunteers from the 13th, 62nd Infantry Regiments and 12th Infantry Regiments of the 8th Division, Graves' former division command.[2]"The USA invaded and raped Russia in the 20th Century?
American Expeditionary Force Siberia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That wasn't an invasion. We were invited in by the Russian government to help get 40000 Czech troops out of Siberia and moved by ship to the western front during WWI. Our enemy was the Red Army, the communist who were revolting against the Czar. Being invited into a country by the government for assistance is not the same as an invasion. But you knew that.
"The primary objective of this action was the re-establishment of an Eastern Front following the collapse of the Russian government during the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, but Allied fear of communist ambitions in other countries also played into the intervention as will be seen below.
"The overall campaign was named the Polar Bear Expedition, but was also known as the Northern Russian Expedition, the American North Russia Expeditionary Force - ANREF or the American Expeditionary Force North Russia - AEFNR.
"These efforts are not mentioned in most history survey courses, and few texts even mention that US troops (or those of any other nation) fought against the Bolsheviks during this period.
"The presence of US Army units from Michigan in Vladivostok, Archangel, and other Russian locations is rarely noted although the University of Michigan maintains an archive of photographs and other primary evidence relating to the period..."
"US involvement in this ill-conceived expedition was short. Once the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918 the Wilson government began receiving letters and petitions to bring the troops home from Siberia and other regions in which they were deployed.
"Most were withdrawn from Russia by mid 1919, having lost several hundred men to combat as well as sickness (including the Spanish Flu).
"The Allied incursion generally accomplished nothing significant in terms of either foreign relations or military success.
"The small forces deployed to Russia were unable to break the power of the Red Army, and simply watched as the White Army (composed of anti-communist Russians) was slowly destroyed.
"Worse, the Allies are said to have made and then broken numerous promises of additional assistance made to Admiral Kolchak, the leader of a 'government in exile' established at Omsk following the Bolshevik revolution. John Ward, who lead the British force known as 'Die-Hards,' states that..."
Allied War in Russia, 1918-22
I suppose you would have a different spin if Russians had shown up at Valley Forge, right?