Question by Olivia h: How did the presense of Allied troops in Russia ultimately help the Comunists?
How did the presense of Allied troops in Russia ultimately help the Comunists?
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Answer by Breeze ♥’s Twilight
There were several major sources of conflict between the Bolsheviks and the western states in Europe from 1917 to 1921. Conflicting ideologies that each attacked the core of each other’s respective society led to the notion that Capitalism and Communism could not coexist. The attempts of both actors to hold control of their own political system and to expand their political ideas internationally led to major conflicts between them. Also, the lack of respect for the upstart of the Bolshevik government by the west led to misperceptions concerning the actions of the Soviets. Russia’s unsatisfactory involvement World War I and its abrupt departure from the war, which affected the western Allies war effort, created much disenchantment between the two sides. The imperial and expansionist nature of both groups of actors led to conflict as the creation of both Communist and non-communist blocs began with the independence of Poland as a free state in 1919. By using the Communist Party as a vehicle to inject Communism into societies abroad, the Bolsheviks began to make free countries take notice of the threat that the “workers party” presented and began to act in strong opposition of Communism. The actions of both sides began a race for an expansion of two different ideologies, which created conflict so strong that in time another World War seemed inevitable. The “Cold War” had begun. The fundamental difference between Russia and Europe was extremely contrasting views in ideology. The modernization of politics in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s had created similar political movements in both Europe and Russia meant to increase the authority of the masses over their own government. These movements replaced Authoritarian regimes with political systems that were created to better the lives of the common people . Leading states of Europe such as France and Britain began to take the path of “social democracy” in which the working class would be given a voice through parliamentary elections . Also by organizing the proletariat through trade unions, social democracy allowed for collective bargaining to lead to improvements in working conditions, pay, benefits, and other factors that helped to limit the exploitation of lower class labor. On the other hand, the Bolshevik model for serving in the best interests of the common people was not to raise the level of the proletariat by giving them more rights and a stronger political voice, but to bring down the upper class that was exploiting them by destroying the caste system altogether. The goal of Bolshevism was to use a governing body to place the masses into one equal social class where everybody would work equally for the advancement of society as a whole. Communism under the direction of Lenin called for the abolishment of private property and the nationalism of all means of production. This was done in order for the state to be in complete control all economies, politics, and social concerns. With the direction of the Bolshevik Party, the Soviets were beginning to form a cohesive political machine that was to shape a new Communist Russia, and eventually, a new Communist world. An intrinsic trait of Communist ideology was the opposition of the Imperialist and Capitalist ways of the west. The Bolsheviks contended that Capitalism itself was one of the human race’s major evils and should be eliminated. Marxism states that inequality and lower class exploitation creates inter-class struggle, which he felt was a major downfall of society . Fueled by materialistic greed, members of a Capitalist society found themselves constantly trying to better themselves at the expense of others around them. The lower class of society, such as the peasants and workers, were being exploited by the upper bourgeois in the way that they were paid and how they were treated. The Bolsheviks felt that the ultimate example of Capitalist evil was the Western Imperialists who contended with one another for the accumulation of lands that they had no right to control . States such as Britain, Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary were proponents for the Imperialist way which Lenin felt would lead to an inevitable World War between the Imperialist states . Lenin’s idea was that the competition for lands and resources as well as the expansion of various political ideologies would lead to an inter-Imperialist conflict as it had happened in previous history . The outbreak of World War I in 1914 brought the idea of an inter-Imperialist war into being. Tsar Nicholas II led Russia into WWI in 1914 with prospects of defending itself from the expansionist Triple Alliance consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. Russia entered the war on the side of France and Britain in what became a very costly and unpopular World War. However, after the Bolshevik takeover of Russian government in 1917, Lenin’s main focus was to increase the stability of the new Bolshevik regime and raise the credibility of the new gover
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A J says
1. Foreign presence allowed bolsheviks to stir patriotic feelings and influence population to support them rather then the white forces.
2. The failure of these foreign expeditions allowed Bolshevik propaganda to portray Red army as vastly superior then that of the imperial army that lost the WWI for Russia.
3. Legacy of this intervention into Russia’s civil war would be Soviet antipathy towards the West for the next 70 years.