About this video

• Video Title: Why Nobody Saved White Russia (And Germany Wouldn't Either)
• Channel: Possible History
• Speakers: None explicitly listed in the transcript
• Duration: 34:16

Overview

This video explores the reasons why the Allied powers (the Entente) and Germany did not intervene more decisively to support the White Russian movement during the Russian Civil War. It analyzes the political, economic, and military factors that influenced their decisions, concluding that neither the Entente nor Germany had sufficient strategic or economic incentive to overthrow the Bolsheviks.

Key takeaways

• Limited Entente Intervention: Despite having the military capacity, the Entente powers' interventions in Russia were minor and cautious, primarily focused on securing supplies and facilitating the withdrawal of the Czechoslovak Legion during World War I. Their goals shifted after the war, but internal divisions, war weariness, and the Bolsheviks' entrenched position made a larger intervention impractical and undesirable.
• Bolshevik Propaganda vs. Reality: The image of the entire capitalist world intervening against the Bolsheviks is partly a product of their own propaganda, fueled by genuine fears. However, the actual interventions were far less substantial than often portrayed.
• German Ambivalence: While Germany had ideological reasons to oppose Bolshevism, their primary focus after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was on consolidating their gains in Eastern Europe and continuing the war in the West. Even after a hypothetical victory in WWI, Germany's internal exhaustion and the risks associated with a full-scale invasion of Russia, including potential conflict with their own satellite states and internal unrest, made direct intervention unlikely.
• Economic Considerations: Both the Entente and Germany had significant economic interests in Russia, particularly regarding loans and resources. However, the destruction caused by the civil war and the Bolsheviks' stance on debt made the prospect of recouping investments through intervention uncertain and potentially more costly than the potential benefits.
• Internal White Russian Weaknesses: The division among White Russian factions, their lack of a unified political program, and their conservative or nationalistic aims (which didn't align with all Allied interests, like American democratic ideals) frustrated potential foreign supporters and made them unreliable partners.
• German Foreign Office vs. Military: Within Germany, the Foreign Office generally favored economic concessions and stabilizing Eastern Europe through satellite states, seeing Bolshevism as a temporary ideological phase. In contrast, elements of the military, like Ludendorff, favored more aggressive territorial annexations and direct intervention to crush Bolshevism, but faced significant internal and external constraints.

Так, Україна згадується у відео.

Зокрема, згадується, що:

• Французькі війська мали "невелику пригоду" в Україні під час інтервенції.
• Німеччина прагнула отримати доступ до ресурсів України, зокрема вугілля.
• Український опір ускладнював контроль Німеччини над територією.
• Німеччина розглядала Україну як потенційно штучну державу, яка могла б повернутися до Росії.
• Німецький МЗС обговорював можливість перегляду Берестейського миру та отримання економічного контролю над Україною.