View source for Siberian Intervention

{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Siberian Intervention
|partof= 
|image=The Illustration of The Siberian War, No. 16.  The Japanese Army Occupied Vragaeschensk (Blagoveshchensk).jpg
|caption=Japanese lithograph depicting the capture of Blagoveschensk 
|date=August 1918 - July 1920; October 1922 (Japanese withdrawal)
|place=[[Siberia|Eastern Siberia]]
|casus=[[Bolshevik Revolution]], [[Czechoslovak Legion|Rescue of the Czech Legion]]
|territory=
|result=Allies withdraw, Bolsheviks regain Siberia
|combatant1=[[Allies of World War I|'''Entente Powers''']]<br>
{{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}<br>
{{flag|United States|1912}}<br>
{{flagcountry|United Kingdom}}<br>
{{flag|Canada|1868}}<br>
{{flagicon|France}} [[France]] <br>
{{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy}}<br>
{{flagicon|Russia}} [[White Movement]]<hr>'''Supported by:'''
{{flagicon|Republic of China|1912}} [[Beiyang government]]
|combatant2=
{{flag|Russian SFSR|1918}} Pro-[[Bolshevik]] forces<br>
'''1920-1922'''<br>
{{flag|Far Eastern Republic}}
|commander1={{flagicon|Empire of Japan}} [[Yui Mitsue]]<br>{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Admiral Kolchak]]†<br>{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[William S. Graves]]
|commander2={{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Semyon Budyonny]] <br> {{flagicon|Russian SFSR|1918}} [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]]
|strength1=70,000 Japanese,<br>7,950 U.S soldiers,<br>2,400 Italian troops<br>1,500 British,<br>4,192 Canadian,<ref>''[[Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force]].''</ref><br>800 French, <br>300,000 Kolchakists, <br>100,000 Semyonov troops, <br>50,000 bandits <br>total: 550,000 troops
|strength2=At least 600,000
|casualties1=200,000{{fact|date=April 2009}}
|casualties2=400,000{{fact|date=April 2009}}
|notes=
|}}

The '''[[Siberia]]n Intervention''' (1918-1922) was part of a larger plan by the Western powers and Japan. They wanted to support the [[White Movement|White Russians]] against the [[Bolshevik]] [[Red Army]] during the [[Russian Civil War]]. Other places included Northwest Russia, [[Crimea]], [[Bessarabia]], and the [[Caucasus]].

Having occupied the Russian Maritime Provinces, the Allied Forces left by 1920. The [[Imperial Japanese Army]] stayed in Siberia until 1922. 

==Background==
{{main|Russian Civil War}}
The Siberian Intervention came quickly after the Russian [[October Revolution]] of 1917. The new [[Bolshevik]] government signed a separate [[peace treaty]] with [[Germany]]. That was a serious problem for the [[Triple Entente|Entente]] powers. The treaty ended fighting for the Germans facing Russia. Germany could then move soldiers from east to west; against Europe.  The peace agreement also allowed Germany to get many supplies from [[Murmansk]], [[Arkhangelsk]] and [[Vladivostok]]. In addition, a 50,000 man [[Czech Legion]] had been fighting on the side of the Allies. They became trapped. The Czechs were trying to fight their way out to the east to Vladivostok along the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]]. However, the Bolsheviks controlled that railway.

[[Great Britain]] and [[France]] decided to use military power and join the Russian Civil War against the Bolshevik government because of all of those problems. They had three goals: 
# stop Germany or the Bolsheviks from getting the Allied war supplies in Russia
# rescue the [[Czechoslovak Legions|Czech Legion]] and return it to the European front
# restart the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] by helping create a [[White movement|White Russian]] government.
The British and French did not have enough soldiers, so the asked the [[United States]] to help. They asked the U.S. to send soldiers to both the [[North Russia Campaign]] and the Siberian Campaign. [[Woodrow Wilson|President Wilson]] agreed in July 1918 even though the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] said not to help. The U.S. sent two groups of soldiers: 5,000 soldiers were the American North Russia Expeditionary Force (nicknamed the [[Polar Bear Expedition]]); and 10,000 were called the [[American Expeditionary Force Siberia]]. In the same month, the Russian White movement asked the [[Beiyang government]] of the [[Republic of China]] to send men. They sent 2,000 soldiers by August. The Chinese later [[Occupation of Mongolia|occupied Outer Mongolia]] and [[Tuva]]. They sent a [[battalion]] to the North Russian Campaign to fight against the Bolsheviks.

==Active countries==
===Britain===
The British had few soldiers sending only 1,500 troops to Siberia. These soldiers came from 9th Battalion, [[Hampshire Regiment]] and the 25th Battalion Middlesex Regiment.
===Canada===
[[File:Canadian Pte Edwin Stephenson poses with boys in Vladivostok in 1919.jpg|thumb|305px|Canadian soldier poses with boys in Vladivostok.]]
The Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force was commanded by [[Major general|Major General]] James H. Elmsley. The Canadian government approved the mission in August 1918. The Canadian soldiers were sent to Vladivostok to support the allied armies already there. There were 4,192 soldiers in the group. They returned to Canada between April and June 1919. The Canadians did little fighting. Fewer than 100 troops left the base area to go to Omsk. Those 100 worked as administrative staff for 1,500 British troops who were helping the White Russian government of Admiral Alexander Kolchak. Most Canadians stayed in Vladivostok. They did routine practice and worked as police in the unstable port city.<ref>[http://isitt.wordpress.com/journal-articles/mutiny-from-victoria-to-vladivostok-december-1918-chr-article/ Benjamin Isitt, "Mutiny from Victoria to Vladivostok, December 1918," ''Canadian Historical Review'', 87:2 (June 2006)]</ref><ref>[http://www.SiberianExpedition.ca Canada's Siberian Expedition website]</ref>

===Italy===
The [[Italy|Italian]] soldiers were most active in three areas: [[Irkutsk]], [[Harbin]], and [[Vladivostok]].<ref>''A History of Russia'', 7th Edition, Nicholas V. Riasanovsky & Mark D. Steinberg, Oxford University Press, 2005</ref>

=== Japan ===
The [[Imperial Japanese Army]] sent 70,000 troops.

===United States===
The American Expeditionary Force Siberia was commanded by Major General William S. Graves. At its largest, it was 7,950 officers and enlisted men.

==Allied intervention (1918-1919)==
The Allies began to work together in Siberia in August 1918.<ref name="Humphreys,p.26"/> The Japanese entered through Vladivostok and places along the [[Manchuria]]n [[border]]. They sent more 70,000 soldiers. The Allies worried about Japanese plans because they sent such a large group.<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/> On September 5, the Japanese met the leading group of the Czech Legion.<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/> A few days later the British, Italian and French groups joined the Czechs to try to restart the war in the east. They tried to make a new battle line beyond the [[Ural Mountains]]. This meant that the European allies moved west.<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/> The Japanese had their own goals. They would not go west of [[Lake Baikal]]<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/> and stayed behind. The Americans were suspicious of Japanese plans.They also stayed behind to watch the Japanese.<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/> By November, the Japanese controlled all ports and major towns in the Russian [[Primorsky Krai|Maritime Provinces]] and in [[Siberia]] east of the city of [[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]].<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/>

In the summer of 1918 onwards, the Japanese army supported White Russian groups;<ref name=Humphreys,p.26/> the [[5th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)|5th infantry division]] and the Japanese-backed Special Manchurian Detachment of Grigory Semyonov took control over [[Transbaikalia]]. They started a [[White movement in Transbaikal|White Transbaikalia]] government, but it did not last long.

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references>
<ref name=Humphreys,p.26>Humphreys, ''The Way of the Heavenly Sword: The Japanese Army in the 1920's'', page 26
</ref>
</references>
</div>

[[Category:Wars involving France]]
[[Category:Wars involving Russia]]
[[Category:Wars involving Japan]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United States]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Russian Revolution]]
[[Category:1910s conflicts]]
[[Category:1920s conflicts]]