Survival and Consolidation: The Foreign Policy of Soviet Russia, 1918-1921With victory in sight, the Bolsheviks turned their attention to the consolidation of power within the former Russian empire. When they took power in 1917, the Bolsheviks believed their revolution had to spread beyond Russia or perish. Neither happened, and in the spring of 1921, at the end of hostilities, they stood alone in the wreckage of the former Tsarist empire. The Bolsheviks had, in Lenin's words, "won the right to an independent existence." This entirely unforseen situation surprised both them and their enemies. Debo shows, however, that nothing predetermined that Soviet Russia would, at the end of the civil war, enjoy an "independent existence" -- or even exist at all. He suggests that a wide range of circumstances contributed to the eventual outcome of the war and that it could have ended indecisively. In his evaluation of the Soviet diplomatic achievement, Debo describes their successes with Britain, Poland, and Germany, their continuing difficulties with Romania, France, and the United States, and the threat from the Far East. This diplomatic success, he maintains, was the result of Soviet victory in the civil war and the patient pursuit of realizable objectives. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
Soviet Russia the German | 11 |
The Soviets propose peace | 22 |
Soviet Russia | 34 |
Soviet policy | 55 |
Soviet Russia and the final months | 71 |
Soviet nationalities | 85 |
Ukraine | 106 |
the Caucasus 19191920 | 168 |
Soviet policy | 213 |
AngloSoviet negotiations | 248 |
and the destruction of Wrangel | 272 |
SovietGerman relations | 289 |
Soviet policy | 344 |
The creation | 374 |
Conclusion | 400 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
accept agreed agreement allied powers anti-Bolshevik April armed Armenia armistice asked attack August Azerbaidzhan Baku Baltic Berlin Bessarabia Bolsheviks Bolshevism Britain cabinet Caucasus Chicherin Churchill civil Communist concluded conference continued Curzon DBFP delegation demanded Denikin DGKKA DIM SPO East eastern Europe economic Entente Estonian favourable Finland Finnish forces Foreign Office France French front frontier further Georgia German hostilities Ioffe Japanese Kamenev Kolchak Kopp Krasin Latvia leaders Lenin Lithuania Litvinov Lloyd George Lloyd George Papers London March Mensheviks military Millerand minister Moscow negotiations November offensive PAAA Paris party peace Persia Petrograd Pilsudski Poland Poles Polish political prepared proposal railway Red Army regime relations representatives response revolution revolutionary Riga Romanian Russian civil war Siberia socialist sought Soviet government Soviet Republic Soviet Russia Soviet-Polish talks territory told trade treaty troops Trotsky Trotsky Papers Turkish Ukraine Ukrainian victory Vladivostok wanted Warsaw western powers Whites Wrangel Yudenich