Transformation of Great Britain’s Geopolitical Plans Towards Russia at the Final Stage of the First World War

The article casts new light upon the development of the British government's geopolitical plans towards Soviet Russia after the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty during the critical period of the First World War in the spring - summer of 1918. Based on a variety of sources, some of which are introduced into scholarly circulation or subjected to a new reading for the first time, the author focuses on finding an answer to the question of the motives that underpinned the decisions taken by the official London regarding the Civil War in Russia, as well as the assessment of the consequences of the steps made by Whitehall in the Russian direction. As the study shows, the existing alternatives consisted either in the restoration of allied relations in the face of the ongoing German-Austrian aggression, or in pragmatic cooperation on separate issues, which was reflected in the so-called "intervention on agreement", or, finally, in the refusal of contacts with the Bolsheviks and the transition to full-scale armed intervention in the affairs of Russia on the side of anti-Communist forces. The implementation of the latter scenario predetermined the protracted nature of the Russian Civil War, prompting both Moscow and London to sever bilateral ties in the political and economic fields for a long period. A proposed new glance upon the nature and peculiarities of the relationship between Soviet Russia and the United Kingdom makes it possible to formulate a modern concept of the initial period of contacts between the two great powers in the first months of the Bolshevik state’s existence, whose strengthening largely depended on the Entente governmental elites choosing in favour of solving the so-called "Russian question" to this or that end.

Keywords

First World War, Soviet-British relations, Brest Peace Treaty, geopolitical plans, “Russian question”

Received

25.12.2019

Publication date

27.03.2020

Number of characters

29336

Cite

GOST	Sergeev E. Transformation of Great Britain’s Geopolitical Plans Towards Russia at the Final Stage of the First World War // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2020. – Issue 2 C. 108-119 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640008655-8-1 (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640008655-8
MLA	Sergeev, Evgeny "Transformation of Great Britain’s Geopolitical Plans Towards Russia at the Final Stage of the First World War." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 2 (2020):108-119. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640008655-8
APA	Sergeev E. (2020). Transformation of Great Britain’s Geopolitical Plans Towards Russia at the Final Stage of the First World War. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (2), pp.108-119 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640008655-8

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