Perception of the Policy of Soviet Russia in British Government Circles in November 1917 – August 1918 .

Abstract

The problem of Anglo-Russian relations in the first months after the October revolution (and the question of the British perception of the Soviet government’s policy as one of its aspects) has been more than once studied by both Russian and foreign historians. However, it still deserves attention both because in the majority of works the period indicated was considered within a longer time span of the Allied intervention, being shadowed by the latter, and due to disagreements among scholars over which factors were fundamental in determining the British attitude towards Soviet Russia. The fact that the revolution in Russia broke out during the World War to a large extent determined London’s perception of the Soviet government’s policy, which was considered primarily from the point of view of its actual and potential influence on the course of the military confrontation with the Central Powers. Although British policy towards Soviet Russia lacked unanimity and consistency, some general trends can be discerned. In spite of the armistice and then the peace treaty between Russia and the Central Powers, until the summer of 1918 Britain did not deny the possibility of military and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia on the anti-German basis. The growing perception of the Bolsheviks weakness in summer 1918, the apprehension of the prospect of their complete subordination to the German influence or a pro-German coup in Russia, along with other factors, determined a clear anti-Soviet turn in the British policy.