The Ignorant Armies

by E.M. Halliday

BLOOD AND ICE

On November 11, 1918, World War I officially ended. But for the men of the ill-starred American Expeditionary Force to North Russia, the fighting had only begun. Plagued by meager supplies, poor leadership, and the tack of a clear-cut objective, this small but valiant American contingent fought impossible odds, scoring several stunning victories against the Bolsheviks before superior numbers and the bone-breaking arctic winter that had defeated Napoleon forced them to withdraw.

Now, in this clear, forthright account, E.M. Halliday re-creates one of the most obscure but important of America's foreign interventions: an epic of confusion, endurance, failure -- and gallantry -- that history almost forgot and the Russians never forgave. Only today, more than seventy years after the Allied occupation of Archangel, have American-Soviet relations begun to thaw.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, World War I

282 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published March 1, 1990

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging account of the forgotten Anglo-American expedition to North Russia during the Russian Civil War, lasting from September 1918 through July 1919. While Halliday occasionally draws back to show the muddled thinking that produced the intervention (initially hoping to re-trigger WWI's Eastern Front, later an overambitious scheme to oust the Bolsheviks with a handful of troops), his main focus is the 339th Infantry Regiment, the American unit dubbed the "Polar Bears." And what a ghastly experience they have: inadequate weapons, below-zero temperatures, unreliable allies and hostile Bolsheviks. Halliday somehow weaves a crisp, engaging narrative from the often-convoluted strategic threads, celebrating the Polar Bears' heroism while decrying the pointless, fruitless mission they're asked to perform. A well-written popular history of a little-known event.

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isn't it interesting how "insignificant" can certain historical events be made when it suits the needs of the powers to be. Fights like invasions of Cuba, fights around distant (could as well be on another planet) small island in Atlantic or Banana war and Zulu expedition are marked as heroic deeds and "liberation movements" but adventures like Boer Wars, Boxer Rebellion and atrocities associated with them are pushed to the margin, like they were insignificant adventures while they were anything but.

Into this family of small police actions comes the Allied intervention in Russia at the end of the WW1. Small, tiny operation that spread from Vladivostok in the Far East, through vastness of Russia's Asian parts bordering Afghanistan and India, Black Sea territories and today's Ukraine, European part of Russia all the way to the polar areas of Achangelsk and Murmansk. As I said small police action, spanning just two continents, including armies of France, UK and USA and whatever armies found in the area during the final years of WW1, Polish, Czechs, White Russians, all supported with the latest weapons and technology of the day.

Their goal - nothing too complicated, as I said it was a very simple police action. Just prevention of German forces to obtain control over supplies in these areas (I mean Germany had like very strong presence in Siberia .... not!), then to help allied forces stuck in this vast space (aforementioned Czechs) and finally to help White Russians and former Tzarists to regain power and kick out the Bolsheviks. Yeah, just a small regime change.

Sounds so bloody familiar, even to the year, hundred years after the events, doesn't it.

This book concentrates on the Allied Expedition to Northern Russia in Archangelsk. Unlike Archangel by John Cudahy, memoir written with high emotions to the point of nightmarish visuals of combat in polar winter, this book is written at the peak of the anti-Communism in US (1958) and to the credit of the author he manages to write very objective book about the events in the north and experiences of the US contingent. Author's style is excellent, he weaves stories from the front, from Archangelsk's area deep behind the front and political plays of Western powers to show this tragedy, utter schizophrenic events taking place in the Northern Russia (situation was same everywhere in Russia during the intervention). US trying to play the middle ground and don't get involved in combat, French and UK using US troops to actually get involved into combat operations, Russian socialists and Tsarists/white Russians infighting while everyone else wants them to fight the Bolsheviks, and in all of that actual Russian population used by all interventionists - victims of burned up villages, draftees into the armies that just want to use them as cannon fodder in exchange for bare minimum to survive...... Author manages to show how different were the commanding officers in Archangelsk, from dedicated Poole to grounded Ironside and all types of officers in between (UK officers being the ones running the show and US (and other allied) troops serving under them).

Entire situations reads like today's events that it is just unreal. I just wonder what level of hate are we talking about when the feelings against the Bolshevik's revolution are still strong in the West, to the level of absolute dehumanizing hate that now projects onto modern day Russia. And irony being that today's west becomes more and more Bolshevik with their ruling caste of bureaucracy and corporatism exercising all the bigger control over their population with all the elements of revolution (family control, gender issues, state control - if you do not believe just read Dilemmas of Lenin by Tariq Ali, all of the Bolshevik's social changes, they are now part of the social politics in the West), while Russia is going back to traditional values.

Interesting book, written extremely well and very objective (unlike Republic of Ushakovka by Richard Connaugthon about Tsarists Kolchak, which saw allied intervention as something that should not take place, but since UK was for it, author's stand was that it was definitely required). Author's standing on the Bolsheviks is more than clear (after all book was written in 1950's) but he did not allow this to interfere with historical facts.

For anybody interested in why Russia (and generally East) does not trust West and why they hold the grudge this is a very good book to read.

Highly recommended.

[Cameron Pelletier · Rating 2 out of 5]

How is it that I ended up reading military history about an obscure campaign that amounted to practically nothing? I guess it is no one's fault but my own. Simply put, this was not a particularly interesting moment in history. The allies went into northern Russia, realized after the end of the first world war there was no reason to be there, and then left.

This book is mostly saved by Halliday who presents things in a way that was quite digestible. He doesn't get bogged down in something that would be boring, like logistics or what not, and presents an overall view and picture of events that is generally interesting. He also gives us insight into the mind of those involved and commanding. That being said this book has long since lost its purpose. You can look up the history of this excursion easily so the book isn't really shining light on something obscure anymore and since it doesn't really give us a unique take on the battle, there isn't much of a reason to read this. I guess that's really my fault. Lesson learned

If you enjoy military history and don't just want to read on Wikipedia, there are worse books than this one, I'd assume, since I haven't really read any of them. This is definitely the book for your old Grandpa (who is obsessed with both World Wars) to read. Not for me though.

4.5 to 5 out of 10

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating account of our fight against the Bolsheviks in Russia at the end of WWI! I had no idea of this history of the 339th Infantry regiment out of primarily South East Michigan.

The writing and style still holds up into the 21st century. Well written and well researched. Had Winston Churchill got his way the world would have tried to defeat Communism in its infancy.

Regardless, if you are a student of this era or even the WWII era, this is a nice little forerunner to read.

I found this to of personal interest to me as I have trained at Ft. Custer with the Army National Guard which is where these Doughboys trained up before being shipped to Russia in June 1918.

Highly recommend.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, especially in light of our current relationship with Russia!