Canadians in Russia, 1918–1919 by Roy Maclaren (review)

REVIEWS 515 previous July[•898]' (•o6).Thiswastrueof Cuba,whichtheauthorisdiscussing, but hostilities continuedin PuertoRicountilmid-August. 8 'Canadiansdid not find Panamaattractive[for investmentand business purposes ], perhapsbecause the UnitedStates wassoobviously paramountthere'(• •5). Surelytheexplanation ismorecomplex thanthat,for aUnitedStates presence canbe a stimulus to Canadians. On page• •3 Ogelsby notes,'The RoyalBanktookadvantageof the Americanoccupation (•9•5-•934) to open a bank there [in Haiti] in •9•9 .' As he saidon page•o6, the RoyalBankenteredCubaon the heelsof the UnitedStates army.Nor hasa UnitedStates presence beena deterrentto Canadian investors andbusinessmen in theDominicanRepublicandPuertoRico. 9 'The Sisters of Providence werethe firstCanadians of anyreligionto takeup missionary work' (2o•). By the author'sown account, theyarrivedin Valparaiso, Chile, in •853 (2oo-•). A Presbyterian educatedin Nova Scotia,however,the Reverend JohnGeddie, hadbeenintheNewHebrides since •848.Strictly speaking, theauthor's statement mayberegarded asaccurate inthatNovaScotia wasnotpart ofCanada in •853andGeddie was Scottish bybirth,butthestatement ismisleading. •o 'The United Church (tycc)did not decide to enter the missionfield in Latin America until•962' (233).Thisissomewhat misleading asonpage237hesays, 'The GeneralCouncilof thetyccformallyapproved the Boardof WorldMission's proposal [tobeginworkin Brazil]on May 2, •96•.' He alsonotesthatan agricultural economist and a nursewentto Brazilunder United Churchauspices in •96• (237). The firstordainedUnitedChurchclergyman, admittedly, didnotbeginmissionary workin Braziluntil •962 (238),but theinitialstatementisatbestunclear. Despite these problems, thebookisworthyofserious attention. HopefullyMacmillanwillproducea paperback editionsothatmorepeoplecanmorereadilyafford to buyit. GRAEME S. MOUNT Laurentian University Canadians inRussia, •9•8-•9•9 . ROY MACLAREN. Toronto,Macmillan,•976.Pp.viii, 3ø•, maps,illus.$•5.95. For a few monthsat the end of the Great War, Archangel,Baku, Murmansk, Vladivostok,and other Russianplace-names caughtCanada'sattention.They confirmedthe presence of CanadianairmenandtroopsamongAlliedcontingents launchedinto the vastness of Asiafrom the perimetersof the ArcticOcean,the Caspian, theWhiteSea,andtheSeaofJapan.Initially,censorship andheavy fighting ontheWestern Front during thefinalstages ofthewarinEurope diverbed the public's interest inAlliedactions inRussia. WiththeArmistice, however, a1•d asthe reasons for intervention- re-establishment of the EasternFront, preventionof suppliesfrom falling into the CentralPowers'hands,and the rescueof the Czech Legion- fadedaway,thespectre ofCanada's involvement inanewconflict whichfew understood or desiredbeganincreasingly to hauntPrimeMinisterBordenand his Uniongovernment. 516 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW In theearlysummerof 1918whenBorden,personally andratherprecipitously, agreedto provide troopsto North Russiaand Siberia,he did sofrom a senseof obligation totheBritishEmpire,andwiththecomfortingknowledge thatPresident Wilsonhad finally sanctioned United States'participationin the Allied venture. Equallyimportant,particularlyin termsof Siberiawherethe majorityof Canadians ultimatelyserved,Borden,despitelittle real knowledgeof Russia or conditions in thatcountryfollowingthe revolution,hopedthatmilitaryinvolvement wouldprovidethebasefor postwar access tonewmarketsfor Canadianmanufactures. To his credit, and unlike commandarrangementsfor the Caspianand North Russia theatres, heensuredthatthedominionwouldhavecontroloverCanadiantroopsin Siberia.Moreover,earlyin 1919he wasfirm with Londonin insisting upontheir recall. What, then,did the Canadianeffort in Russia achieve? For the forty-onevolunteerswhoservedwith Dunstervillein Persiaandthe Caucasus, theirswassimplya colourfulwartime experience.Contactwith the Bolsheviks wasminimal, and the expeditioncontributednothingto the CentralPowers' defeat.The sameheldtrue for Canadiansdespatched to Siberia,mostof whomreachedVladivostokwellafter the Armistice.Confinedto the vicinityof the city and caughtin the crossfire of exchanges betweenLondon and Ottawaabouttheir deployment,the troopsoccupiedthemselves with manceuvres and sportsuntil their final evacuation inJune 1919.Onlythose in North Russia, particularly Canadiangunners,experienced hard fightinginthebittercoldandlonelydarkness. Theywere,withoutquestion, thebest soldiersin the Archangel-Murmansksectors. 'I think I have seldombeensowell servedasI havebeenbytheseCanadians, all accustomed to work in a cold,snowy climate.If all the troopshad beenof the samecalibrewe couldhavegonealmost anywhere.'Sowrote General Ironsideon 7 June 1919 in his asyet unpublished diaries. It is the 'if' in his words which underlines the failure of Allied intervention in Russia. A risingtideof publicresentment in Britainand Canadaagainst theintrusion ,togetherwithPresident Wilson's refusaltointerfereinwhatheconsidered tobe a domestic matter,throttledattempts byWinstonChurchillandotherstolaunchan anti-communist crusadeagainstRussia's newmasters. Canadians inRussia, •9•8-•9•9 attempts todescribe howandwhyCanada became involvedin Russia,and examineseach operationaltheatre (the Caspian,North Russia,and Siberia),in separatesections. A fourth and final sectionisdevotedto Borden's handlingof intervention, andthebookissupplemented byappendices on CanadianairmenwiththeVolunteerArmy,andthepassage across NorthAmerica byGeorgiSemenov, thecommander of Cossack forcesontheSiberian-Manchurian border. Perhaps themostsignificant aspect of thebookisMacLaren's analysis of Borden's handling of theintervention issue. He argues, notalways withconviction norfrom supportingdocumentation, that the primeminister's actionsconstituted a notable advance forCanadainhereffortstoassume fullsovereignty indomestic andexternal affairs.Surprisingly, he apparentlyhasnotconsulted RCMP, War Office,or Foreign Officefiles,andseems unawareof the fewJapanese comments aboutCanadians in Siberia.And heunder-emphasizes theimpactof labourunrestin Canadain 19•9 in REVIEWS 517 causingBordento insistupon early repatriationof Canadiantroopsfrom Russia. Apartfromsome minoreditorial blemishes (itisS.R.Tompkins, notThompson; Sgt Charleson, notCharleston, andVolgograd, notVolgagrad),thebookiswellwritten with clearmapsand numerousphotographs. It is the fullestand mostbalanced account ofCanada's little-known r01e inRussia, anditisgoodtohavethestorysowell told. WILLIAM...