Russia has been very much in the headlines today. Its unprovoked and unjustified invasion of its neighbor and former member of the Soviet bloc has been unparalleled in recent history. The atrocities it has committed—ruthlessly bombing civilian targets including schools, hospitals, cultural centers, children’s hospices, humanitarian corridors for fleeing children and women, etc.—in prosecuting the war will be unmatched in the history of warfare. Guided missiles and powerful artillery rain on Ukraine everyday leveling to dust its entire cities. Russia, next only to the US, is the second strongest military power in the world but it has the largest number of nuclear warheads in its stockpile.
Thus, all countries don’t want to draw Russia into a nuclear war, which may result in a cataclysm unseen by mankind. US President Joe Biden has made it clear that the Americans will not go to war in Ukraine. He has even declined President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request to declare a “no fly zone” over Ukraine’s airspace and to send jet fighters to the beleaguered country. He averred that such moves would be tantamount to engaging in a war against Russia. Except for Poland, Biden’s NATO allies supported his position although they continue to pour other military aids like anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles into Ukraine. Lately, Biden has rejected the suggestion to send a peacekeeping force to Ukraine. Is the US afraid of Russia? Despite Biden’s claim that President Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, are the Americans intimidated by Russia’s military power?
Russia appears invincible if you consider that two famous conquerors, Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, had failed to defeat Russia despite assembling the biggest invasion forces during their time. The two invasions were set more than a century apart (1812 and 1941) but oddly enough, France and Germany were fighting a war on two fronts —both against Britain on the west and Russia on the east at the time of their conquest. The Grande Armée of Napoleon consisted of 600,000 soldiers, a matching number of horses, powerful artillery and cannons and large contingents of fighting men from Allied countries. Nazi Germany’s invasion army was made up of 3 million soldiers, close to 4,000 tanks, 1,830 planes, 7,200 artilleries and almost a million horses. The massive French and German forces leveled the ground as they marched towards Moscow—their prize objective. Napoleon’s invasion began on June 12, 1812 and Hitler’s invasion started on June 22, 1941, both at the peak of summer. The invaders thought that the invasion would be over quickly. Napoleon was hoping that his forces would be back home after a month while Hitler did not even provide winter clothing for his soldiers. Both were dead wrong. They did not expect to encounter fierce resistance from the Russians and they were vanquished by the harsh and long Russian winter. Aside from being killed in battle, French and Russian soldiers died from lack of food and intense cold. They could conquer opposing armies but not the brutal weather. Napoleon lost over 400,000 men and less than half of Hitler’s invasion forces remained when his army retreated from Russia. And in the end, they both lost the war.
History is replete with events where Russia suffered a defeat in war. The Mongols, for one, occupied Russia for hundreds of years. Even the Vikings of yore invaded it. In modern warfare, Japan defeated Russia during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905. In fact, it was the first time in modern history that an Asian country had defeated a powerful European country in a war. However, Japan failed to invade Russia since the battle mostly happened in neighboring Korea and in China where the warring countries competed for territorial control.
Little is known about the fact that the US had occupied Russia during the closing months of World War I in 1918. You may not believe it but American military forces had landed in Siberia, occupied Vladivostok and camped in the city for several months to fight for and against the Russians. This may sound strange but during WWI a civil war was raging in Russia between the Reds or communists (known as Bolsheviks), which gained control of the government after they deposed the Tsar, and the Whites (the Mensheviks and all the anti-communists elements). Russia was supposed to join the allies against Germany in the war but the Bolshevik government under Vladimir Lenin, instead of fighting, surrendered to the Germans. This act of betrayal angered the allies so they decided to send troops to Russia to encourage the Whites to continue the war against Russia. US President Wilson decided to deploy 9,000 (other reports indicated 13,000) American soldiers under the command of Major General William Graves. Part of the mission was to reinforce or rescue the Czech legion consisting of 30,000 troops who volunteered to fight the Germans in support of the Russians and who were now in control of Vladivostok and the major segment of the Trans-Siberian railway. The American expedition, which traveled halfway around the world, did not get clear instruction about their orders. All that General Graves received was a brief order written on a note that allegedly stated: “Overthrow the Russian government (the Bolsheviks).” They were hurriedly sent to rendezvous with the other Allied forces from Britain and France who were deployed there earlier for the same mission. But obviously the Czech legion did not need any help and they were zealous of their position. They did not want to share or relinquish their control over the city with their allies. On a few occasions that the Bolshevik forces attacked them, the Czechs repulsed them and the Reds suffered heavy losses. But everyone was happy because they protected the railway and kept the trains running. So, what did the invading American forces accomplish? They were ordered to oust the Bolsheviks from power but they landed in Siberia, which is 5,000 miles, more or less, from Moscow. They could not even share power with the Czechs who had established firm control of Vladivostok. All they did was to patrol the streets together with the local police force organized by the Czechs. Finally, when WWI ended, the Czechs left for home boarding a ship sent by the Allied forces. The French and British contingents followed suit. Finally, the Americans sailed home in November 1919. A total of 137 American soldiers died in action, mostly from the hands of snipers and local bandits. However, more died from other causes (216) mainly from accident and sickness, with sexually transmitted diseases as the common causes. Instead of waging war in the battlefields, they were making love in the brothels of Vladivostok. Maybe this is the reason why the American invasion of Russia is hardly published and found in the pages of history.