The Allies invested in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Russia, in the hope of overthrowing Lenin and getting Russia back into the Great War.
Once the armistice was signed, though, the calculus changed. But the West couldn’t just abandon the White movement, could it?
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No mention of the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine? Doesn’t quite fit with the narrative I suppose, but you shouldn’t really ignore an army that, at its peak in December 1919, had about 83,000 infantry, 20,135 cavalry, 1,435 machine guns, and 118 guns, as well as seven armoured trains and some armoured cars. It was a democratic militia based on soldier committees and general assemblies. Officers in the ordinary sense were abolished; instead, all commanders were elected and recallable. Regular mass assemblies were held to discuss policy. The army was based on self-discipline, and all of the army’s disciplinary rules were approved by soldier assemblies. So very unlike the Red or White armies.
I wanted to talk about it, but felt like there wasn’t room, given all the other topics I wanted to cover. But thanks for taking note; at least now it will get a mention on the website at least.
That is par for the course. They are very rarely mentioned by Marxist, liberal and conservative historians alike because they fall outside of their ideological view. When they are mentioned they are labelled as, Ukrainian nationalists, part of the Red Army, bandits, or ignorant peasants. Maybe a quick read of Chomsky’s essay, ‘Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship’ maybe useful, especially the section on the Spanish Civil War as his argument can equally be applied to other historical moments. http://www.ditext.com/chomsky/1968.html