How U.S. politicians helped create the Soviet Union
The road to hell was paved with the best intentions
WARNING: I'm a libertarian. Some of what I write below may offend the Left, the Right, or both. But as Walt Whitman asked, "Who are you who only wants to be told what you've heard before?"
Previous versions of this article have appeared at Downsize DC, the Zero Aggression Project, and WarTruth.org.
Did the U.S. intervention in World War One help create the Soviet Union?
The answer is yes. To understand why, you must appreciate something most people don’t know...
There were TWO Russian revolutions, NOT just one!
The first revolution began in February 1917. It was largely benign and had democratic tendencies. Alexander Kerensky was its primary leader.
The second one began roughly eight months later in November 1917. This revolution created the Soviet Union. It was led by Vladimir Lenin and his Bolshevik (later Communist) Party.
Both revolutions happened because of World War One.
The Kerensky revolution deposed the Czar because the war was going badly.
The Bolshevik Revolution succeeded because the Kerensky government continued the war past the point where the people supported it. Only the Bolsheviks were proposing peace, so they triumphed.
This view is uncontroversial. Kerensky endorsed it during an interview with British newspaper publisher Lord Beaverbrook...
Beaverbrook: What would have happened if you had made peace with Germany?
Kerensky: Of course we’d be in Moscow now (not in exile).
In other words, there would've been no Soviet Union if Kerensky had made peace with Germany (see page 316 of Comrades by Brian Moynahan).
Historians like Edward Crankshaw agree. He wrote in the “The Atlantic” (October, 1954)...
“The Provisional (Kerensky) Government, if it had immediately sued for peace with Germany...could have remained in power, leading Russia into some kind of democratic system. But because it held to the war...because it knew it would depend in future on the favors of the Entente (Britain, France, and the U.S.)...it could not begin to alleviate the misery of the people, greatly aggravated by the war. It was this misery which Lenin deliberately set himself out to exploit.”
So what role did U.S. politicians play in these matters?
U.S. intervention made the Bolshevik Revolution possible by extending the war
Remember the points made in my previous article about World War One...
Nearly 1,000 days passed between the war's start and U.S. entry on April 6, 1917
Neither side had gained any advantage. “Breakthroughs” were measured in yards or miles and quickly reversed
Between April 16 and June 1917, nearly half the French army mutinied
Russian mutinies also started in 1917
The war was a draw. It was winding down. So why didn’t it end? Why did it last almost two more years? The answer is chilling...
U.S. intervention made Britain, France, and Russia think victory was still possible
But Germany had a reaction too. They sent Lenin to Russia in a sealed train a mere ten days after the U.S. declared war. Consider the logic...
Perhaps Germany could compensate for having a new enemy (the U.S.) by undermining or losing an old one (Russia0.
Lenin pledged to end Russia's participation, so the Germans gave him money and sent him back for that purpose.
The Germans probably would have done this anyway. It made strategic sense given the Russian revolution that had begun in February. But it became even more urgent when the U.S. entered the war. There are obvious connections between...
U.S. intervention
The German use of Lenin as a tool
Kerensky’s continuation of the war
The ultimate triumph of the Bolshevik revolution
Please recall what Edward Crankshaw said in the quote above...
The Kerensky government continued the war because it expected future support from its allies, including its wealthy new friend, the United States of America.
Lenin exploited the war to gain power.
Sadly, U.S. politicians aided the formation of the Soviet Union in one other way. Recall that...
Britain and France depended on U.S. supplies and money to continue fighting.
U.S. politicians could have stopped the war simply by prohibiting trade and loans for Britain and France.
Which is worse? Ending trade that perpetuated a useless war, or sending Americans to die by extending that war?
U.S. politicians chose the worst option
It’s a simple fact. U.S. politicians could have forced a peace settlement long before the Germans sent Lenin back to Russia. Think of the consequences! Think how much better the world would be if the Soviet Union had never been born. That likely would have meant...
No Red China and no mass murders by Mao
No North Korea
No communist North Vietnam or Vietnam War
No Cold War
Hundreds of millions of lives might have been saved. Untold poverty and misery might have been avoided.
Alas, the harm caused by U.S. intervention in World War One doesn't end there. My next article will examine how U.S. politicians fostered the rise of Nazi Germany.
Other articles in this series
Do libertarians contradict themselves by opposing foreign intervention?
Did U.S. politicians support the more "evil" side in World War One
Books I've consulted
The Russian Revolution
Comrades by Brian Moynahan
Russia Leaves the War by George F. Kennan
World War One
The Illusion of Victory by Thomas Fleming
World War I by Richard Maybury
The Pity of War by Niall Ferguson
The Forgotten Depression by James Grant
The Spanish-American War, the conquest of the Philippines, and Teddy Roosevelt’s betrayal of Korea...
Bully Boy by Jim Powell
The Politics of War by Walter Karp
The War Lovers by Evan Thomas
Honor in the Dust by Gregg Jones
The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley
The Mexican War
A Wicked War by Amy S. Greenberg
*****
If you like my work or just want to keep an eye on me because you hate me, please subscribe. It's free. If you want to encourage me, do a paid subscription. If you have "subversive" or "heretical" tendencies, please like this article and comment so the algorithm shows it to more people, or share it on social networks.
Copyright © Perry Willis 2025
Perry Willis is the co-founder of Downsize DC and the Zero Aggression Project. He co-created, with Jim Babka, the Read the Bills Act, the One Subject at a Time Act, and the Write the Laws Act, all of which have been introduced in Congress. He is a past Executive Director of the national Libertarian Party and was the campaign manager for Harry Browne for President in 2000.