Archangel, Expedition to

Joint Allied (British, French, and US) operation 1918–19 to stabilize the Eastern Front following the Russian Revolution and safeguard the large concentration of military stores which had been sent to Archangel and other Western military interests in the area. The Allied force succeeded in capturing Murmansk in July 1918 and then bombarded Archangel by air and sea, taking the city in August 1918. The Bolsheviks were driven from the area and a new local government established. However by early 1919, Archangel was little more than an enclave in an otherwise almost entirely Bolshevik country and it was evacuated August–September 1919.

The expedition had three main objectives: to safeguard the large concentration of military stores which had been sent to the Russians and which lay in Archangel; to safeguard the flank of the Murmansk Expedition; and to try to stabilize the Eastern Front and make contact with the Czech Legion and the White Russian forces of Admiral Alexander Kolchak.

A mixed force of British, French, and US troops occupied Murmansk in July 1918. Using this as a base, the Allied naval squadron, with air support, attacked and captured Modiuga Island, some 48 km/30 mi north of Archangel, which allowed them to bypass Bolshevik defences and enter Archangel. A land force then cleared the valleys of the rivers Dvina and Vaga and defeated the Bolshevik forces which had been occupying Archangel. A local government was formed and formally recognized and several thousand Russians enlisted with the Allies.

After the Armistice, the Bolsheviks were able to concentrate troops in the area and by early 1919 there seemed little point in holding on to this enclave in a country which had almost entirely become Bolshevik. Archangel was successfully defended until August, when withdrawal began, and the British naval base was finally closed and the last troops evacuated on 27 September, having handed their equipment over to White Russian forces.