Podcast Summary:

New Books Network Interview with Anna Reid – "A Nasty Little War: The West's Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution"
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Anna Reid
Date: January 24, 2026

Main Theme & Purpose

This episode features an in-depth conversation between Dr. Miranda Melcher and historian Anna Reid about her book, A Nasty Little War: The West's Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution. The discussion explores the little-known story of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918–1920), where Western powers—Britain, France, the US, and others—dispatched troops to support anti-Bolshevik forces. The conversation delves into the motivations behind the intervention, its chaotic execution, how it has been remembered, and the dark consequences, including widespread antisemitic violence.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins and Motivation for the Book

• Anna Reid describes her transition from journalism to writing history, her experience living in Kyiv in the 1990s, and prior books on Ukraine and Russia (02:00).
• Interest in the civil war and Allied intervention sparked by discovering General William Graves’ memoirs, uncovering the story of American soldiers “tooling up and down” the Trans-Siberian railway in the chaos (02:00–06:09).

“It’s a fabulously dramatic story... it's a grisly story... but also one of derring-do and drama.”
— Anna Reid (05:46)

2. Why and How the Allies Intervened

• Initial Western optimism with the 1917 Provisional Government, quickly replaced by shock as Bolsheviks seized power and immediately sued for peace with Germany (06:36–11:43).
• Varied motivations:
  • French anger over financial losses and betrayal
  • US President Woodrow Wilson’s reluctance
  • UK’s Lloyd George taking a wavering middle course

“It goes to pieces like quicksilver under my hat.”
— Quoting Woodrow Wilson's frustration over Russia (09:17)

3. World War I’s End and Shifting Rationale

• Intervention began as a means to guard Allied munitions stockpiles from the Bolsheviks and, by extension, Germany (12:10).
• The “Czech Rising”: 50,000 Czech and Slovak troops seized the Trans-Siberian Railway, shifting Allied calculations and leading to direct intervention in Siberia (13:02).

“The Western press take up the cause… hailed as heroes… a very romantic story.”
— Anna Reid on the Czechs' story in the West (14:34)

4. After the Armistice – The Mission Mutates

• With WWI ending, the new aim became “stopping Bolshevism spreading west” amid domestic unrest in Allied countries. The operation continued, partly out of prestige and commitment to anti-Bolshevik partners, despite growing doubts and public opposition (16:38–18:56).

5. Colonialism, Imperialism, and On-the-Ground Realities

• Soviet historiography framed the Allied intervention as capitalist imperialist aggression. While not a colonial war per se, the Allies used colonial techniques: imposing pliant leaders, raising local levies, interfering in local politics (19:25–23:11).
• Churchill’s role as “intervention’s chief cheerleader,” pushing for expanded operations in southern Russia (22:25).

“The British press calls it Mr. Churchill’s private war.”
— Anna Reid (22:37)

6. The Soldier’s Experience: Hardship, Mutiny, and Disillusion

• In the North, fighting was particularly harsh: extreme cold, darkness, isolation, and constant ambush—especially for American troops, who felt misled and unsupported (23:30–27:22).

“They’re extremely resentful of being there at all.”
— Anna Reid on American doughboys in northern Russia (25:59)

• Rampant low morale led to refusal to follow orders—“mutiny” of a passive sort—eventually ending the Northern expedition (26:56).
• Contrasting the “comic opera” quality for officers, who enjoyed parties, balls, and picnics amid the chaos, with the suffering and failure beneath (27:46–29:59).

“They have in their memoirs… a sort of light-hearted jolly japes gloss… but it minimizes shame at having deserted allies and friends.”
— Anna Reid (28:38)

7. Antisemitism and Massacres: The Dark Heart of the War

• Russia’s entrenched anti-Jewish laws and traditions; pogroms in the past, but unprecedented brutality in 1919 civil war-era Ukraine: an estimated 100,000–200,000 Jews massacred (30:50).
• All sides participated, but White Army propaganda equated “Jew equals Bolshevik.”
• Allied officers “shocked and disgusted” yet complicit through indifference or inaction; the British government brushed off reports from Jewish organizations (30:50–38:14).

“For me, it answered the question, ‘was the intervention worth it?’ at a stroke. No. It’s something we should be ashamed of.”
— Anna Reid (37:52)

8. Collapse of the White Cause & Aftermath

• Whites came close to victory in late 1919 but retreated steadily in 1920 amid chaos, refugee crises, typhus, and starvation; scenes of desperate families scrawling messages at railway stations, trying to reunite amid the chaos (38:49–42:20).

“Walls on railway stations being plastered with little handwritten notes... ‘Has anyone seen my little boy, age three, blonde hair...’”
— Anna Reid (41:33)

9. Memory and Forgetting: Western Amnesia, Soviet Myth

• In the West, the whole episode was swept under the rug: no medals, no official histories, political finger-pointing (42:40–48:03).
• In the USSR, the intervention became a foundational story: “imperialist west tried to strangle the revolution in its cradle.”
• Powerful use of “intervention sites” as pedagogical war crime museums in Soviet Russia.

“In Soviet Russia, in contrast, the intervention is a core part of history… The imperialist west tried to strangle the revolution in its cradle.”
— Anna Reid (44:19)

10. Lessons for Today: Parallels, but Not Equivalence

• Don’t invade Russia—echoing lessons learned by Napoleon and Hitler.
• Be extremely wary of intervening in other people’s civil wars: “Your allies may turn out to be as bad as the enemy.”
• Parallels drawn to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, with similar scenes of panicked evacuations (48:18–50:57).

“All the intervention did was… prolong a nasty civil war. But today we need to keep supporting Ukraine until Putin goes. … The actual heir to the whites… is Putin.”
— Anna Reid (49:59)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the book’s appeal:
  “It’s important… you can talk about it as a prototype for later interventions… but it’s also just incredibly colorful and dramatic… sled rides across the steppe… assassinations and coups and love affairs… it’s a story of derring do and drama.”
  — Anna Reid (05:35)

• On US reluctance:
  “It goes to pieces like quicksilver under my hat.”
  — Woodrow Wilson, via Anna Reid, on the Russian mess (09:18)

• On anti-Bolshevik propaganda:
  “The British press calls it Mr. Churchill’s private war.”
  — Anna Reid (22:37)

• On the human cost:
  “Somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 Jewish civilians were massacred… and the British forces turned a total blind eye.”
  — Anna Reid (31:58)

• On defeat and flight:
  “Walls on railway stations being plastered with little handwritten notes… ‘Masha, if you see this, please meet me at the church in Krasnoyarsk…’”
  — Anna Reid (41:33)

• On lessons learned:
  “Don’t invade Russia. … Be cautious about getting into other people’s civil wars. It’ll be more complicated than you think.”
  — Anna Reid (48:18)

• On contemporary relevance:
  “The wrong lesson to draw is that because sending aid to Ukraine a century ago failed, it’s going to fail again now. … The Ukrainians are staunchly democratic… the actual heir to the whites… is Putin.”
  — Anna Reid (49:59)

Key Timestamps

• 02:00 — Anna Reid’s background and how the book originated
• 06:36 — Why the Allies intervened in Russia
• 12:10 — World War I’s end and shifting Allied motivations
• 14:00 — The Czech Legion’s pivotal role
• 16:38 — Impact of the Armistice and new anti-Bolshevik rationale
• 19:25 — Was this a colonial war?
• 23:30 — The foreign soldier’s experience on the ground
• 30:50 — Antisemitism and massacres during the civil war
• 38:49 — Collapse and evacuation of the Whites
• 42:40 — How the war has been remembered and forgotten
• 48:18 — Lessons for modern policymakers, with reference to Ukraine and Afghanistan

Tone & Language

Anna Reid speaks with clarity, historical precision, but also with a wry sense of the tragic absurdities and the dramatic color of the events. The interview is thoughtful, direct, and does not shy away from the grim realities or moral implications.

For Further Information

The book discussed is:
A Nasty Little War: The West's Fight to Reverse the Russian Revolution (Basic Books, 2024)
Author: Anna Reid

This summary provides an engaging and comprehensive overview for listeners or readers seeking insight into the Western intervention in Russia’s civil war, the disastrous consequences, and its wider lessons—historical and contemporary.