Lenin and Trotsky were...

history · 27 June 1918 · 106 years ago

Lenin and Trotsky were outraged by the arrival of British force at Murmansk, Russia under Major General Maynard, especially when it was learnt that one of the Allies intentions was to link up with the Czech Legion. Trotsky ordered Alexei M. Yuryev, the head of the Murmansk Soviet, to immediately break off relations with the Allies, but Yuryev declined to obey on the grounds that Murmansk was totally dependant on the Allies for food and essential supplies. Lenin reacted by ordering 3,000 Bolshevik troops northwards from Petrograd by train to bring the Murmansk area under full Bolshevik military control. Maynard, meanwhile, had set off with his Brigade Major, his adjutant, an intelligence officer and a platoon of British Infantry on a tour of inspection. The two groups met at Kandalaksha. The commander of the Red train was drunk and very belligerent, but while the Russian was still trying to make up his mind what to do, Maynard deployed his troops to give the impression that the Bolsheviks were surrounded by a much larger force than Maynard actually had. The bluff worked and after a lot of hard talking the Bolshevik commander was persuaded to abandon his mission and turn around. Maynard found two more Bolshevik trains at Kem and these too were persuaded to hand over their weapons and turn back. 

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