Nearly 13,000 U.S. troops took part in Russia’s Civil War from August 1918 to April 1920.
Other Allied nations also sent men; some actively fought alongside the Russian anti-communists (“Whites”) against the Bolsheviks (“Reds”). U.S. forces primarily carried out defensive operations and guarded American property. However, American participation poisoned relations between the U.S. and communist Russia (which became the Soviet Union in 1922).