Between Scillas of the European Revolution and Haribdes of the First World War: the Policy of Soviet Russia and Great Britain in the East in 1918

Abstract

The article considers the key aspects of relations between Soviet Russia and Great Britain in the south-eastern and southern outskirts of the former Russian Empire during the final stage of the First World War. The main attention is paid to the activities of the so called Eastern Committee — a special interdepartmental governmental body molded by the creators of the English foreign policy in spring 1918. As the author demonstrates, during the final year of World War this institution played a major role in the generation of projects of cardinal reorganization of the Near and Middle East, striving to get ahead of the competing great powers in the struggle for the “Ottoman heritage”, and at the same time to prevent the spread of Bolshevism, as the alternative of Western liberal democracy paradigm of values, in the East. The conclusion of the researcher about triplicity of Soviet foreign policy from the period of its formation, substantiated by materials of archival and other sources, allows to make significant corrections in appreciating dynamics of international relations for the first half of the 20th century.