The King of Karelia: Col P. J. Woods and the British Intervention in North Russia 1918-1919: A History and Memoir by Nick Baron (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 571 (p. 109),and the'bourgeois phase' oftherevolutionary processis rendered as 'bourgeois face'(p. 181). These criticisms aside, Halfin'sbook is a valuable contribution to the history ofthepoliticalstruggles ofthe1920sthatcan be readwithbenefit by all scholars oftheperiod. Department ofForeign Languages andAreaStudies L. G. Novikova MoscowStateUniversity Baron, Nick. TheKingofKarelia:ColP. J. Woodsandthe British Intervention inNorth Russia igi8-igig: A History and Memoir.Francis Boutle, London, 2007. 345 PP- Maps. Illustrations. Chronology.Appendices.Notes. Index.£14.99(paperback). In bringing intoprint thewardiaryofColonelP.J. Woods,NickBaronhas done a greatserviceto students of the British intervention in the Russian civilwar of 191819 . As the commanderof the Karelian Regimentof the Slavo-British Legion,Woods was a keyfigure in thatoftenmisunderstood episodein Northeast Europeanhistory. His diaryis one ofthefewfirst-hand accountsoftheBritish expedition, and it shedsimportant new lighton the day-by-day operations oftheBritish forces and on their interactions withthe localpopulation. The first fifty pagesofthebookare devotedto an often painfully detailed biography ofWoods thatseemssomewhat irrelevant to thepurposesofthe 'KarelianDiary'itself. The diaryisreproduced inPartTwo ofthebookafter a 150-page introductionary essay.In theoverly longintroduction, we are told everything thattheauthorhas managedtofindoutabouttheNorthern Irish childhood ofP.J.Woods,hisindustrial relevance (as a manufacturer oftextile patterns), hismilitary service in theAnglo-Boer War,in theUlsterVolunteer Forceand on thebattlefields oftheSomme,and abouthispost-First World War activities on thefringes oftheBritish fascist movement. The introduction thenmoves into an equallylong examinationof the Russianintervention. Thispartofthebookisbasedon thelatest research and is fairly even-handed. At timestheauthordoes allowunsubstantiated claims tobreakintothenarrative, as whenhe claimsas a matter offactthatmostof theAlliednations'populationopposedthemilitary intervention. Of course, thereis no wayto proveanysuchclaim.On thewhole,however, whatwe get in thissectionis accurateand usefulinformation on a verycomplex topic. Boththeintroductory essayand the'KarelianDiary'itself areat their most usefulwhen describing the intervention forces'views of and interactions withthelocalpopulation. Oddly,however, Baronconsistently refers to these peopleas 'theKarelians'- whichis,at theveryleast,a terminological inexactitude , giventhatthepeoplewith whomCol. Woodscameintocontact were from theOlonets, WhiteSea andEastKarelianregions. Bynomeansdo these threeregionsexhaustthe contentof theword 'Karelia'.Justas curiousis 572 SEER, 87, 3, JULY 2OO9 the claim thatall the Kareliansshareda fully nationalidentity and were consciously seeking nationalindependence. We are askedto believethatall Kareliansresisted notjust RussianBolsheviks and Tsaristimperialists, but also Finnish'Whites'and Germanimperialists, becauseeach ofthesegroups wereimpediments to theirnationalist ambitions. According to Woods, 'the Karelians'were drivenby a desireto 'exterminate the Finns' (p. 184) in particular. Supposedly, too,theylookedto GreatBritain(as represented by Woods)as theonlypowerthatcouldgrantthemtheir wishes. FromWoods'sdiaryitis clearthathe himself was convinced ofthesepropositions . He was completely takenoverbytheEastKarelianactivists' claims to 'theircountry' (p. 162)and he became theprincipal British championof suchclaims.But sayingso does notmakeit so. As Baron,too,recognizes, manyofthepeoplethatWoodsknewas Kareliannationalist leaderswerein factemigré Finnish Reds whohad opportunistically latchedon to a nationalistcause once theyhad losttheFinnishcivilwar and escaped theirnative country. By no meansweretheyrepresentative ofa wholenationality, and theiractivities wereprompted farmoreby Marxianideologythanby any nationalist ambitions. The verylimitednatureof East Karelian nationalist sentiment is shownalso in thefactthatitwas Woods himself who designed their new'national flag'(p. 187)- andwhenhedidso,hedepicted shamrocks on an orangebackground, notexactlyhistoric Karelianmotifs thoughones wellknownto an Ulsterman. Such interpretive problemsaside, thisbook servesa usefulpurposein highlighting thepowerofpreconceived ideas.It makesabundantly clearthat Col. Woodscame toidealizetheEast Karelian'beardedbrigands' (p. 157)as noblesavagesand thathe transferred hisUlsterman's and paternalist British imperialist's presuppositions about small nationalities onto a people with whosehistory and culture he was barelyfamiliar. Whatever thepurposesof thosein chargeoftheintervention, thison-the-ground perspective adds an important element to ourunderstanding ofwhattookplace in thefrozen far Northin 1918-19. Department ofHistory MarkkuRuotsila University ofTampere Viola, Lynne.TheUnknown Gulag:TheLostWorld ofStalin's Special Settlements. OxfordUniversity Press,New York and Oxford,2007.xxv + 278 pp. Map. Chronology. Glossary.Illustrations. Appendix.Notes. Research note.Bibliography. Index.£17.99. In 1930and 1931closeto twomillion peasantsweresentintointernal exile. Identified as 'kulaks'(theBolshevik termforallegedly wealthy, 'bourgeois' peasants),theywere sentto desertedareas of the Northern Territory, the Urals,Siberiaand Kazakhstanwheretheywereexpectedto buildtheirown settlements, to labourforthestate(often in forestry), and to farmsufficient ...