AboutTom Expertise While it is a huge topic, I am well-versed in World War II generally. There is a huge wealth of information available on the internet, HOWEVER, one has to know the trash from the gems. Many sites which are not obviously credible (govt, university, and museum sites, for ex.), provide erroneous information (intentionally or otherwise).
Experience BA in history, and been reading and studying WW2 as my 'hobby' for 30 years. Regular contributor to several online forums in military history, WW2, and related areas and topics.
Organizations None relevant to this topic.
Education/Credentials BA, History (Secondary Education), with minor in Geography
US Army Engineer Officer (Officer Basic and Advanced Courses)
Question Today in my history class, my professor said that after Russia ceased to fight against Germany in WWII, that the United States invaded Russia. Did the United States really invade Russia during WWII, and if so, why? Thank you!
Answer That is not quite right.
Either you heard him incorrectly, or he provided erroneous info.
What you have detailed is in relation to WW 1, not WW 2.
The Russian Empire fought on the side of Britain and France (and in defense of Serbia), during WW1. However, she was very much overmatched by the Germans and their allies, and suffered (mostly) a number of defeats. After almost three years of that war, the Tsar (King) was overthrown as the Russian Empire began to crack under the strain of the war and the economic hardships it was imposing. The Tsar was deposed and an interim government established under Kerensky, however that only lasted until November (October in the old Gregorian calendar then in use in Russia), when the Bolsheviks and their allies took the gutsy move of trying to overthrow that weak government.
Remember that this is all happening while WW1 is still raging on - the Germans continue to fight the Russians, who are almost powerless to stop them. The Russian army is full of desertion and chaos, and is even more poorly supplied than before.
The western allies (US having joined the war in April 1917) are fighting a horrific war in the trenches of France (as they have for 3 years), and they desperately want to reestablish the eastern front to tie down the German army divisions there. So the allies actually send forces into the areas they can reach, with the key intentions to:
1) Support the "Whites" in the Russian civil war, and restore some sort of eastern front against Germany, and
2) safeguard the massive supplies sent to Russia by the allies, and prevent their falling into German hands (and if need be, return them to the west).
So if you read up on this, you will find troops from US, UK, France, Canada, and Japan (and probably others too) were landed in various parts of the Russian Empire (in 1917 and 1918 they were in Vladivostok in the far east, plus Baku in the Caucasus, and in Archangelsk and Murmansk in the far north). It gets more complicated, too, but I won't bore you with all those details (Greeks, Serbs and Czechs get involved).
Once Germany was defeated, however, the involvement of these foriegn troops became downright strange. Now these allied forces could also approach areas that they couldn't while the war was on, due to the Central Powers being in the way. Now forces landed at different locations around the Black Sea, the Romanians joined in the effort there, and the allies also landed forces along the Baltic. This little war became a moderately uncomfortable issue for the US administration, who eventually withdrew our troops. I can't recall details, but I believe we lost about 100 men in the operations, overall.
There are a number of books and websites dealing with this whole era. Reading up on the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) will give a lot of the details. I have some books, including one called "The Day They Almost Bombed Moscow" which is a fascinating story about a small group of British troops and airmen serving with the White Russian forces in the Ukraine/South Russia. They had some of those early bombers, and were trying to get within range to bomb Moscow (where the Bolsheviks established their capital).
Anyway, just challenge your teacher that "I think you meant World War One" and he'll probably recognize his mistake.
