January 1, 1970

After the war, Churchill was haunted by the threat of the Bolsheviks – the ‘Red Peril’ – and the Revolution in Russia. He didn’t hide his loathing of communism.

Although he was under instruction from the war cabinet to withdraw the 14,000 British troops still in Russia following the end of the war, he argued passionately in 1919 that the allies should send extra troops, money and supplies to support the white Russian forces. But his pleas for further intervention fell on deaf ears. Neither Britain nor the allies had the money, manpower or will to fight any more battles. And there were battles to fight closer to home…