About the Lecture:

In the summer and fall of 1919 not only the fate of Russia, but also that of Europe and the world, was hanging in the balance as the White anti-Bolshevik forces approached Moscow from the south. Lenin’s Bolshevik regime was teetering on the edge and appeared increasingly close to total collapse. However, the Red Army eventually counter-attacked and, turning a fighting retreat into a full-scale rout, pushed the White armies into the Crimea, thereby taking the decisive upper hand in the Russian Civil War. The sudden White defeat, and the survival and strengthening of Soviet communism, is generally attributed to White inflexibility, imperialistic rhetoric, failure to build a viable state apparatus and make national or economic concessions where necessary, and general lack of political sophistication and realism. However, the staunch hostility of Polish head of state Jόzef Piłsudski to the Whites, and his refusal to help the Whites, was an equally important factor.

About the Speaker:

Paweł Styrna was born in Poland and earned a PhD in history from American University in Washington, DC, writing a dissertation on the attitudes of the Russian Whites towards Poland and Poles in 1918 – 1921. He is also a graduate of the Institute of World Politics and the University of Illinois Chicago, holding MA degrees from both institutions. Dr. Styrna works in immigration policy and has written numerous articles on history, current affairs, and mass migration.