{"id":6288,"date":"2017-10-20T17:11:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T21:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/?p=6288"},"modified":"2019-09-15T20:03:13","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T00:03:13","slug":"memorial-to-the-michigan-polar-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/2017\/10\/20\/memorial-to-the-michigan-polar-bears\/","title":{"rendered":"Memorial to the Michigan Polar Bears"},"content":{"rendered":"

In mid October 1918,\u00a0 99 years ago,\u00a0American soldiers of the 85th Infantry Division were in the far north of Russia, near Kodish, settling in after a joint attack alongside British and Canadian forces to drive off Bolshevik ‘Red’ forces that had been holding the town.\u00a0 These soldiers were part of the Allied military intervention in the Russian Civil War.\u00a0 Today, one of the few reminders of these soldiers, the “Polar Bears”, the battles they fought and those that died is the Polar Bear Monument, located in the White Chapel Memorial Cemetery in Troy, Michigan.<\/p>\n

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Polar Bear Monument (From: pbma.grobbel.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lead up to the Intervention<\/h3>\n

In the first days of March 1917, shortages of black bread, one of the few remaining food staples still available to workers in Petrograd (the Russian capital) led to protests and marches.\u00a0 These protests quickly led to riots that were ordered to be put down with force by military and police units in the city, howver some of these units, sympathetic, either refused to follow orders to stand against them or actually joined their numbers. (Foreign Relations 1918 I,<\/em> 7)<\/em> With substantial numbers of soldiers in the capital nearing revolt, gun battles between workers and police units raging through the streets, and the Duma (parliament) refusing orders to adjourn, the Tsar, Nicholas II was pressured into abdicating the throne, in addition to voiding his sons claim.\u00a0 The Tsars brother, Grand Duke Michael, made overtures to the Duma to form a constitutional monarchy, but the Duma quickly dismissed him.\u00a0 A new, democratic government was proclaimed in the form of provisional Government.\u00a0 This government was quickly recognized by a sympathetic United States, who began to support them in earnest, becoming the first world government to recognize them.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1918\u00a0 I,\u00a0<\/em> 12)\u00a0 The May declaration by the Russian government that the promise to continue the war against Germany alongside the allies was received poorly by radical socialist elements, or Bolsheviks.\u00a0 Lead by Lenin, the Bolsheviks began to organize workers militias that became to be known as the “Red Guard”.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1918 I<\/em> 38-42)\u00a0 In June the Bolsheviks seemingly had been suppressed following demonstrations were cracked down on and leaders arrested, though a weak provisional government with socialistic sympathies and a continuing, unpopular war meant that the Bolsheviks simply needed to try again. (Foreign Relations 1918 I,\u00a0<\/em>160-164)\u00a0 By October these cracks began to reach critical mass;. elections that saw Trotsky elected to head the Petrograd Soviet (council) for workers\u00a0 and small gains elsewhere seemed only to have strengthened the resolve of Bolsheviks to revolt.\u00a0 In November, the Bolsheviks overthrew the central Provisional government in Petrograd in a quickly executed coup, though many political and military leaders did not recognize this, beginning the Russian Civil War between the Bolshevik “Red” forces and the opposing “White” forces consisting of more moderate socialist factions as well as monarchists and liberals.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1918 I,\u00a0<\/em>224-240)\u00a0 The next several months was chaos, with multiple factions still struggling – by September 1918 the “Red Terror” had started, and many American diplomats had to flee to safer ground, particularly in the North. (Foreign\u00a0Relations 1918\u00a0 I, 657-681)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Polar Bears\u00a0Arrive<\/h3>\n

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Allied leaders, desperate to maintain pressure on\u00a0the Western front to prevent Germany from throwing their full might against the already exhausted Western Front, sent weapons and other material by sea to ports in Russia, such as Archangel, Murmansk and Vladivostok.\u00a0 Archangel and Murmansk were both on the northern coast of Russia, an area that was beginning to be threatened by advancing Finnish\/German forces.\u00a0 The Germans additionally, having been operating U-boat raids in the region, had threatened trade and supplies, with the fear of U-boat stations being built in the region considered a real and dangerous possibility.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1918 II, <\/em>474)\u00a0 The United States sent its first warship to Murmansk at the same time, the cruiser\u00a0Olympia<\/em>, which arrived on May 24th, while an order to dispatch a military detachment being issued on the 3rd of June.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1918 II<\/em>, 474, 484)\u00a0The overall focus however, was at Archangel- against the strong protests of the American consul in the city, who opposed the United States sending forces to this critical port due to long term concerns.\u00a0 These concerns were ultimately discarded, as the order to send a military expedition came through.\u00a0 The first American soldiers\u00a0arrived on the 4th of September, almost one month exactly after the city had been seized by\u00a0Allied\u00a0forces.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1918\u00a0 II<\/em>, 506)\u00a0 The British in particular had been urgently requesting American aid, so these forces were a welcome arrial and quickly became\u00a0involved with the Allied efforts. (Foreign Relations 1918 II,\u00a0<\/em>507, 519 )\u00a0 These American soldiers had been told they had been sent to Russia to “guard military stores which may subsequently be needed by Russian forces, and to render such aid as may be acceptable to the Russians in the organization of their own self-defense.” (Strakhovsky,\u00a0Intervention<\/em>,\u00a094)\u00a0 The American soldiers made full use of these stores, being issued Russian Mosin-Nagant rifles due to the large amounts of the ammunition it used sitting in the warehouses,\u00a0waiting . They would put this to good use in the many engagements, both offensive and defensive they would see in the coming months. (Barnes\/Rhodes) Even as the American soldiers landed, the United States government was still vague on their exact objective; the US declared that they were not at war with the Bolsheviks and refused requests by the French to send additional troops, stating that “so far as our cooperation is concerned, that all military effort in northern Russia be given up except the guarding of the ports themselves”. (Foreign Relations 1918 II, <\/em>546)\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>This break with the other Allies not even three weeks after the Polar Bears began their first landing in Archangel shows how tenuous the coalition truly was.<\/p>\n

Experiences in Northern Russia<\/h3>\n

Conditions in Archangel and Northern Russia as a whole were grim as the months dragged on, with the tail end of 1918 being primarily a defensive war on the part of the Allies\u00a0during a rough, snowy winter that was mostly quiet, with small offensive operations on the part of the Allies largely failing.\u00a0 (Strakhovsky,\u00a0Intervention,\u00a0<\/em>135, Foreign Relations 1919, <\/em>604) Bolshevik forces took this opportunity to organize a large offensive aimed at taking Archangel in January 1919, with the Red forces becoming more organized and better equipped. (Foreign Relations 1919, 604)<\/em>\u00a0The poor state of the Allied forces was remarked on by the British commander, General Poole: \u201cThe military situation of American and Allied troops in northern Russia is considered by most officers to be very unsatisfactory. Our American troops are widely scattered over the entire front from Indus through [Onega along] the railroad, Vaga and Dvina river[s] to Pinega, occupying more than a dozen positions. Owing to this extension there is seldom more than one company serving at one position and frequently the companies are broken up and the platoons separated. Communications are slow and difficult, many being separated by several days\u2019 travel. The enemy greatly outnumbers us both in men and artillery; his morale, numbers and efficiency have increased (see Embassy\u2019s 736, January 9, 6 p.m.). We are more and more put upon the defensive, subjected to more and more frequent attacks and bombardment suffering many casualties. We have no reserves. Our men are often called upon to remain on duty for long periods without relief. There has been much criticism of the commanding officers, almost always British, and in some cases this has been amply justified. Owing to the increasing strength and morale of the enemy and his apparent intention to start a vigorous offensive later on, I am of the opinion that there is considerable danger that we shall be compelled to evacuate most of our advanced positions with grave possibilities of heavy losses both [in] men and supplies. Successful operations westward from Perm would of course tend to relieve the situation here, also possible events in the Petrograd region.\u201d (Foreign Relations 1919, 606)<\/em><\/p>\n

In March, the low morale and frustration among the Allies came to a head with multiple troop mutinies coinciding with renewed Bolshevik offensives.\u00a0 A French battalion refused orders to relieve an American force defending Archangel, newly arrived British infantry company similarly would not move. (Foreign Relations 1919,\u00a0<\/em>620)\u00a0 The Americans were not immune to this wave of revolt, even after a promise of immediate withdrawal from Archangel, with soldiers of the 339th\u00a0 similarly refused orders to return to the front, with the new British commander, General Ironside requesting their immediate evacuation from the theater.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1919, 618-<\/em>623)\u00a0 The Americans, however\u00a0 almost one hundred American soldiers dying to Influenza, which had not spared even the most remote parts of northern Russia.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In June 1919, the last American soldiers finally departed Archangel for home, with\u00a0one cruiser, the\u00a0Des Moines.\u00a0 (Foreign Relations 1919,\u00a0<\/em>646, 659)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Monument<\/h3>\n

In 1930, a monument, fittingly of a Polar Bear, sculpted by Leon Hermant was erected in the White Chapel Memorial Cemetery on May 30th, 4 days after Memorial Day. Only a year earlier had many of the bodies of fallen Polar Bears been recovered from Russia, another expediton to Russia undertaken by former members.\u00a0 The Monument is made out of marble, with the plinth made out of black granite in the form of a fortress.\u00a0 The bear is shown standing protectively over a fallen cross with helmet on it, representing those who fell in Russia.\u00a0 83 of the Polar Bears died in combat, another 27 dying later of wounds suffered.\u00a0 12 were captured as prisoners of war, while 29 soldiers went missing in action.\u00a0 An additional 71 died due to disease, with a final 14 dying from other causes like accidents. (Detroits Own Polar Bear Memorial Association<\/em>)\u00a0 Every year on Memorial Day the Polar Bear Memorial Association has a Memorial Service at the monument.<\/p>\n

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Sources<\/h3>\n