Partisans and polar bears: The story of the 31st United States Infantry Regiment in Siberia, 1918-1920

This thesis addresses the topic of the American military intervention in Siberia between 1918 and 1920. It focuses on the 31st U.S. Infantry Regiment and examines the regiment's various operations in Siberia, including its primary mission of guarding the Trans-Siberian railroad and its many combat actions against local partisan and counter-revolutionary groups. In addition, the living conditions and experiences of the common soldier are studied as well as the lowly doughboy's attitude toward his sometimes confusing mission in Russian East Asia.;Research on this subject reveals that the 31st U.S. Infantry Regiment was sent from its home station in the Philippine Islands to Siberia in August 1918 to support the intervention of the Allied Powers in Russia. As one of the combat units of the American Expeditionary Force-Siberia (A.E.F.-Siberia), it was assigned an important sector of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. For almost two years, it successfully maintained the security of the strategic railway allowing for the distribution of aid to war-torn Russia and the withdrawal of a large Czech army trapped on the non-existent Eastern Front. This feat was accomplished in the face of almost constant armed resistance by Bolshevik-supported partisan groups that were attempting to destroy the railroad.