ABSTRACT
The revival of hostilities completely changed the political agenda: for three months, from mid-February 1918 until mid-May 1918, civil war was shelved and a patriotic war in defence of the socialist fatherland began. The first hint of possible rapprochement between the Bolsheviks and the other socialist parties was reported on 11 April 1918 by Major Fitzwilliams, who, after leaving the Ukraine in February 1918, had just returned from a tour of Siberia. The anti-German mood was also fostered by developments in the Ukraine. At first the British Cabinet was obsessed with the idea of Japanese intervention, something that had been mooted even before the Bolshevik seizure of power. The services of G. Hill and Captain Garstin, both well connected with the Bolsheviks, were allocated to F. C. Poole, as was Colonel Boyle with whom General F. C. Poole was on good terms and who had established excellent relations with the Bolsheviks.
