This chapter first reviews the literature suggesting that military intervention or the threat to actually use gunboat diplomacy may prompt sovereigns to honour their debts. Military threat and not just actual intervention had in the past a real impact on how markets valued the likelihood of default. In the Russian case, the situation was extremely complex. Most leaders of counter-revolutionary movements declared their willingness to repay Russia’s debt should they come to power. A change of government could thus have paved the way to reimbursement. To understand the role played by the White armies the chapter details the evolution of the Russian civil war, including the role played by foreign military intervention, and the changes brought by the Russo-Polish war.