Chapter 6- The civil war Flashcards
why did foreign intervention occur in the civil war?
- opposition to Russia’s withdrawal from the war
- Fear of Bolshevism spreading to their countries
- opposition to the Bolsheviks repudiation of tsarist debts and nationalisation of foreign owned businesses
all political groups reasons for formation of whites
- Bolsheviks had seized power by force. Rights said they had no right, centre said no popular elections, left said Soviet was being ignored
- Bolshevik ideology alienates aristocrats and bourgeoisie but also lefts such as Mensheviks
rights’ reason for civil war
- some wanted tsarist regime back including army officers who objected to the peace treaty and any Russians with land, money or businesses who would lose everything
lefts’ reason for civil war
- moderates and SRs resented the Bolsheviks as Lenin had forced kadets and RWSR out of government, ignored electorate’s wishes in the Constituent Assembly and expelled LWSRS after opposing peace with Germany
when were the two assassinations on Lenin’s life?
- Jan 1918- two assassins climb into his car
- August 1918 SR Kaplan shot Lenin three times
other reasons for start of civil war
- national minorities saw chance to fight for independence not trusting Bolshevik promises of self-determination.
- some saw fluid political situation as a chance to win old battles and local rivalries
- Russians worried about Bolshevik’s inability to solve economic policies, treaty of Brest- Litovsk and severe food shortage and rationing
organisation of the whites
- groups had little in common with each other
- anger caused, ‘whites,’ to form in 1918
- Leadership taken over by former tsarist officers
examples of generals in the civil war
- General Denikin in South
- Admiral Kolchak in Siberia
- General Yudenich in Estonia
- Baron Wrangel in Crimea
outbreak of war
- spring 1918 an anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army had been created in the south and partly financed by Germany
- Bolsheviks move capital to Mosocw March 1918
- members of the Czech legion begins attacking Bolsheviks in Western Siberia
first stage of the civil war
Civil war was a collection of fluid campaigns and battles fought over large areas in Russia
- little coordination of attacks due to disparate forces, lack of single command and vast geographical distances
- Bolsheviks held control of central area of Russia including Petrograd and Moscow although Petrograd was threatened by Yudenich’s forces in Oct 1919.
- Whites came from all directions.
step by step stages of first stage of war
- Summer 1918 Denikin’s army of Cossakcs attacked in the Don region attacking Tsaritsyn but Reds stopped them
- Kolchak’s army captured Kazan and Samara, but was halted by Red counter attacks
- Summer of 1919 Denikin began another offensive which got close to Moscow but was forced south by Trotsky towards the Crimea
- Yudenich’s army in the north was small with 15,000 men but got close to Petrograd in Oct 1919
- Autumn of 1919 Kolchak in retreat and captured and shot in 1920
later sections involving the greens, who were they?
- 1920 Wrangel had replaced Denikin in the Crimea but Green army under Nesto Makhno fought as an irregular division for the Reds
- 1920 French and British evacuated ships from Crimea
Greens were Russian fighters including Georgians and Ukrainians who fought to keep Reds and Whites out of Ukraine through guerrilla campagins.
Joined with red in later stages but struggle for Ukraine continued into 1921
results of first stage of war
By end of 1920 due to the Red’s geographical advantages and organisation most of the former Russian Empire was in Communist Hands at the cost of 10 million lives to disease, starvation and military action.
second stage of war
-1920-21
- struggle against polish armies
-Poles invaded western Ukraine but were driven back under General Tukhachesvsky
Treaty of Riga signed after second rising crushed in March 1921 which granted Poland self rule
- independence of Estonia, latvia and Lithuania confirmed
trotsky’s skills in the party
- crucial role in organising October Rev
- role as speaker and theorist
- no military background but good at organisation and propagandist
- Moulded red army of 3 million men
Trotsky’s role in the army
- directed the war often from a train which covered over 65,000 miles during the war
- had own elite force who visited fronts and met commanders
- ensured army fed and armed
- helped boost morale and inspire other Bolshevik leaders (against some opinion that he made no important strategic calls)
Trotsky’s methods in the war
- recruited 50,000 former tsarist army officers by threatening them and their families
- appointed political commissars to army units who were loyal
- discipline: desertion punishable by death, summary executions used to discourage soldiers and Cheka shot deserters behind the lines
Trotsky’s organisation of the red army
- reintroduced traditional ranks and practices
- used conscription into labour or fighting units
- units took bodies and wounded and debris off battlefield
- Red Army and white army used torture and massacre and many civilians suffered to encourage population to stay in line
Murder of the tsar
- Tsar and his family were prisoners but many Bolsheviks worried the tsar would be focus for resistance
- July 1918 local Cheka short family in Yekaterinburg without a trial
- removed a possible figurehead but had little effect because so few wanted him back in power
five main reasons for the reds winning the war- geography
reds commanded hub of communications, armaments factories and most densely populated parts whereas whites were spread out.
main reasons for reds winning- unity
- reds united in aim to survive and were ideologically committed in a way whites were not
white generals operated separately and had different objectives, red had unified command structure
reasons for reds victory- leadership
- red army became disciplined under Trotsky’s leadership whereas whites had few competent commanders and corruption and ill discipline was common.
main reasons for whites victory- support
- peasant support varies but red land policies were more popular than whites association with tsarism
other reasons for whites victory
hostility to foreign intervention gave reds propaganda and it did not help whites as help was insufficient, sporadic and withdrawn after peace in the west
national minorities suspicious of Russia whose message was Russia One and indivisible.
