Civil War Flashcards
Intro
from early 1918 L’s insistence that peace be achieved at any cosy = resented had to fight for survival until late 1920
Causes: Left
had forced K’s & SR’s out
had closed CA after SRs won
sidelined sovs and imposed 1 party dict
Causes: Right
aristos & bours = alienated land business and money = lost
some wanted constitutional monarchy - officers op peace
bour got least rations so shortage hit them the hardest
Other Causes
seized power w/ force - no elects
many angered by TofBL
discon w/ inabil to solve Econ problems food shortages made worse by distrib probs & loss of agri land
nat mins saw op to gain independence
some saw op to win old battles
Reds
RA led by T
Whites
libs former tsarists, nats & seps led by former tsarist officers - attacks = really coord often had little in common
Greens
P army fighting for indepen Nestor Makhno leads guerrilla campaign in Ukraine sided w/ R’s & W’s at various times
Allies
Brit, Fr, USA help W’s
Czech Legion
formed from Czech ants who arrived in R during WW1 joined W’s after Bols tried to block & arrest some soldiers on trans Siberia railway
Stage 1
1918-20
mainly fought east & south held area around M and w’s attack
Stage 2
1920-21
m nat conflict against pol forces in W Ukraine
Gen Tukhachevsky leads push back T of Riga March 1921
Apr - May 1918
CL seize parts of trans - Siberian railway - war starts
when try to arrest CL join W’s & advance on Mos
Aug 1918
Denikin & Kolchaks W armies advance
Den attack SW - Mos K attacks E
Nov 1918
Kol declares sup ruler of R
W’s poised for success but R’s counter stopping D & K
Oct 1919
D’s army advances w/in 200 miles of M T counters forces South into Crimea
Yudenich’s army -15k - advances towards outskirts of Pet R’s rebel
Feb 1920
Kol captured & shot had been retreating since 1919
March 1920
D’s army evacuated to Crimea W’s retreat
May 1920
Russo-Polish war distracts Bols
Oct 1920
Wrangel’s army evacuated from Crimea took over after D defeated by Makhno & eval by ally ships
Bols estab control gain vic over W’s
March 1921
T of Riga independence to Pol, Estonia & Latvia
Role of Trotsky
covered over 65k miles in train = NB for morale
strict discipline death pen = hierarchal lines org if retreated against orders 1st shot = commissar
ruthless so had food and weapons
reintroed tanks saluting and dif pay & labour battalions
recruited 50k former tsarist officers
Murder of the Tsar
July 1918 being held in Yekaterinburg in Urals guarded by Cheka heard W’s = near so murdered L probs authed it = m radical
Reasons for Red victory
Geog - had central area W’s had 100s miles between armies
Unity -
Leadership - RA had T & railway to move troops W’s lacked competent advisors
support - although R sup varied land pol = m pop
other - foreign involvement didnt greatly help W’s and gave R’s prop
Government Control
centralisation inc control - had 1/2 mil RA mems used to following orders
Bureuc = m than workers = org
1919 Politburo
adopted seige mentality
end 1922 USSR = officially established
