civil war 1918-21 chapter 6 Flashcards
why did bolsheviks face backlash and who were their opposition here
white, green , foreign czech
- due to ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HARDSHIP
- opposition to some of the decrees
- dissolution of consituent assembly defo UNDEMOCRATIC
- treaty of brest litovsk
whites= tsarists natonalists noblists , liberalists, moderate socialists against bol, SRs who wanted restablishment of consituent assembly. here they had ex generals so they were in a postion to fight tbh
- greens were indpendnet countries looking to capiatlise on the mess like estonia and gregory
- forign powers: these were because lenin signed treaty, leaving them +the bolsheviks cancelled loan payments back+ scarred of communism spread. so fought with whites
why - Economic and social
- Food shortages and starvation of October revolution increased opposition growth , bread ration in March was lowest at 50 grams per day.
- Food also caused workers away from cities for food, workforce in Petrograd haue shrunk by 60%
-overall population decreased by 2 to 3 mill in petrograd
= dire ciscumstances of worst ever food lead to grwoing violence for bolsheviks
what about oppositon to - Reforms
- decree of land MEANR THAT Land was stolen from nobles and church, these people JOINED THE WHITES
- THE DECREE ON WAR TREATY means NATIONAISTS JOINED WHITES and anti bolshevik, as they sad about losing land and wanted pride to continue war, so joined whites
- DECREE ON BANKING meant wealthy owners supporter Whites too as now banks owned centrally but these wealtgy industrialists lost now, so support white
what about anger towards constituent assmebly
- Kadets and SRs hated the way they forcefully took power, called for more assemblies and joined the whites. said it was FORCEFUL abd furious with bolsheviks, wanted assmbly back as that was democratic way
tf was the Czech legion ?
why important in events for civil war
- Essentially started the civil war when they revolted.
- 42k soldiers who originally fought with Russia in ww1 that fought with soviets when being transported to fight. here the allies oncvinced the bolsheviks to transport them to western front to help them, but when soviets were intimadated by larger movement of FOREIGN army, there was FIGHTING ON THE ROUTE
- They responded by revolting and taking over trans Siberian railway, ENCOURAGING OTHER WHITES TO COME OUT openly against the bolsheviks , starting the civil war
obvs but why brest litovsk
it encouraged many Russians to join anti bolsheviks grousp as naitonally want to fight in war but also angry lost land etc, sacrificed land for peace
execution of the tsar and why
what staement was lenin tryna make
- Tsar dies July 4th 1918
- Tsar was allowed to live with family in royal palace in Petrograd, but PG thought they were not safe, so moved to Siberia.
- However here white armies took control, so Bolshevik moved them to Ekaterinburg
- It was thought that the murder carried out by local bolsheviks, but 1990 archives showed it was Lenin ordered based off advice of GOLOSHCKEKIN, a Bolshevik leader
- This is because Czech legion surround Ural Mountains where tsar was being kept in Ekaterinburg , and only few hundre reds. If white army captured tsar , then they would have ammunition and a leader to rally against, also tsarists still had somethi to work for. indeed next week the mountains fell to czech legion
instead - July 4th, Cheka took over control of Romanov’s, and they were killed. sent to bassement lied to and all murdered
- Declaration in civil war showing no individuals would be counted for in civil war- act of TERROR.
- BODIES transported and sulphuric acid over heads. Romanov dead
how did it go down
how did the reds do basically
aswell what were the effects of the civil war: what were peasants on
How did it go down?
1) It didn’t go well for reds to begin with. Suffered defeats in 1918 and 1919
2) General yudenlich British support attached north west and threatens Petrograd
3) General deniken , with french, threatened south
4) Admiral Kolchos with British attacked from east.
However reds successfully defended all around.
As civil war went on, it left the economy in ruins, transport system about to collapse , no grain, no food , peasants hiding own grain for surplus benefit. Famine caused more people dying then actual fighting, and disease.
why did they win, basic
- one clear aim and leadership
- geographical advantage
- war communism and cheka
- propaganda
- leadership of both trotsky and lenin
- failure of white
one clear aim and leadership?
all reds fought under one centralised aim and benefited off this, and was good leader, whites had different aims and not unified- more cohesion and effort put in
what about control of central area and railways = geographical advantage
advantage of occopying central areas- capital?
population?
arsenals- how much tsar ammo ?
1)reds occupied Petrograd and Moscow, central Russia, and here they didn’t have travel long distances to control, territory
: they moved capital to Moscow as hub for public transport , MAKING better use of TRANSPORT here then whites to transport men ammo etc
. 2) most of the population lived here so armies bigger as conscription easeir = red typically>then white
3) all the factories were here this meant they could MASS produce more materials and trains could transport them. Also they had the old tsar’s Arsenals which was 2.2milkion and a lot of ammunition….
war communism+ cheka
war communism and Cheka : was communism was a policy Lenin introduced to get more food to the soldiers. It meant ruthless discipline in factories and strict food rationing , where more food going to army and resources too. Peasants and workers could go hungry but minor. The Cheka enforced this and took grain by force from peasants …., so ordinary Russians scared.
- However this idea promoted loyalty for some as they thought they were all contributing snd helped…
- that too but ofc it helped the soldiers
propganda used by bolsheviks?
purpose
friendship
images
propaganda : they drive a message, they were fighting for a cause, a PURPOSE : to protect the revolution in October.
Alongside with Lenin and tricksy wholesome friendship meant there was more morale in army,
-and Bolsheviks used agitprop to make images like WHITE TAKING LAND FROM PEASANTS, how foreigners would control Russia and how reds did amazing things like offer eden like future…
leadership of lenin
Lenin provided direction and leadership and didn’t mess around.
benefited from one inspirational and central leader and he showed he was determined by ruthless use of war communism and cheka enfocing this
leadership of trotsky and his role?
how he make morale high
what did he introduce and how many
what he do in general
3 things
what kind of general was he, and finally in terms of tatcics?
-Trotsky was the one army general, whites had many. He was paramount to their success, he provided them with discipline and inspired them. He called them “peasants and workers red army”. To make it more inclusive.
- However he introduced conscription forcing people to fight = 5 Milli troops .
2) brought back thousands of unemployed tsarist officers, but kept their families hostage
. 3) promoted talented soldiers and offered them higher ranks.
4) appointed a Bolshevik officer per squadron so there was no messing around in following party message
5) brought back death penalty for those who refused conscription…
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Also he often travelled to front lines to provide inspiration and support . Also he did all the strategy such as mainting bokshevik railways and communications… WHICH MADE FHEM WIN
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