Evaluate the reasons why the Reds won the Civil War (1918-1921)?

Question 1

Unity

Answer 1

• Bolsheviks had angered a number of groups
• Monarchists were not happy the Tsar had been desposed and placed under house arrest
• SR’s not happy that Bolsheviks reneged on promises to set up a constituent assembly
• FI (Britain hated) commnism
• As such, there was a lot of opposition to Bolshevism and they combined to assist the White forces
• In the Don region General Alekssev and Kornilov assembled a volunteer army to fight and by Feb 1918 they had 4k men
• Reed writes the Whites were “not a unified force and its participants had a range of different aims and agendas”
• However, Bolsheviks had more of a unifying and galvanising ideology
• Evidence for this can be seen when the Br PM was reported to have mistaken the town of Karhkov for the name of a Whit General and said he would rather have Russia become Bolshevik than Br bankrupt
• FI left when the BR general, departed ordering all Br arms to be destroyed
• They were defending the motherland —> More of a unifying ideology –> Paramount to Red victory

Question 2

Leadership

Answer 2

Red army –> expertly marshalled by Trotsky

• Trotsky put together 3,000,000 by Spring 1919
• Lee writes its “clear and effective leadership”
• Trotsky travelled across the country in armoured train delivering fantastic feats of oratory
• Footman - “he was outstanding because of his indefatigable dynamism, his determination to get results, his grasp of essentials’
• Lenin gave up on Moscow but Trotsky didn’t –> called for it to be defende to the last drop of blood
• He liked to rally his troops on horsebarck right in the thick of the fight and generated great loyalty in his soldiers
• 50-80% of Bolshevik leaders had worke

Question 3

Tactics