Reasons For Red Victory Flashcards
Which area did the Bolsheviks hold?
The Bosheviks held the central area which included Petrograd and Moscow
Where did the Bolsheviks move their capital to? What did it make easier?
They moved their capital to Moscow, at the hub of the railway network. This made it easier to transport men and munitions to the battle fronts.
What did the central area also contain?
It also contained the main armament factories in Russia so the Bolsheviks could carry on producing war materials.
Where did much of the artillery, rifles and other military equipment of the old Russian army fall into?
Fell back into the Bolshevik hands
What were the Bolsheviks able to do because the central area was heavily populated?
Able to conscript large numbers to fight. Red armies often vastly outnumbered their white opponents
Why was communication difficult?
Whites were scattered around the edges of this central area, separated by large distances making moving men and weapons and co-ordinating the attacks of different white armies.
They had no telephone links.
What did they have to use because they didn’t have any telephone links.
They had to use officers on horseback to convey messages
What structure did the Bolsheviks have
They had a single, unified command structure.
What did Trotsky organise the Red army into?
An effective fighting force. He turned it from a ‘flabby, panicky mass’ into a better organised army than the whites.
Why was it hard for the whites to co-operate and develop a political strategy?
They were made up of different groups who had entirely different aims and beliefs- they couldn’t agree on whether they were fighting for monarchism, republicanism or for the Constituent Assembly. They were split by their views on national minorities.
Why wouldn’t the white generals often work together?
They didn’t like or trust each other. For example, other generals were suspicious of Kolchak’s motives and intentions
How did Trotsky prove himself as a superb leader?
He was personally brave, he took special forces to the parts of the Front where the fighting was fiercest. He was able to inspire and rally men.
How was discipline very tough in the red army?
The death penalty was used frequently, unwilling peasant conscripts knew that certain death lay before them if they retreated in a battle- they would be machine gunned by their own side
How were white leaders second rate?
They were cruel and treated their men with contempt. They reminded the soldiers of the worst aspects of the Russian army and tsarist rule.
Why did many soldiers desert in the white army?
There was little natural warmth or support for the white leaders
How was the level of indiscipline and corruption in the white armies extraordinary
In Omsk, uniforms and munitions supplies by foreign interventionist governments were sold on the black market and officers lived in brothels In a haze of cocaine and vodka. Units of the red army sometimes ended up in English army uniforms and prostitutes in English nurses’ uniforms
What was Omsk
Kolchak’s base
What did Denikin say about his army?
‘I can do nothing with my army. I am glad when it carries out my combat orders’
Why was the support of the peasants crucial?
They supplied the main body of soldiers for both sides. They had little love for either side and were just as inclined to desert from red as from white armies into which they had been conscripted.
What did Lenin and the whites do to the peasants land?
Lenin legitimised their right to the land while the whites made it clear that land would be restored to its former owners.
Why were peasants inclined to support the reds
Kolchak gave estates to landlords who had not owned them before the revolution
Why did the whites lose the support of nationalist groups?
White leaders wanted to restore the Russian empire with its pre-1917 borders which antagonised national groups (separatists) such as the Ukrainians and Georgians who were looking for more autonomy in their affairs or complete independence. Therefore separatists would not support the whites when the white forces were based in their territory
What were the national groups
Separatists such as the Ukrainians and Georgians who were looking for autonomy.
Why did the Bolsheviks have a core group of supporters of some workers and soldiers but did not enjoy widespread popular support?
War communism and the way they managed the cities and food supply saw to that. Urban workers and peasants wanted to protect the gains of 1917 and the reds seemed to offer them their best chance of doing this. The whites were associated with the old system of government
Why was foreign intervention largely ineffective for the whites?
Whilst it did bring them supplies and weapons, it was half hearted and gave the Bolsheviks a propaganda coup because they could present themselves as the defenders of Russian soil against forgoing forces
White did the whites not use propaganda effectively?
The whites especially Denikin didn’t see how valuable it was
How did the reds use propaganda
They used extremely imaginative and powerful images, including:
•the whites would take away land from the peasants
•foreign invaders were supporting the whites
•the reds offered a wonderful new society for workers and peasants
What were the 5 reasons as to why the Reds won?
- geographical factors
- unity and organisation
- leadership
- support
- other factors
What did Trotsky call the Red army?
He said he turned it from a ‘flabby, panicky mass’ into a better organised army than the whites.
