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
