Reasons why the Reds won the Civil War

Question 1

Geography

Answer 1

Reds held the most populated cities and industrial hub such as Moscow and Petrograd. Also held the Trans-Siberian railway

The Whites were widely dispersed and were in less developed areas.

Question 2

Leadership/Role of Trotsky

Answer 2

Trotsky was a strong leader - Red Army were well disciplined and well fed and supplied : Decree on the Organisation of Food Supply May 13th 1918, forcefully requisitioned grain from peasants.

(1918–1922) the Bolsheviks executed around 50,000 Red Army dissenters for desertion, mutiny, or disloyalty.

Reintroduced traditional ranks within the army in March 1918

Recruited 50,000 former Tsarist officers to train and command Red Army troops.

In April 1918 he appointed political commissars to monitor officers’ loyalty to the Bolshevik

Question 3

Unity

Answer 3

The reds were united in their aims
White Generals operated independently for different objectives:
General Yudenich (Northwest) – Fought to restore the Romanov monarchy.
General Wrangel (Crimea) – Supported a constitutional monarchy.
Admiral Kolchak (Siberia) – Declared himself “Supreme Ruler of Russia” in 1918.
General Denikin (Southern Russia) – Sought a military dictatorship.

Question 4

Support

Answer 4

The Red’s land policies were more popular than the Whites - Lenin’s Decree on Land Oct 1917 abolished private land ownership and redistributed land to peasants.

Question 5

Propaganda

Answer 5

The Bolsheviks utilised the Pravda - the official Bolshevik Newspaper and declared the official voice of the communist party on March 5th 1918.
Trotsky also travelled, spreading propaganda on his train.