Russia 5: Civil War

Question 1

Causes of Civil War

Answer 1

Opposition within Russia
* Political opposition such as SRs
* Anger at Brest-Litovsk
* These became the whites
* Wanted a western style government

Opposition abroad
* Allies were angry about Brest-Litovsk
* Worried about communism spreading
* Japan sent 70,000 troops to Siberia
* Britain sent £100 million to whites

Question 2

Division among whites

Reasons for red victory

Answer 2

• Made up of several groups on several fronts with no clear goal
• Wrangel, Denikin, Yudenich, Kolchack each wanted personal control
• Mutual mistrust
• Reds were a tightly unified force

Question 3

Reds controlled central area

Reasons for red victory

Answer 3

• Central area had more railways, population, industry, weapons etc.
• Red army was 5.4 million men (1921) from central russia
• Whites never had more than 250,000 together
• 2.2m rifles from Tsarist stores, 12,000 field guns

Question 4

Trotskys military genuis

Reasons for red victory

Answer 4

• Brilliant organiser
• Used 50,000 former Tsarist officers
• Harsh military discipline
• Used an armoured train for mobile leadership

Question 5

Effects on Peasants

War Communism

Answer 5

• Grain requisitioning
• Peasants refused to grow excess as it was taken (Production was 37% of what it was in 1913)
• Famine of 1921 (No storages of grain)
• US sent 1m tonnes of grain and 300 aid workers
• 5 million died

Question 6

Effects on workers

War Communism

Answer 6

• Black market supplied 70% of food
• 70% of Petrograds population fled, 50% of Moscow
• 4:3:2:1 Rationing
• Many anti-communists fled Russia
• Strikes = execution

Question 7

Opps to war communism

Kronstadt Revolt

Answer 7

• Sailors previously called “reddest of the red” turned against Bolshies
• February 1921 mutiny on Petrpavlovsk which spread to whole naval base
• 15,000 mutinied

Question 8

Kronstadt Revolt effects

Answer 8

• Put down with 50,000 soldiers
• Majority of rebels killed or exiled
• 800 fled to Finland
• Made Lenin realise War Communism was not working
• Led to NEP March 1921

Question 9

Reasons for war communism

State Control of Industry

Answer 9

• Industry 60% of 1913
• 40% of industrial areas lost in B-L
• 1919 workers can be moved sectors
• 1920 anyone of age could be made to work for state

Question 10

Reasons for war communism

Food shortages

Answer 10

• Peasants only had enough to feed themselves
• 1918 state collecting less than 1m tonnes of grain
• by 1920 6m (still too little)

Question 11

Tambov Uprising

Answer 11

• Peasants in Tambov rebelled and killed requisitioning squads
• 50,000 troops sent
• Other rebellions cost reds 250k men