Russian civil war Flashcards
What were the Bolsheviks unwilling to share
Power
What did the Bolsheviks lack control of
Enough of Russia
What did Lenin fear
That further revolution as other parties would have a popular mandate to govern
Why do some historians believe Lenin wanted a civil war
So he could quickly defeat his opponents rather than have a long drawn out conflict
What did the greens support
Economic power being transferred to local groups of peasants
What had dominated Russia by July July 1918
A one party state
What did some people want a return of
The tsar/pg government
Why did Britain and France supply resources for the whites
Because they wanted Russia to remain in the war and prevent communism
Who was the Czech legion
Austria-Hungarian prisoners who fought the allies in hopes to build their own country after they had been defeated
Who made up the Czech legion
40,000 men
Why did national minorities fight the Bolsheviks
Because they wanted to create their own countries and wanted individualism
Why did left wing SRs abandon their coalition with the Bolsheviks
Their opposition to the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
What did Lenin authorised that caused a clash with the peasantry
The forcible collection of brain stocks to feed the army and cities
How did peasants react to grain requisitioning
Avoided conscription and hid stocks
What did the white army lack
A unified command structure and strategy
What was the white army spread over
Large geographical areas
What did the whites often fail to do
Coordinate attacks and sacrifice own interests and work with the greens
Why did the whites lack support
They were considered former tsarist supporters and foreign invaders
Which officers did the reds use
Ex-tsarist officers who had great experience
What did Trotsky control
Railway routes, making it easier to transport troops
What did Trotsky enforce in the red army
Strict discipline and
What did Trotsky use
The Cheka to remove political opponents
When did foreign forces stop supporting the whites
After the armistice had been signed
Why did foreign leaders stop helping the whites
When they realised they had no chance of winning, which weakened the white forces further
Who did polish forces invade
Ukraine, capturing Kiev
What treaty ended the conflict with Russia and Poland
Treaty of riga
What was repression known as between 1918-21
Red terror
What do some historians argue about Lenin’s use of terror
That it was adapted due to civil war
What was repression argued to be a key component of
Marxism-Leninism
What was the Cheka
Secret police that was modelled on the okhrana
How many members were there in the Cheka by 1921
143,000
Who was the Cheka accountable to
Lenin- not the law
Why did Lenin execute the Romanov’s
He had 2 assassination attempts against him and knew he couldn’t let the old establishment remain
When were the Romanov’s executed
July 1918
What did Dzerzhinsky set up
Labour camps for enemies of the revolution
How many labour camps were built
300
Why did the SRs oppose the Bolsheviks
Opposed conditions by the imperial powers, rejected the treaty
What did general deniken lead
White forces on the southern front in Russia and Ukraine
What did denikins army infiltrate
Mass atrocities and anti-Jewish pogroms
When and where was denekins army defeated
Orel in 1919
What did admiral kolchak lead
Lead white move movement and proclaimed supreme ruler
When and where was kolchak defeated
Siberia in 1919
How did the reds gain recruits
By offering defeated enemy troops the option to enlist or die
How were the reds sustained
By a driving sense of purpose and their belief in their own victory
Why had the civil war erupted
Due to the increasingly high opposition of the Bolshevik givernment
