Russian Civil War

Question 1

Reasons for Bolshevik Involvement in the Civil War

Answer 1

• The Bolsheviks’ political opponents were not prepared to accept their absolute rule
• Lenin wanted a conflict to destroy his opponents in a short war rather than be challenged by them throughout Bolshevik rule

Question 2

Reasons for Allied Involvement in the Civil War

Answer 2

• Russia’s withdrawal from WWI initially caused resentment

- The cancelling of the Tsar’s debt to the Allies

Question 3

Reasons for Opposition (Within Russia) in the Civil War

Answer 3

• The Bolsheviks had seized control by force and opponents could claim they had no real right to rule
• Some wanted the return of the old Tsarist regime
• Certain regions still wanted independence from Russia and had not been granted it
• The signing of the The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the shutting down of the Constituent Assembly had caused political resentment
• Many social and economic problems had still not been solved. The loss of Ukraine had in fact increased food shortages

Question 4

Phase One - Early Resistance

Answer 4

• Kerensky’s attempts to rally an army after the Bolshevik takeover fail
• Spring 1918 – Bolshevik forces crush resistance from Cossack armies in the Urals and the Don

Question 5

Phase Two - War With the SRs - the Czech Legion

Answer 5

• May 1918 - the Czech Legion (Austria-Hungarian prisoners) rebel on the journey to Vladivostok
• A few are arrested after a brawl and become a focus for opponents of the Bolshevik regime
• Komuch, a government made up of ex-members of the Constituent Assembly, is set up in Samara

Question 6

Phase Two - War With the SRs

Answer 6

• Jul 17 1918 – Nicholas Romanov (Nicholas II) is shot at Yekaterinburg alongside the rest of the royal family
• Aug - Trotsky arrives by train at Svyazshk – retreating Officers and one in ten soldiers are shot on his orders
• The Directory government is created in September and ends by November

Question 7

Phase Three - War With the Whites - (January - December 1919) - The Red Army

Answer 7

Begins Dec 19 1918 - lasts until the removal of Baron Wrangel from the Crimea

• Aug - The Red Army is forced to abandon Kiev, the capital of Ukraine
• Winter - The Red Army advances on all fronts

Question 8

Phase Three - War With the Whites - (January - December 1919) - Denikin and Yudenich

Answer 8

• May – General Denikin with an army of Cossacks begin to advance on Moscow from the south
• Oct - Defeated at Orel and forced to retreat
• Oct - Yudenich also begins to advance on Petrograd from Estonia, but is defeated outside Petrograd. Lenin optimistically says that the war may be over

Question 9

Phase Three - War With the Whites - Kolchak

Answer 9

Mar 1919 - Kolchak’s army begin to advance west along the Trans-Siberian railway

Apr - Driven back by Trotsky’s forces

Jan 1920 - Kolchak abdicates from the Directory

Question 10

Phase Three - War With the Whites - (April - December 1920) - END

Answer 10

• Feb - Estonia signs a peace agreement with the Sovnarkom
• Mar - Red Army counter-attack the Poles and head towards Western Europe. Denikin’s successor, Baron Wrangel, advances in the south but is quickly pushed back to the Crimea
• Oct - The Treaty of Riga ends the Russo-Polish war
• Nov - The late White forces leave Southern Russia pursued and shelled by Red forces

Question 11

Phase Four - War With the Greens

Answer 11

• The Greens were a movement of peasants that were unhappy with Bolshevik policies
• Some were led by Anarchists, like Makhno in Ukraine and Antonov in Tambov
• This period began before the Whites were defeated and ended in 1921. Overlapping all these were movements for international independence

Question 12

Failure of Opposing Foreign Intervention

Answer 12

• The allies were exhausted after WW1
• There was very little effective communication between the countries
• By the end of 1920 all foreign intervention had left

Question 13

Opposing Foreign Intervention

Answer 13

• Britain managed to maintain the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
• British warships entered Russian Baltic Waters
• In 1919 Japanese and US troops occupied parts of Siberia
• France established a major land base around the Black Sea port of Odessa

Question 14

Use of the Cheka

Answer 14

• Tools of terror - approximately killed 150,000 people during the Civil War
• Seized grain and other forms of food from peasants without payment
• Enforced discipline inside the Red Army and were authorised to shoot deserters

Question 15

Government Control During the Civil War

Answer 15

• Moscow replaced Petrograd as Russia’s capital
• The Politburo became the new main centre for party policy and its members included Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky
• The Politburo assumed increasing control of state affairs and Sovnarkom met less frequently

Question 16

Beginnings of War Communism

Answer 16

• The government decides to take direct control of all aspects of economic life
• War Communism is designed to ensure high levels of industrial and food production to feed soldiers and workers
• Rationing is introduced, with the largest rations going to workers and soldiers
• Conscription is introduced so workers are assigned either to work in factories or in the army

Question 17

Industrial Impact of War Communism

Answer 17

• The only advantage is that the Red Army remains well-fed
• Coal production is at 27% of its 1913 figure
• Large factories produce only 13% of their 1913 figure
• 1913-1920 - Overall industrial output drops by 80%

Question 18

Agricultural Impact of War Communism

Answer 18

• Between 1916 and 1920 the cities in Northern and Central Russia lost up to 33% of their population to the countryside
• Cotton production drops by 87% as most land is soon used to grow food

Question 19

Prodrazverstka

Answer 19

Mandatory deliveries of grain, expropriation of almost all peasants’ produce

Question 20

Grain and Food Requisitioning

Answer 20

• By 1933, 25 million tons of grain had been collected from peasants, though this was only just enough to reach demands
• Any peasants found to be hoarding grain could be beaten or killed
• The middle class either had their home seized or were made to share food with workers - they would be imprisoned if they refused and were not allowed to work
• 4 to 5 million people die of starvation

Question 21

Reasons for Communist Success

Answer 21

• Ideologically united
• The Cheka enforced harsh discipline and opposition was dealt with brutally
• Maintained control over the majority of the railway network
• Trotsky had a clear strategy: prevent too many Whites gathering in one area and cut off their supplies, whilst also defending internal lines of communication
• Effective use of propaganda against the “bourgeois” Whites (eg. Pravda)

Question 22

Reasons for White Failure

Answer 22

• Many separate armies spread out over Russia - little co-ordination or united attacks
• Many generals returned land to the original landowners, angering the peasants
• The Whites were not bound together by a single aim - many of the separate groups hated each other
• The White Army killed over 100,000 Jews and many other civilians, making most support the Reds instead (Kolchak was especially ruthless)
• The separate groups were unable to put aside personal differences long enough to make a united strike against the Reds
• The Directory meant that opposing parts of the White army constantly clashed over tactics and plans - the Communists had no such factions and could pass plans much more easily

Question 23

Phase Two - War with the SRs - The Directory Government

Answer 23

• Sep 1919 - The Directory government is set up at Ufa, backed by Czechs, SRs and other anti-Bolshevik groups
• Nov - Kolchak makes himself military dictator – The Directory is ended

Question 24

Economic Impact of War Communism

Answer 24

• 70- 90% of wages paid for with things other than money

- Monetary circulation results in hyperinflation