The Civil War Flashcards
When did fighting break out?
The summer of 1918
Causes of the Civil War
Domestic opposition
Global opposition
Lack of food
Explain domestic opposition as a cause of the civil war?
Political opposition had been attacked by Lenin - dissolved CA when he lost, had Kadets, Mensheviks and SRs rounded up and arrested
Opposition about B-L - Bukharin had set up ‘revolutionary war group’
Landlords/bourgeoisie who lost land were angry (look at decrees)
Explain world opposition as a cause of the civil war
Bolsheviks set up the Comintern in March 1919 - threat to other countries
Anger at Russia for withdrawing from WW1
Anger at Bolsheviks for writing off old Tsarist debts
Explain lack of food as a cause of the civil war?
Ukraine had been lost in Brest-Litovsk - ‘bread basket’ of the Soviet Union
Food shortages as a continued legacy of WW1
Why was the Bolshevik position precarious before the civil war?
Those on the right could claim that they had no right to power (true - they had seized power by force and then disregarded election results)
Why did national minorities get involved in the civil war?
There were national minorities, such as the Georgians, who did not trust Bolshevik promises of self-determination.
They saw an opportunity for independence.
Who comprised the Whites?
Anybody who opposed the Bolsheviks - those who wanted the tsarist regime back, those who did not see the Bolsheviks as legitimate/able to cope with economic problems, those on the left who felt that the soviets had been sidelined etc…
Who took over leadership of the whites?
Old tsarist officers: Deniken, Kolchak, Yudenich, Wrangel
Who led the Whites in the South?
General Deniken
Who led the Whites in Siberia?
Admiral Kolchak
Who led the Whites in Estonia?
General Yudenich
Who replaced Deniken in Crimea?
Wrangel
What had amassed by the spring of 1918?
An anti-Bolshevik volunteer army, partly financed by Germany
What did the Bolsheviks do in anticipation of the growing threat?
Moved the capital from Petrograd to Moscow in March 1918
What sparked the outbreak of war?
Members of the Czech legion began attacking Bolsheviks in Western Siberia in May
Examples of fundamental differences in the White army
Old tsarist officers wanted to preserve the Russian empire, but national minorities wanted self-determination
What was the expected outcome of the Civil War at the start?
Nobody expected the Bolsheviks to win - geographically, they were surrounded by Whites on all sides
How much of Russia did the Red Army occupy at the start of the war?
Only 1/5
Advantages of the places the Red Army occupied?
In control of the most densely populated, industrialised and connected (due to railway connections) parts of Russia
Activities of Denikin’s forces?
In the summer of 1918, Denikin (whose army included many Cossacks) attacked the Don region, threatening a city called Tsaritsyn. Successful Red resistance prevented Denikin from linking up with White armies in the East.
By the summer of 1919, Denikin began another offensive which got dangerously close to Moscow by October, but Trotsky forced Denikin’s army south towards Crimea.
When were Denikin’s operations?
Summer of 1918 (Don region)
Summer of 1919 (Moscow)
Activities of Kolchak’s forces?
In the summer of 1918, Kolchak’s forces captured the cities of Kazan and Samara but was halted by Red Army counter-attacks.
By the autumn of 1919, Kolchak was in retreat.
In 1920, he was captured and shot.
When were Kolchak’s operations?
Summer of 1918 (Kazan, Samara)
Autumn of 1919 (retreat)
1920 (shot)
Activities of Yudenich’s forces?
Got close to Petrograd with a small army of 15,000 men in October 1919, but he was forced back by Red troops
When were Yudenich’s operations?
October of 1919 (Petrograd)
Activities of Wrangel’s forces?
In 1920, he replaced Denikin in Crimea. His White army held out for several months, but the Green army fought against them.
When did the Bolsheviks gain control over all of Russia?
By 1920
How many people died in the civil war?
Around 10 million, due to hunger, epidemic disease and military action.
Who were the Greens?
Ukrainian and Georgian nationalists under the leadership of Nestor Makhno, whose allegiance changed several times during the war.
What happened in the last year of the war?
Became a nationalist struggle against the Poles, who were driven back by General Tukhachevsky after trying to invade western Ukraine.
What happened in Apr/May 1918?
Civil War begins
What happened in July 1918?
Murder of the Tsar and his family in Yekaterinburg
What happened in August 1918?
High point of the first White advance westwards
What happened in November 1918?
Kolchak declared himself ‘supreme ruler’ of Russia
What happened in October 1919?
High point of Denikin’s advance
High point of Yudenich’s advance
What happened in February 1920?
Kolchak is shot after being handed over to the Bolsheviks
What happened in March 1920?
Denikin’s army is evacuated to Crimea
What happened in May 1920?
Start of the Russo-Polish war
What happened in October 1920?
Wrangel’s army defeated in Crimea, Whites officially defeated
What happened in March 1921?
Russo-Polish war ends with the Treaty of Riga
What happened in December 1922?
Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics adopted
How big was the Red Army during the Civil War?
Around 3 million men
From where did Trotsky direct the war?
His special train, which covered over 65,000 miles during the war
What did Trotsky do while travelling?
Travelled with his own elite force, visiting the various fronts and meeting with commanders and their troops
Which historian argued that Trotsky was not a great commander?
Russian historian Dmitri Volkogonov - argued that he made few key strategic decisions
How was leadership a factor in Red Army victory?
White army had no single leader - generals were jealous of eachother and refused to coordinate their offensive
Different factions within the Whites were unwilling to sacrifice their individual interests to form a united front
Trotsky offered strong leadership - propaganda train, control over Red Army
Examples of Trotsky’s strong military leadership
Recruited 50,000 former tsarist army officers
Appointed political commissars to army units (committed Party loyalists)
Any sign of disloyalty among troops was punishable by death
Examples of Trotsky turning the Red Army into a professional force
Conscription was introduced in some areas
How was internal support a factor in Red Army victory?
Heavily supported by the workers - liked policies such as 8 hour work days, management over factories, national healthcare and education etc… (however, some workers supported the whites as the T of B-L threatened food shortages)
Some peasants supported the Bolsheviks - liked Lenin’s Decree on Land, Reds could win over the peasants using a private propaganda unit (Agitprop) (however, some peasants did not support either the Whites or Reds because the armies did not treat the peasants well - they raped, murdered and pillaged as they went through land)
How was ideological unity a factor in the Red Army victory?
The Bolsheviks were a politically homogenous group who claimed to have seized power in the name of the people
The Whites were a politically diverse group made up of monarchists, liberals, Mensheviks and SRs - very little common interest
Although all foreign intervention was fighting against the communist regime, the countries involved were motivated for different reasons (e.g. France wanted the money that they had invested in Russian business paid back, the US wanted Russia back in WW1 and wanted to stop the spread of communism)
How was geography a factor in the Red Army victory?
Reds - control over heavily industrialised and populated areas like Moscow and Petrograd (they also had control over railways, which helped them push back Denikin’s forces in 1919)
Greens - mostly active in rural areas so far from the main action, can’t have much impact
Whites - generally south Russia, Siberia, Estonia and Crimea so very spread out (made cooperation difficult), lack of control over railways created supply issues, particularly for Kolchak’s forces
How was foreign intervention a factor in Red Army victory?
Did not have much of an impact for the Whites, despite support from powerful countries like Britain, France, Japan and the USA
Too spread out to have had an impact - e.g. 600 French and British troops in Arkhangelsk, 70,000 Japanese soldiers in the East, 11,500 Estonians in Northwestern Russia etc…
Cultural political control during the civil war?
Bolshevik artists produced 3,600 propaganda posters in three years
Define totalitarianism
A system of government that is centralised and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state
What did Orlando Figes say about the centralisation of power?
‘The totalitarian state had its origins in the Civil War, when it was necessary to control every aspect of the economy and society’
How did the Civil War mark the beginning of the centralisation of power?
Over half a million Party members who fought in the civil war became used to obeying orders.
By how much had Soviet bureaucracy grown over the civil war period?
Officials outnumbered workers 2 to 1
How is this extension of government control referred to as?
‘Dictatorship of the bureaucracy’
What other organisation was set up during the civil war period?
An organisational bureau (the Orgburo) was created in 1919 to supervise the work of local Party committees
What was democratic centralism and did the Bolsheviks actually follow this model?
In theory, the Soviet Union was a democracy because the workers and peasants elected members of their local soviets, who in turn chose those who sat on higher-level Soviets and the All-Russian Congress of Soviets - however, actual policies were shaped by the Party’s central committee
What political body was set up in 1919?
The Politburo - this dictated Party policy.
Its members included Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin
How can we show that political centralisation increased in the 1920s?
The Sovnarkon gradually met less frequently during the 1920s
Where were the Tsar and his family kept prisoner?
Yekaterinburg
When were the Tsar and his family killed?
July 1918
Did the Tsar’s death make any difference in the course of the Civil War?
Not really, as so few were fighting to reinstate the monarchy.
How did the Civil War increase regional power for the Bolsheviks?
Areas conquered by the Red Army were absorbed into the USSR or were allowed to remain as separate republics, as in the case of Ukraine, Belorussia and Georgia. This created a strong federation of socialist republics.
What prolonged the Civil War?
Nationalist struggle against Polish armies in 1921 - the Poles invaded Western Ukraine but were driven back by Tukhachevsky
Impact of the civil war in terms of nationalities?
Poland was granted self-rule and the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were confirmed
