The Civil War Flashcards
Factors which allowed the bolsheviks to win (5)
- Trotsky
- unity and organisation
- weakness of the whites
- geographical factors
- Lenin and war communism
What position was Trotsky appointed to in 1918?
Commissar for war
What did Trotsky reintroduce to the red army? (3)
- strict hierarchy
- saluting
- pay differentials
Who did Trotsky bring to be in charge of the armies?
1000s of tsarist officers
How did Trotsky do to ensure the loyalty of tsarist officers?
- threatened to hold families hostage
* attached political commissars to report on actions of officers
What did Trotsky end within the army?
- soldiers committees
* election of officers
Which areas did the bolsheviks control?
Central areas
- Moscow
- Petrograd
Why did the bolsheviks move the capital to Moscow?
It was the hub of the railway network
What did the bolsheviks have access to by controlling the central area?
The main Armament factories
What did the bolsheviks having control of the armament factories mean?
The bolsheviks could carry on producing war materials
What fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks?
Artillery, rifles and other military equipments of the old Russian army
The central area which the bolsheviks held was heavily populated. How did this help them win the war?
The could conscript large number to fight for them and hence out number the whites
Who were the supporters of the whites?
Liberals, tsarists, nationalists, separatists, SRs and moderate socialists
Who was in control of the southern volunteer army?
General Denikin
Who was the leader of the Omsk government and where were they?
Admiral Kolchak
They had control in Siberia
How did geographical factors effect the whites?
- they were separated
- communications difficult
- moving men and weapons hard
- coordinating attacks hard
How did the whites communicate with each other?
Officers on horseback
Why were the whites un unified?
They were made of different groups with different aims and beliefs
Why didn’t white generals work together?
They did not trust or like each other
Who was responsible for organising the reds?
Trotsky
What characteristics did Trotsky have which made him a good leader?
- personally brave
* inspirational leader
What was reinstated in the red army?
The death penalty
What would happen if someone deserted the reds?
Machine gunned by there own side
What were the characteristics of many white leaders?
- cruel
* treated there men with contempt
Who did the whites remind there soldiers of?
•the worst aspects of the Russian army and tsarist rule
What happened to foreign supplied uniform and munitions in Kolchaks base?
Sold on the black market
How did officers live in Omsk?
Lived in brothels in a haze of cocaine and vodka
how did the cheka help the reds win the civil war (3)
- eliminated political opposition in communist controlled areas
- enforced discipline with the army
- seized grain
how did war communism help the reds win the civil war?
- ensured high levels of industrial production and food production to feed workers and soldiers
- conscription introduced, either work in factory or fight in the army
- kept red army supplied
What were the four main white armies and who did they each consist of?
- The omsk government (mainly rightists)
- Yudenich’s army in the north west
- The southern volunteer army (1000s of army officers as well as kadets and other liberals)
- the Komuch (committee of the consitutent assembly, mainly SRs)
Who were the greens?
peasant armies, many of whom were deserters from other armies, some fought for the Bolsheviks and some against
What did Trotsky become in 1918?
Commissar for war
