The Civil War- Unit 3

Question 1

What were the reasons for the Civil War?

Answer 1

• Crushing of constituent assembly, Jan 1918 and outlawing of other parties showed Bolsheviks not prepared to share power.
• War about food.

Question 2

War about food:

Answer 2

• Famine= backdrop to Civil War.
• Treaty of Brest Litovsk= loss of grain supply.
• March 1918, bread ration in Petrograd lowest ever allocation, 50 grams per day.
• Population declined 3 million- 2 million, starving workers deserted.

Question 3

Lead up:

Answer 3

• SRs= anti-bolshevik coup in moscow, failed.
• Dora Kaplan, SR fanatic left Lenin with bullet lodges in neck.
• SRs joined Whites.

Question 4

Greens forming:

Answer 4

• 40,000 czech troops volunteered to fight on Russian side WWI to gain independence from Austria- Hungary but were isolated by Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
• Marched to Vladivostok to gain independent state, Bolshevik resented well-equipped foreign army.
• Attacked by Soviets, battles all across Trans-Siberian Railway.

Question 5

Armed resistance spreads:

Answer 5

• SRs–> anti-Bolshevik Republic at Samara.
• White Volunteer Army, led by Denikin formed in Southern Russia from Tsarists and outlawed Kadets.
• Siberia, formation of White army under Kolchak, self-proclaimed ‘Supreme Ruler of Russia’.