Russian Civil War | davisonhistory

WHY DID THE REDS WIN THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR?

By the end of 1918 a collection of anti-Bolshevik groups got together to try and crush the Bolsheviks. They were called the WHITES & included Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, supporters of the Tsar, landlords and factory owners who had lost their land and factories in the Revolution, The Czech Legion who had been prisoners of War, also troops from Britain, America, Japan and France.

The BOLSHEVIKS were called the REDS.

3 WHITE ARMIES marched towards Moscow and Petrograd.
TROTSKY created a new Red Army of 300,000 men
The CHEKA made sure that no one cooperated with the Whites. Any opponents or people suspected of betraying the Bolsheviks were beaten, hung or shot. This was known as THE RED TERROR.
In July 1918 The Tsar and his family were executed in Ekaterinburg (Siberia) by the Bolsheviks. Lenin could not risk them being rescued and put back on the throne.
Lenin use WAR COMMUNISM to make sure his Red Army was fed and supplied. It was harsh as all factories were run by the government, workers could be shot for striking, peasants had to give their extra food to the government and food was rationed. Peasants hated this and refused to grow extra because it was just taken away from them. There was also a bad harvest 1920-21. This caused a terrible famine where 7million people died.
ADVANTAGES of the REDS- Lenin and Trotsky were brilliant leaders, the Red Army was united and disciplined and Trotsky used to travel around Russia on a special train inspiring the troops and planning effective strategies, the Bolsheviks kept strict control of Western Russia. They made sure workers were fed by forcing peasants to hand over grain and they rationed supplies, they took over factories to supply the Army with equipment, they used effective propaganda to spread fear of the Tsar returning or foreign rule, they had the better position of being united in one central place (including the cities of Petrograd and Moscow) with factories for ammunition, good communication and rail links to move troops. Generally the Reds were more popular than the Whites, although both sides committed atrocities during the war, but at least the Reds could say they were fully Russian.
DISADVANTAGES of the WHITES: They were not united-they did not all have the same aims and wouldn’t work together; they were widely spread out around the edge of Russia with poor communication and coordination. Trotsky could defeat them one by one. They were very unpopular and had less support from people. The French and British armies were exhausted from World War One and gave up by 1919.
The Civil War was won by the REDS-a victory for Lenin and the Bolsheviks.