Group+7-+Russian+Civil+War


 * __ The Russian Civil War __**

**__ Overview __**
The Russian Civil War was a war between multiple political parties that occurred within the former Russian Empire. It lasted from 1918 to 1920. It began just after the Russian Provisional Government was overthrown by the Bolshevik party.

Most of the fighting occurred between the Bolshevik Red Army and the forces of the White Army, the loosely-allied anti-Bolshevik forces. Many foreign armies also fought on both sides of the Russian Civil War.

**__ Background __**
As World War I continued to wear down Russian morale and resources, the people demanded drastic action, and the end result was the February Revolution. On February 22, mobs of enraged and poor peasants and middle class worker poured into the streets of Petrograd in a massive strike. On March 15th 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated from the Russian throne. He named his brother as his successor but his brother refused.

With no one to run the country The Duma stepped in. The Duma was the Russian Parliament, elected by a small number of wealthy Russians. Several of its members were chosen to become the Russian Provisional Government. It was led by liberal aristocrat Prince Lvov.

Within a week one of the world’s most repressive governments had been replaced by one that introduced many democratic freedoms. It released all political prisoners, legalized political parties, introduced the right to strike and the eight-hour working day. It also called for the election of a Constituent Assembly to decide Russia’s new constitution. All the Tsar's estates were confiscated, but because many wealthy landowners supported the new government nothing was done to provide the peasants with any other land. This would prove to be a major error.

In addition to not providing the peasants with land the Provisional Government continually delayed the election of the Constituent Assembly. It also made the decision to continue the war with Germany. This was a mistake also made by Kerensky, member of the Socialist Revolutionary party who later became leader of the Provisional Government. Now that the Tsar was gone the Russian people wanted only peace, and one man was prepared to give it to them.

Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik party who wanted to end the war with Germany. In June of 1917 a new Russian offensive was launched and failed. In that month alone there were 30 000 desertions by Russian soldiers. As support for the Provisional Government was rapidly lost, support for the Bolshevik party skyrocketed.

In July of 1917 there was a massive demonstration against the government. 500,000 demonstrators marched on the government. Many of them were armed sailors from Kronstadt naval base. Kerensky crushed the demonstration and 400 people were killed. Kerensky used this as an excuse to order the arrest of the leaders of the Bolsheviks. Lenin was forced into hiding.

At the beginning of September 1917, General Kornilov, commander-in-chief of the Russian armies, ordered his troops to march on the capital, Petrograd, and cleanse the government of socialists.

When the Bolsheviks offered to helped defend the government Kerensky released them from jail. Over 20,000 Bolshevik Red Guards organized the defense of the city. They infiltrated Kornilov’s army and convinced the men to desert. The march had been stopped and the popularity of the Bolsheviks rose astronomically. Lenin decided that now was the time to move against Kerensky.

In an event called the October Revolution the Red Guards and armed workers led by the Bolsheviks began their attack on Petrograd. By the week’s end the capital had fallen and Kerensky had fled the city. The Provisional Government was no more.

Lenin was quick to issue new laws. His first decree called for immediate negotiations to end the war. He also announced that all the land in Russia now belonged to the peasants. He quickly won the support of 80% of the population.

The long delayed Constituent Assembly was finally elected but its majority consisted of Social Revolutionaries. When in met in January of 1918 it heavily criticized the Bolsheviks. The next day Lenin shut it down. He decided that the new government couldn’t allow opposition. A secret police force called the Cheka was put in place to deal with any serious opponents.

The Red Guard was expanded and reorganized into the Red Army. A new figure was needed to take charge of the militant arm of the Bolshevik Party, and Leon Trotskywas named the People’s Commissar of Army and Navy Affairs. Trotsky proved extremely proficient in managing the army and inspiring the soldiers to fight for the Communist ideal. He managed to forge militia peasants into a powerful fighting force (mainly through discipline and fear). Trotsky also began conscripting military officers who used to be loyal to the Tsar, which was seen as a controversial decision, but ultimately effective as few officers in the communist army had formal training or combat experience. Often Trotsky blackmailed Tsarist officers into the Red Army by holding their families hostage. By its end, 83% of all Red Army commanders were ex-Tsarist soldiers.

On February 18th 1918 peace negotiations between the Bolshevik government and the Germans broke down. The Germans began a major offensive on the eastern front, encountering virtually no resistance in a campaign which lasted eleven days. Lenin knew that the Red Army would not be able to hold the Germans off, so on March 3rd 1918 he signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which pulled Russia out of the war and gave Germany control over vast stretches of western Russia. However, much of it was returned after the Germans were defeated in World War One.

Soon after Russia made peace with Germany, anti-Bolshevik forces called the White Army began to receive support in the form of troops and weapons by foreign nations such as Britain, France, USA, and Japan. Not only were they afraid of Communism catching on in the rest of the world, but the Bolsheviks assumed no responsibility for the massive foreign debt that Russia had accumulated throughout the Great War. Most of the support for the Whites came in the form of weaponry.

The White Movement consisted of not just Tsar Loyalists, but anti-Bolsheviks, peasants, nobles, and Cossacks. Many among the White Army didn’t believe in a monarchy, but rather a united Russia, instead of a communist one. White forces had the advantage of having professional soldiers, as many troops followed their generals into war.

Thus began a civil war in Russia that would last until 1920.

**__ Conflict __**
With the backing of the new Red Army, the Bolshevik party took control of central Russia, and most important the industrialized cities full of factories that could produce arms and munitions. The Red Army began moving against the White Army in earnest, as now they had a well equipped and numerous armies to deploy. The total number of the Red Army was around 600,000 men. Even with this considerable force of troops, the Red Army still struggled against the White Army, as they were well supplied by other nations that supported monarchy and wanted the re-installment of the Tsar, such as Britain. Not only was the White Army well supplied they had resorted to terror tactics, such as torturing and murdering any citizen viewed as being a sympathizer to the communist cause. The Red forces retaliated with a “Red Terror” and massacred anyone suspected of being an “enemy of the people”.

The Black Army was an anarchist faction based primarily in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War. The party was established by Nestor Makhno in 1918, after successfully driving out the White Faction and many Central Powers, who held power as a result of the Brest-Litovsky treaty. Their army was composed of Jewish and Ukrainian peasants, and very few professional soldiers relying mainly on volunteers who quickly found themselves fighting a new enemy: the Red Army. However, seeing as they needed their full forces to pacify the opposing White Army, the Red Army withdrew from Ukraine, as the Black Army would be there to repulse the White Army. The decision to withdraw from Ukraine was met with disgust by many troops, and 40,000 soldiers in Ukraine deserted and joined the Black Army to defend against the White Army.

The Black Army was especially unique as the army was democratic and all members agreed upon the rules. The Black Army was especially famed for their disciplined cavalry, which were believed to be the superior to any during the Civil War. Unfortunately for the Anarchist faction, there were no factories that could supply them with arms and munitions, many of their weapons were makeshift, such as a machine gun mounted on a horse-drawn cart (tachankas).

Compared to the Whites, the Reds were out-numbered and had less equipment. However, they had many advantages. The Bolsheviks controlled the industrial centers and the railway network. This enabled them to rush supplies to any part of the front under threat. The funding that the Whites received from foreign powers also proved to be their undoing as they lost popular support when the Bolsheviks accused them of treason for allying themselves with foreigners.

Soon the loss of popular support began to take its toll, as the White forces were being pushed out of key areas, and their numbers dwindled. Foreign countries began to deploy troops to reinforce the White Army however even these assets could not stand against the fanatical patriotism and numerical superiority of the Red Armies and the stiff resistance of the Black Army in Ukraine. The Red Army advanced against the White Army and defended the core industrialized cities such as Petrograd and Moscow. Fighting a war on two fronts, the White forces had little hope of victory. Even with these setbacks the White forces continued to fight. After capturing Kiev with overwhelming force the White Army began to prepare to strike at Moscow.

The Bolsheviks grudgingly formed an alliance with the Black Army against the White Army and made a treaty. The Black Army began attacking their supply lines forcing the White Army to slowly retreat and after meeting strong resistance from the Red Army, was almost completely routed. Once the White Army had been successfully driven off, the Reds recaptured Kiev. However instead of honoring the treaty, the Red Army once again resumed hostile activity against the anarchists, and the alliance was broken off.

The Black Army had succeeded in deterring the White Army from their course to Moscow, and continued their attack eventually conquering all of Southern Ukraine. The royalists then focused more of their forces on the task of retaking Ukraine. The Red Army repudiated the treaty with Nestor, and began to attack the anarchists. However the attentions of the Reds on the Ukraine had once again taken its toll.

Having suffered continual losses against Black and Red forces, the morale of the White Army began to sag and their numbers were soon depleted. The British Navy evacuated many White forces, but soon they saw an opportunity to find victory amidst their losses. The Red Army had suffered losses against the Polish during the Polish-Soviet conflict, in which Poland had tried to expand into Russian Territory. White forces planned to attack weakened areas in their defenses as well as retake Ukraine.

As the threat of the White Army loomed again and once more Trotsky extended an offer of alliance to Nestor. Nestor accepted with the added conditions that all anarchists must be pardoned and the treaty made public. The Black Army drove the royalists into retreat, and the British Navy evacuated the anti-Bolsheviks. Many would be killed while retreating. The loyalists were forced to live abroad in exile unable to return home.

Only two weeks after the successful military operation, Trotsky extended an invitation to the anarchist’s leaders for a meeting. The Bolsheviks then assassinated these key figures in the Black forces and began to advance in Ukraine. The Black Army was hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed as the Bolsheviks had access to munitions and arms factories. Using terror tactics learned from the White Army, they reduced Ukrainian support for the anarchists and in the end drove them past the Romanian border. Nestor ended his days exiled in Kazakhstan.

The Red Army had emerged victorious in the civil war.

**__ Aftermath __**
One of the largest impacts of the Russian Civil War was its effect on the economy. At first Lenin had intended to nationalize big industries like banks, railways, steel, iron, and coal. However, the situation created by the Civil War led to more a drastic policy called ‘War Communism’.

Peasants had to give up all of their extra crops to the Red Army. Workers were told where and how often to work. Often, they were relocated to factories hundreds of miles away. All businesses employing more than 10 people were seized by the State.

As the industrial production rapidly declined the economy worsened. In 1920 Russia was producing only 18% of what it was producing in 1913.

Trotsky, along with other Bolsheviks, argued that ‘War Communism’ made Russia more equaland should be continued after the end of the civil war. However, the Kronstadt Naval Mutiny that occurred in March 1921 convinced Lenin otherwise.

The Kronstadt naval base rose up in a revolt against the banning of all political parties except the Communist Party. They demanded free election of soviets as well as an end to the harsh economic policies of ‘War Communism’. Trotsky stopped the uprising with a great deal of bloodshed.

Before the end of March the New Economic Policy (NEP) was approved by the government. It proposed that peasants should pay a fixed amount of their crops to the State as tax. Anything above that could be kept or sold. Many small businesses were returned to their previous owners and incentives were used to encourage production.

The output of Russia’s agriculture increased enormously. By 1925 the grain harvest yield was 72 million tonnes, which was a 22 million tonne improvement on 1922.

**__ Questions __**
1. In your opinion, do you believe that the Red Forces were acting for the Russian people, or their own party?

We believe that Red Forces originally were acting on behalf of the Russian people. They were patriotic and stood up for their ideals. However, this eventually changed as they began to fight for self-preservation killing countless Russians in the process.

2. Was foreign intervention (largely supportive of the Whites) a benefit or a hindrance to the White forces?

Although foreign intervention and support made the White Army much more powerful it was also a major factor in its defeat. The Bolsheviks were able to accuse the Whites of treason since they allied themselves with foreign countries. This was crippling to their morale.

**__ Bibliography __**
DeMarco, Neil. __ The World This Century __. London: Collins Educational, 1987.

__Russian Civil War__. 21 October 2010. .

__The Red Army__. 21 October 2010. . ﻿<[]>

__The Black Army, __ 21 October 2010. <[]> <[]>

__The White Army,__ 21 October 2010 <[]> <[]>