The Russian Civil War 1917 - 1920

Origins Many Russian officers and soldiers found the terms of the Treaty of Brest- Litovsk unacceptably harsh. This turned them against the Bolshevik Government. These troops began to make their way to the Ukraine and the Dom where rebel armies began to form as the Bolsheviks were too weak in these areas to stop them. The flash point was however not with these newly formed armies but with the Czech Legion.

The Czech Legion Russia held 36,000 Czech soldiers who had been forced to fight for the Austrians against the Russians during WWI but who had surrendered rather than do this because they hated the Austrian occupation of their country and believed that the Tsar would give them independence There were also 4,000 Czech soldiers who had fought for the Russians during the War. The Treaty of Brest Litovsk ended the War for Russia. At that point the Czechs were both stationed and held in Kiev. They realised that they had been abandoned by the Russian Government and faced capture by the advancing German forces. They seized armoured trains on the Trans-Siberian railway which had been abandoned by the collapsing Russian forces and made it out of Kiev as the Germans entered the city - one division of the Czech Legion fought a regard action to give their comrades time to get away. They aimed for Vladivostok at the Pacific end of of the Trans-Siberian railway, where they would be evacuated by the Allies so that they could continue the fight against the Germans and Austrians.

The journey to Vladivostok The number of trains which the Czechs had was insufficient to transport all of them at once as they had picked up other Czechs and their families along the way and now numbered 60,000. They had to leap-frog from station to station as they travelled East. Initially they maintained strict neutrality but increasingly they encountered Bolshevik forces - usually deserting soldiers or Red Guard units who attempted to demand weapons and supplies from them. The Czechs refused and fought back very successfully, defeating every attack on them. This led their commander, Masaryk, to decide that they had to seize control of the railway east of the Volga river. This they did, and also secured control of the countryside around the railway as well, destroying Bolshevik control in the process.

The impact of the Czech Legion Their military successes convinced many opponents of the Bolsheviks that they were weak. The White Forces (anti-Bolshevik) therefore began operations against the Bolsheviks in a number of areas. The areas around the railway became independent of Bolshevik control - Siberia remained an independent country until 1921 The Allies, already unhappy with the fact that the Russians had withdrawn from the War had already landed troops to protect arms dumps from being captured by the Germans or the Bolsheviks. They were owed large sums of money by the Bolsheviks who refused to repay the debts incurred by the Tsar's Government. They believed that there was a possibility to put Russia back into the War.

Gold and the death of the Tsar The survivors of the rearguard action at Kiev travelled along the Trans-Siberian railway in an attempt to catch up with the rest of the Legion. By accident they captured 8 carriages of gold bullion which represented the Tsar’s gold reserve. One carriage they used to purchase their escape from the pursuing forces. The rest the Legion kept. July 1918 a small unit of Czech’s got separated from the rest of the Legion around Ekaterinburg where the Tsar and his family were being held secretly by the Bolsheviks. Fearing that that Czechs would rescue the royal family, the Bolsheviks executed them before withdrawing

The White forces There were 4 main White armies which surrounded the Bolshevik held centre of Russia. All were led by ex-Tsarist generals of whom the most important was Kolchak. The White forces were supplied and supported by the Allies, who also struck a deal with the Czechs for them to support the Whites as well.

Problems with the White Forces They did not co-ordinate their efforts against the Whites. Each general was out for himself. One the Tsar was dead there was no objective apart from destroying the Bolshevik Government and it was not clear what would be put in its place. The White forces were often poorly disciplined and brutalised the peasants.

The Bolshevik response The Bolsheviks realised that the Revolution was under threat and needed to defend itself. Trotsky was put in charge of forming the Red Guard into the Red Army. There was a shortage of men so forced conscription was introduced and enforced by the Cheka. There was also a shortage of trustworthy, competent officers ~ the best ones available were Tsarist. Trotsky solved this problem by appointing political commissars to every unit with the job of making sure that everyone remained loyal to the Revolution. A lack of revolutionary zeal resulted in being executed, usually without trial.

The Civil War The fighting was bitter and both sides terrorised the peasants, who often turned against the White Forces. The Allies and the Czech Legion fought anyone who attempted to threaten the Trans-Siberian railway or the supply dumps at Archangel. With the end of WWI the Allies found it increasingly difficult to justify their involvement in Russia. They feared for the loyalty of their own conscript troops and worried about the ‘contagion’ of revolution. Between April and May 1919 the Allies withdrew their troops. The Czech Legion was evacuated from Vladivostok by the Allies. The Red Army took on the Whites one by one and defeated them.

Why did the Reds win the Civil War? The effectiveness of the Red Army ~ better disciplined and motivated The death of the Tsar and his family removed a viable political objective for the Whites The Whites were poorly led, refused to co-operate with one another, were unpopular with the peasants and workers because of their association with the Allied forces The Reds’ enemies were on the perimeter of their area of control, so the Reds had the benefit of internal communications and supply lines The Reds appeared to be more patriotic ~ defending the people against outside interference and a desire to restore the old order. The peasants believed that they would lose their land if the Whites won