The Russian Civil War By Luke Rawkins

Facts about the Russian Civil War -Over 2million people died during course the war -There was two fighting sides, The Reds and The Whites. -Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland split from Russia during the civil war. -Many other countries funded and supported The Whites -Over 5million soldiers were involved in the war from both sides. -The war lasted from 1917-1922

Creation of The Reds The reds were fighting for the side of the Bolsheviks. They were fighting against the Whites and the other anti-Bolshevik parties. Trotsky the war commissar of the Bolshevik party, created and organised the Red army. He turned armed peasants into a more professional fighting force. Trotsky gained nearly almost of his soldiers through conscription. He got the majority of his commanding officers from the ex-tsarist armies to help maintain and organise the rapidly growing army. Trotsky managed to get a fighting force of 3million. He needed this large army to defeat anyone trying to take Russia.

The Whites The white movement was led by Alexander Kolchak. They formed not long after the October Revolution where the reds took control of Russia. The whites was a confederation of Anti-Communist forces that fought against the Bolsheviks. The whites had many powerful allies compared to the reds. They were allied to most of Russia’s old allies and friends during the Tsarist rule. The whites were also a very un organised and anti Semitic. They did have a lot of men from countries like America, France, UK fighting but many of the army leaders hardly ever seemed to work together, they just fought in places of their own. Most of the armies were led by by former czarist officers and members of the Cadet, Mensheviks and SR parties who opposed the Bolsheviks.

The end result Both sides of the war suffered heavy casualties, although in the end the reds took the victory with there larger and more organised armies crushing the whites in many decisive battles. The whites loss the war due to their failure in politics and the far less propaganda compared to the reds, the white armies were also very unorganised due to the leaders. The whites also failed in having polices to gain mass support like the reds. For the reds this war left them with their model of success. The heroic period of the revolution “any fortress can be stormed” shaped their political habits for a generation. This war caused many problems for the reds like famine, peasant uprisings and more. Except it did leave them with control over Russia, allowing them to improve on their country.