Russian civil war SAC REVISION

Why, when, what was the Russian civil war? The Russian Civil War was a civil war fought from 1918 to 1921 between several groups in Russia. The main fighting was between the Red Army and the White Army. The Red Army was an army of communists (Bolsheviks), the White Army were the anti-communists. The Bolshevik takeover angered many Russians who had been prepared to accept the Provisional Government. It alarmed Britain, the US and France because the Bolsheviks had declared that they wanted to cause revolutions all over the world. The war lasted for 3 years and cruel acts were committed on both sides. Captured soldiers were usually executed.

Death/ casualties About 8 million people died during the Russian Civil War, about 1 million of them were soldiers from the Red Army. The anti-communists and their White Army killed at least 50,000 communists. Millions of people also died due to famine, starvation and epidemics (a wide spread of infections and diseases). In white occupied areas such as the Ukraine and southern Russia, many Jews were killed.

AFTER THE Russian Civil war During and after the Russian Civil War, Soviet Russia suffered great damage. In 1920 and 1921 there was little rain which caused serious famine in 1921. About one million Russians left Russia and went to other countries to live there permanently. The Russian Civil War had a very bad result for agriculture as well. Farm produced only 37% of the normal production. Number of horses fell from 35 million (in 1916) to 24 million (in 1920). The number of cattle also became less, from 58 million to 37 million.

Who won the Russian civil war and why? The Russian Civil War was won by the Red Army (Bolsheviks) The Red Army won the civil war for several reasons: They were better led, Trotsky was a brilliant organiser and he was in charge of the Red Army The White Army was a loose collection of other armies with no political goal, who often fought each other. The Red Army were concentrated in the cities, so they had access to telegraph offices- better communications. The Red Army's support was always greater than any other support of the White fractions.