Civil War

During the Civil War the power of the Soviets was reduced and that of the Bolshevik dictatorship increased:

• Soviet congresses became less frequent
• the Soviets lost control of the government, which listened more to the Bolshevik Party
• elections to the Soviets gradually stopped

The War

1918

The Soviet government consolidated its control on the western centre of the country.

1919

Red Soviet troops beat back a three-pronged attack by Kolchak from the east, Denikin from the south and Yudenich from the northwest.

This was the Whites’ best chance for victory, but their Western allies abandoned them. At the end of the year all three armies were pushed back. Only Ukrainian nationalists, the Volunteer army in the Crimea and the Japanese remained in the Far East.

1920

Poland, under General Pilsudski, attacked the Ukraine. Soviet cavalry, under Tukhachevsky, pushed them back towards Warsaw, but overreached themselves and had to sign a truce giving Poland a slice of Russian territory. This was finalised in the Treaty of Riga in 1921.

Wrangel’s troops were destroyed and had to evacuate the Crimea.

The centre of the war passed to the Far East

1921

The Japanese evacuated the Far East. The Kronstadt and Tambov Revolts were put down with force and the Soviet Government was finally left in control.

Why did the Reds win?

Geography

This was to the Red advantage. They defended a central area with cities (Moscow and Petrograd) and the main armaments industries against disunited White forces attacking from the Black Sea, across Siberia and from Latvia.

The railway system was centred on Moscow. This allowed the Reds to switch troops from front to front; the Whites could not. Immense distances had to be crossed to attack this area from the south and east. This signalled any threat early enough for the Reds to pick off their enemies one by one.

Leadership

Trotsky established the Red Army, with Tsarist officers blackmailed into serving faithfully.

Lenin ran the policy of War Communism: the Soviets took the resources they needed at the risk of alienating the peasantry.

Trotsky’s charismatic generalship (helped by his armoured train) meant that risky decisions were taken.

For example, in 1919 the Red Army concentrated on destroying Kolchak in Siberia, ignoring Denikin’s advance from the south until he was perilously close to Moscow.

White command was not united. White forces frequently fought each other or stood by while the Reds destroyed them piecemeal, as in 1920, when Wrangel and Petliura failed to unite with the Poles.

Propaganda

This favoured the Reds. They used agitprop trains to show films, distribute posters and news sheets.

The Reds had the great advantage of having given land to the peasants. The Whites wanted to give it back to the landowners.

The Reds were not anti-semitic. The Whites attacked Jewish settlements.

The result was that most peasant guerrilla risings favoured the Reds and destabilised the rear of the White armies. The Reds were seen as a patriotic force, freeing Russia from foreign invaders.

In 1918 the Soviet capital moved from Petrograd to Moscow. In 1920 the Bolshevik Party changed its name to the Communist Party.