Reasons for survival of Bolshevik regime

What were the two major reasons for a descent into all-out civil war?

• The dissolution of the Constituent Assembly by the Bolsheviks in JAN 1918 outraged liberals and SRs whose sights were set on a democratic political settlement in Russia

• The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in MARCH 1918 was the final straw for many of the Bolsheviks’ enemies because it stripped Russia of so much territory and amounted to a national humiliation

How many people died in the Russian Civil War and how many left as political exiles?

• Over three million died

• Two million left the country as political exiles

How was the civil war a time of ‘bewildering complexity’?

The main conflict was between the BOLSHEVIKS (Reds) and the Whites (former chiefs of Tsarist armed forces), however the Bolsheviks also fought against peasant (‘Green’) armies, in which SRs were often prominent.

What were the greatest weaknesses of the WHITES?

• Political instability and internal rivalry, lack of coordination

• Lack of securing mass support as a result of ineffective propaganda (more of a Bolshevik STRENGTH)

How were the WHITES political conservatives?

• They were strong believers in property rights.

• Peasants were left in no doubt that a White victory would mean land they seized in 1917 would return to former owners

• They were nationalists who believed in a Russia ‘Great, United and Indivisible’ - they wanted to re-establish Russia with its pre-1917 borders.

• Unwilling to make ANY concessions with minorities, which was a problem as in some White-based areas, separatist feeling was strong

What were the weaknesses of the SRs in their opposition to Bolshevik power?

• The right SR leadership established an alternative government called the ‘Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly’

• Its aim was to champion the cause of the ‘democratic counter-revolution’

• Before long, political infighting occurred in late 1918, and the conservatives saw off the Right SRs and expelled their leaders from Russia

• This episode marked the end of the Right SRs as a significant force in Russian politics

• At no point in 1918 did the SRs in eastern Russia have a sizeable armed force

Left SRs were active in some of the ‘Green’ armies, however some of these peasant armies were…?

Some peasant armies were freelance units concerned mainly with the defence of their locality.

Compared to the REDS, how were the WHITES more politically unstable?

WHITES:

• Admiral Kolchak, commander of white forces in Siberia, was named ‘supreme commander’ whilst General Denikin succeeded General Kornilov as head of the whites’ most formidable force, the Volunteer Army. Effectively in a race to get to Moscow first and establish their own power.

• The Whites had NO agreed upon political programme beyond reconstitution of an ‘All-Russian’ state.

• MESSY coalition of monarchists, liberals, conservatives, ex-Tsarist officers and moderate socialists. Some wanted the return of Tsarism, others wanted a military dictatorship, and some wanted a constitutional democracy.

• Split into 3 main armies commanded by Kolchak, Denikin and Yudenich. They never managed to coordinate attacks successfully and there was rivalry between them in the competition for power

How did the WHITES fail to gain mass support?

• They did not promote social reform, and because of their associations with the old elite and foreign powers (French, British), they looked like puppets of imperialism

• The Whites alienated any potential supporters through violence and brutality: carried out mass executions, flogging and public hangings in villages suspected of supporting the Reds, punished any peasants who resisted as they re-captured the land that peasants seized under Lenin

What was the key difference in the violence exhibited from the Whites and the Reds?

The Whites lost hearts and minds because their brutality felt like a return to the past — elitist, chaotic, and racist.
The Reds were just as deadly, but they controlled the narrative: they didn’t just kill their enemies, they convinced the people it was necessary.

How were the WHITES in a stronger military position than the REDS?

• The army was composed largely of officers and was the overwhelmingly dominant institution on which the movement was based 

• Well trained in in the military arts + understood the importance of discipline

• Had significant weapon supplies but was also supported by deliveries of arms + personnel by numerous foreign powers (Britain and France main suppliers)

How did the REDS build up an armed force?

• Under TROTSKY, there was a system of appointing ex-Tsarist officers to senior positions in the army. Some joined willlingly, others had no other way to make a living, some had families threatened if they refused.

• As the Bolsheviks did not trust these ex-Tsarist officers, who they called ‘military specialists’, a system of ‘dual command’ was established in which every ex-tsarist officer would be supervised by a proven loyal Bolshevik officer, whose approval was needed for any military order issued.

• Compulsory military service came into effect MAY 1918. Discipline in the Red Army was ferocious, deserters were liable to execution.

By the end of 1918, how many many were in the Red Army, and how many by 1921?

End of 1918 - ONE MILLION MEN

1921 - FIVE MILION

What were some flaws in Trotsky’s Red Army?

• Some units were poorly trained and equipped.

• Desertion was an ongoing problem, despite consequence of death penalty. E.g by mid-1919, men were deserting at a rate of 250K a month

• The Red Army was ravaged by disease. In 1920, nearly 1/3 of its men contracted typhus.

How did the Bolsheviks exploit propaganda as a weapon in their success? How were the Whites weak in their use of propaganda?

• The simple, powerful messaging of the Bolsheviks was emotional and direct: “Peace, Land, Bread” + “All Power to the Soviets”

• Bolsheviks claimed to defend the revolution and the workers against the “old regime” and imperialist invaders

• Meanwhile, the White has confusing and inconsistent messaging - no unified ideology

What were agit-trains?

• Agit-trains (“agitation trains”) were mobile propaganda units the BOLSHEVIKS used.

• They served to indoctrinate the Bolshevik ideology and counter anti-Bolshevik narratives, especially in rural and illiterate areas.

• Exteriors were painted with bright, dramatic art depicting Red heroes, villains like the Whites, and Communist slogans

• Had on-board printing presses to make and distribute newspapers, leaflets on the spot

• Some had mobile cinemas showing propaganda films to rural communities (MAJOR as most people had never seen a movie before)

How were the WHITES in a weaker geographical positions to the REDS?

WHITES: White movement itself was geographically broken up - two main centres of movement were in Siberia / South Russia. The various wings were not able to communicate reliably.

How did the Bolsheviks have a numerical advantage over the Whites?

• The Bolsheviks controlled the most densely populated parts of Russia.

• This mattered because both the Reds and Whites relied in compulsory military service to raise their armies

• Bolsheviks therefore had a larger pool of manpower available to them

How were the Reds benefitting from engineering factories in comparison to the Whites?

• Russia’s main engineering factories were located within territory controlled by Bolsheviks, giving them the capacity to manufacture armaments.

• The Whites, in contrast, relied heavily on handouts from foreign powers

How were the Bolsheviks aided by the railway system in comparison to the Whites?

• The Bolsheviks controlled the hub of the Russian railway network, which spread outwards from Moscow.

• This enabled the Bolsheviks to rush reinforcements to any battlefront on which they were seriously threatened.

• The WHITES, in contrast, has to operate around the circumference of Bolshevik-held territory. Communications between WHITE armies was therefore limited, virtually impossible to coordinate activities.

How was Kolchak defeated?

• Admiral Alexander Kolchak was a former naval commander

• In late 1918, he took over the leadership of the White forces in the Siberia region with the title ‘Supreme Ruler of Russia’

• As a politician and a general he had serious flaws: he was a poor administrator, temperamental, had no experience of land warfare

• Although making great initial progress, pushing Red Army back more than 250 miles, Kolchak’s armies were unable to keep up momentum and broke down in the summer of 1919

• Kolchak fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks in early 1920 and was executed

How was Denikin defeated?

• In late 1918, Denikin had an army of 150,000 men

• His army, Armed Forces of Southern Russia, had tension amongst it

• It contained 40,000 Don Cossacks (descendants of runaway serfs who settled in Don region, developed distinct identity) who were principally concerned with the defence of their homeland, cared little for the fate of Russia as a whole

• The AFSE were initially successful, but then driven back by Red Army. MARCH 1920 - Denikin resigned his command and went into exile

How was Trotsky’s leadership a great asset to the Bolshevik’s success?

Not only a great battlefield commander, but he built the Red Army out of nothing and moulded it into an effective fighting force. He was an inspirational figure, moving from front to front in his famous armoured train, rallying Red Army units with rousing speeches.