Russian Civil War 1918-1921

What is War communism

War communism refers to the extreme policies introduced by Lenin in 1918 and were maintained throughout the Civil War

What were 2 main results of War Communism

Control of land was passed over to the peasants and factories were given to the workers committees.

What were the two problems this caused for Lenin

Since the Peasants weren’t receiving anything in return for their grain many were hesitant to sell and caused nationwide shortages

The Russian industry also began collapsing causing many workers to flee to the countryside

What were the Main features of War communism (5)

Grain Requisitioning (Food supplies dictatorship was set up to take grain by force)

Banning of Private trade

Nationalisation of Industry (All industry was bought under state control and workers’ committees were replaced by a central manager reporting to central authorities)

Labour Discipline (Fines for lateness and internal passports stopped workers fleeing to the countryside)

Rationing (

)

What was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Treaty signed by Russia and Central Powers on March 3rd 1918 to withdraw from WW1

They lost:

1 million square km of land including Ukrain , 62 million people and 3 billion roubles in reparations

Who were the Reds

The Reds were the Bolsheviks (Communists) who aimed to build a new socialist society

Who were the Whites?

The whites were opponents to the Reds who had united together. This consisted of Tsarists and nobles, middle-class constitutional democrats, Mensheviks and Socialist revolutionary members

Who were the greens

They played a far smaller role but were typically peasant armies made from the deserters of other armies and most didn’t take a particular side.

Most were concerned about protecting their area from the other armies’ ravages.

Causes of the Civil War (4)

Opposing forces united to form the Whites

Increasing attempts to overthrow the communist party

Nationwide Starvation

National minorities seize the opportunity to get independence

The different conflicts

Whites vs Reds (The main fight for power)

War on separate fronts surrounding central Russia

Whites vs Whites (The whites often opposed each others ideas)

Greens vs Everyone (The greens never really picked sides, just defended)

Russo-Polish War (From 1919 to 1921 the polish tries taking advantage of the chaos inside Russia and invade)

Czech Legion (After the declaration of Czech independence they left the whites)

National minorities (Ukrainian, Georgian, etc)

What was Trostsk’s role

Defending the Red Army’s internal lines of communication

Deny the Whites the opportunity to concentrate large forces on a single location

Prevent the whites from attaining regular supplies

The key strategy was to control the Russian railway system

The Red Terror

The Terror used to back up new measures and deal with the opposition to the Bolsheviks