PAPER 2 : Russian Civil War

Causes, Practices and Effects of War

Reds

-workers and peasants
-inexperienced
-highly controversial
-aggressive
-soldiers
-one of the leading powers that contributed in the war
-opponents were the Whites
-in constant conflict
-favored marxist ideas
-"communist"
-dominated central Russia
-proceeded in acts of terrors in order for people to side with their party.

Whites

-united for defeating the "Reds"
-Cossacks (cowboys and ruthless horsemen)
-Kadets (liberal businessmen)
-Social Revolutionaries
-the Czech Legion
-lack of coordination and cooperation
-placed on the fringes of Russia and surrounding countries
-had too many officers
-goal to reunite Russia alienated the minorities
-condoned terror and looting

Trotsky

Born to Jewish farmers
-went to Ukraine to finish his last year of school
-became enthralled with Marxism
-exiled, where he met Lenin
He did not like the Provisional Government
-Kerensky saw him as a threat and threw him in jail. -admitted to the Bolshevik Party
-head of the Petrograd Soviet
-commissar for foreign affairs
-resigned after a disagreement with Lenin
-created the Red Army

Allied Intervention

-international revolution of a military attack against the Whites to re-establish crucial Russian ports as well as further the Eastern front. These areas were lost in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and Russian desired to bring them back into their country.

War communism

-economic and political system of reforms aimed to improve the economy and gain some support from the peasants
-two main parts: urban and rural production
-urban production: unions were able to mobilize and discipline workers, created specialists and managers (a bureaucracy) to manage the national economy
-rural production: sent workers to rural areas to "socialize" peasants.
-Pros: met the immediate needs during the civil war and showed that the Bolsheviks were better organized than originally thought
-cons: failed to create and organized and productive economy and led to peasant resistance, revolts, and hoarding and materials and food. Class warfare was created and the land that peasants had acquired during February and October of 1917 was taken. Production in 1920 was also 14 percent less than in 1913.

Red Terror

This was a campaign that advertised oppression involving mass murders which was all led by the Bolsheviks in 1918. More specifically it was led by the Cheka and parts of the Red Army. It occurred after Fanny Kaplan's attempt to kill Lenin. It was an attempt by the Bolshevik's to re-establish power and it was Lenin's goal to maintain what had come from 1917. It was significant because the Bolsheviks (Cheka) could basically do whatever they wanted and had free reign in Russia.

NEP

The NEP stands for New Economic Policy which was funded by Lenin to help stabilize the Russian economy. Some of the characteristics of this policy was that it allowed peasants to increase their income of land, it encouraged private enterprise among workers and other russian citizens, it increase the flexibility in market, it allowed peasants to hire, and even more extensions. It was significant because it was in competition against Marxism at the time which was present in Russia and they were in conflict against who would dominate Russia's source of government and society. The NEP presented a more capitalist approach while Marxism represented a favor for socialism. It was also important because it helped support the demolished Russian economy due to World War 1, The Russian Revolution, and the Russian Civil War. In addition is helped the agricultural production which gave Russian extra food so they could sell it as surplus in order to give peasants more pocket room in their livelihood.

Communists

The communists, also known as the Reds, were in control of the government with Lenin at its head. They fought against the Whites during the Civil War, ultimately winning and gaining full control of the government. They used various methods to gain control, including the Red Terror and the Cheka to take out their opposition. Consequently, the people of Russia began to dislike the government and Lenin. Lenin had become extremely oppressive after a failed assassination attempt against him, and that pushed people away.

Cheka

The Cheka was the Bolsheviks secret police which had been established in 1917. It's job was to take care of any type of threats to the new regime. The Cheka got a lot larger as more opposition to the regime grew. It was significant because they did not follow the law and could do anything to anybody for any reason.

Kronstadt revolt

This was a large revolt of sailors/workers against the Bolsheviks. This was significant because it showed that the Bolsheviks were taking the revolution serious enough to begin to take action. It represented their failure in the revolution because there weren't able to compete against their opponents and overthrow them.

Cossacks

The Cossacks were a member of the Whites who fought against the communists during the Civil War. They were a sort of cowboy and were ruthless horsemen. They were great at fighting and that helped the Whites fight against the Communists as long as they did.

Greens

The Greens were one of the three parties during the Russian Civil War. It was made up of peasants that wanted to be left alone and were overall neutral during the war. They often would fight with the other two parties in order to be left out of the war.

Fanny Kaplan

She was a Russian revolutionary and was significant because she tried to assassinate Lenin. She participated in the Social Revolutionaries and felt that Lenin was un-loyal to the Bolshevik party. Kaplan sparked the Russian Civil war after she fired 3 shots at Lenin which badly injured him on August 30th, 1918.

Czek Legion

The Czech Legion was a volunteer army composed of Czechs that fought in World War 1 with the Entente powers. They also fought in the Russian Civil War with the Whites who fought against the communists and Lenin. Their army eventually grew to a force of tens of thousands.

Kulak

The kulak's were the wealthier peasants that owned more land than the average peasant. During War Communism the Soviet Government created groups of poor peasants to go to other villages and take grain from the kulak's. Later the NEP showed favoritism towards the kulak's by encouraging peasants to make themselves better. They were significant because the kulak's were the most successful peasants and even had roles within the village and often opposed the Soviet officials.

Bukharin

He was raised by primary school teachers which helped him get a good education and was raised with progressive political views. He joined the Bolsheviks and then later joined the Moscow Party Committee. This later lead to several arrests, but eventually put him into exile for 6 years with Lenin and Trotsky by his side.He represented the Bolsheviks in Moscow in the Central Committee. This benefitted them intensely because he helped the Bolshevik party grow and he acted as a leader among them which funded their strength throughout Moscow and into Russia. He became a chairman in the Left Communist group. One of his most significant moments was when Lenin wanted to pull Russia out of World War 1 and Bukharin argued that Russia should continue in order for the war to turn into a European Revolution in the fight for communism to spread. He became active in the support for Lenin's suggestion that they should begin to build the funding of the New Economic Policy (NEP). He used his outlets of propaganda such as Pravda and the Bolshevik magazine.

Lenin

When Lenin was young, his brother Aleksandr was executed for being part of a group planning to assassinate Alexander III. His family was then disgraced, and he had to leave law school, then had to leave in exile for taking part in demonstrations. While there, he became a "professional revolutionary", and declared himself a marxist. Lenin became the head of the Bolshevik party, though he was rarely able to participate because he was often in exile. In 1903, Lenin formally split from the Mensheviks and created the Bolshevik party. Lenin rose to be the head of the Soviet Union, created after he denounced the Provisional Government. He turned into a dictator and became increasingly oppressive. Lenin was still dictator of Russia during the Civil War, and he became more and more oppressive, especially after Fanny Kaplan's assassination attempt. He used the Red Terror and the Cheka to try to take out his opposition, but it really just made people dislike and fear him more.

Stalin

Was poor and the son of an abusive and alcoholic shoemaker. While he was a child he got smallpox which left his face scarred. Stalin went to school and became interested in marxism and communist propaganda which later got him expelled. Then, he became more interested and involved with politics and began to get into trouble through different protests. Later he fought to rise in power. Stalin was asked to serve on the first committee of the Bolshevik party alongside Lenin. Stalin became the secretary general of the committee of the communist party after 1917. After Lenin's death he took over the Communist party and was in charge. Stalin led the military on lots of fronts. In addition, he was appointed onto the Military Council of the Ukrainian Front. Overall, Stalin played a huge role in the Civil War by leading lots of armies and working alongside Lenin.

Kamenev

He was raised in a middle class, jewish, educated family who acted in Russian Revolutionary movement. This lead him to join the Social Democratic Workers' Party under the Bolsheviks. He directed the collaboration of the Bolsheviks to the Duma to oppose the Russian Parliament to oppose Russia in entering World War. He was elected chairman of the Central Executive Committee which was the chief of the USSR government body. He became a representative of the Defence Council.

Zinoviev

He was born into a middle class jewish family and received a good, yet informal, education. He was a close follower of Lenin and was therefore a part of lots of decision making during the 1917 revolution. In addition, he was a part of one of the first Politburo within the Communist party. However, as time progressed Zinoviev and Lenin began to have clashing ideas on the Bolshevik party and what it should do. When Lenin fell ill with a cerebral hemorrhage, Zinoviev and a few others took control for a while helping to make decisions on Lenin's behalf. However, Zinoviev became at odds with Stalin which led to the eventual dismissal of him from the party. Zinoviev worked in various positions of leadership during the Civil War and worked hard against Trotsky until he was later dismissed from the party.

Kolchak

In 1917 he was sent by Kerensky to the United States to seek information on the U.S. navy. In addition, he promised that Russia would have a democratic rule after the Bolsheviks would be overthrown. He was significant because he didn't recognize the non-Russian minorities and were unfair to the peasants. In addition, opposition to him grew and the government eventually turned on him and executed him.

Denikin

He was a general in the white movement of the Russian civil war. He was significant because he represented that the whites also had a leader as well and they were willing to take military action in order to destroy the reds. He also represented that the whites were more experience than the reds due to his vast background in fighting in several wars.

Wrangel

On the outbreak of the Civil War, Wrangel joined the side of the Whites. As time went on, however, he began to disapprove of the way of his commanding officer, Denikin. He thought that the army was becoming demoralized and being filled with tradesmen and profiteers. In 1920, he was dismissed for conspiring against Denikin, although he later gained control of the White army in Crimea. He only had a force of 35,000 men, but he was able to hold out for six months against the Red army. In November, 1920, he was forced to leave Russia.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

This was a signed treaty by Russia and the central powers in 1918 which ended Russia's involvement in World War 1. However once the Allies' won the war the treaty was annulled. It was lead by Trotsky (Russia), Kuhlmann (Germany), and Czernin (Austria). It stated that Russia had to see Ukraine, Georgia, and Finland as independent. In addition, it surrendered the Baltic states and Poland to Germany and Austria-Hungary. It was significant because after this treaty was signed Russia was no longer involved in World War 1.

Council of People's Commissar

This was a authority created prior to the October Revolution in 1917 that followed the guidelines of the Soviet Power. This was important because it helped provide a place where soviets could create political decisions where it organized the thoughts and desires of the party.