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To what extent was the Civil War a war of Reds against Whites, and why did the Whites lose?
The Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917 set off an 'apocalyptic struggle that would last for three years and cost over seven million lives' that is known as the Russian Civil War. From the establishment of Bolshevik power in Petrograd during the October Revolution, until October 1920 a vast portion of the Russian population was involved in a civil war not only between Reds and Whites; but including peasants armies, Cossacks, a Czechoslovak legion as well as limited Allied intervention on the side of the Whites. Although the majority of fighting in the Civil War was between Reds and Whites, it is essential in understanding the nature and outcome of the Civil War, to recognise the role that was played by those other than Whites and Reds. The reasons for the defeat of the Whites have long been a topic of debate. White historians have identified superior numbers of Red troops, as well as the Reds controlling 'most of the war industry, and most of the establishments and stores of the old imperial army and navy'. Conversely, Red historians have overestimated superior strategy as a cause of their victory. Even Trotsky admitted that '[although] we defeated our enemies, it cost us the greatest losses. We took too long over every battle, every war, every campaign'. The Russian Civil War was unique as neither side could rely upon the loyalty of their troops, and the Reds probably won because they were more effective at getting troops to the battlefield when needed, no matter how badly trained, armed, or organised they were.
The first enemy of the new Bolshevik regime was the Germans, who were still engaged in the First World War against Russia. The Red Army, created on January 15th 1918, mainly consisted of unemployed workers or former soldiers and was highly undisciplined as it relied upon a volunteer basis. "Crushing defeats by the Germans in February and March, followed by the Czechs in May and June made it clear to Trotsky that such methods would not do." The defeat by the Germans is not necessarily a part of the Civil War itself, but is key to understanding motives for opposition of the Bolshevik regime as the obscene peace enforced by the Germans through the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
The anti-Bolshevik feeling in the east was encouraged by the success of the Czechoslovak Legion along more than four thousand miles of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Thirty-five thousand Czechs and Slovaks had originated as a brigade recruited by the Tsarist government in 1914 who had the ambition of leaving Russia via Vladivostok and the Pacific. The Czechoslovaks proceeded along the railway route to the east, but when they heard Trotsky had ordered any armed soldiers to be shot by soviets along the Trans-Siberian Railway, they felt betrayed and prepared to fight their way to Vladivostok. The Czechoslovaks were startlingly successful, which underlined the pathetic state of the Red Army, but never intended to destroy the Bolshevik government. All they wanted to do was to get to Vladivostok and return to their native country, therefore the impact of the Czechoslovak legion should not be over-estimated.
A far more important aspect of the Civil War, not simply between Whites and Reds, was the impact of peasant armies known as the Greens. They were distinguishable from both the Reds and the Whites with their own propaganda and ideology, based around the defence of the local peasant revolutions. In many cases, Green armies were very successful, by spring 1919 virtually the entire rear of the Red Army was engulfed by Green armies. 'In Tambov, Voronezh, Sarator, Penza, Tula and many other provinces, peasant bands sometimes thousands strong, destroyed the railways, the telegraphs and bridges, ransacked the Soviet military depots and ambushed passing Red Army units.' However, it was not just the Reds who were targeted by the peasant armies, as Kolchak's eastern offensive was thwarted because of peasant armies and rebellions.
The influence of Allied troops was negligible, with only 15,000 troops in northern Russia, and none fighting in any major battles. However large amounts of aid were sent by the Allies to Alexander Kolchak; in the first six months of 1919 Kochak's army received one million rifles, 15,000 machine guns, 700 field guns and 800 million rounds of ammunition. These were considerable supplies, roughly equivalent to the munitions production of the Bolsheviks throughout the whole of 1919, and meant that Kolchak could launch a major campaign with defended supply lines.
Nevertheless, even with the influence of many other facets of Russian society, the Civil War was mainly fought between the Whites and the Reds. The armies of Generals Kolchak, Denikin and Yudenich in the east, south and northwest were the main threats to the authority of the Reds throughout the Civil War. In the south the White threat was especially strong because it had the support of the Cossacks, who 'numbered 4.5 million people, and their men were professional warriors; 300,000 had fought in the World War'. The Cossacks proved capable of 'not only defending their territory from May 1918 to January 1920, but also of driving north into non-Cossack "Soviet" territory'. However the influence of the Cossacks outside their homelands was limited because many soldiers were returning after the First World War and had no wish to continue fighting in areas other than defending their own territory.
The lack of support for the Whites doomed their effort from the start, and only aid from the Allies allowed them to hold out until October 1920, when they finally evacuated the Crimea, and Russia entirely. Further Allied support would have helped the Whites' cause, but after four years of war against Germany, the Allies were not keen to engage themselves in another war. Therefore, the Allied support was limited to supplies that kept the Whites in the war, but was never going to win the war for them.
The Russian heartland, captured in the first ten weeks of Bolshevik rule, formed the basis of the Red victory. It meant that they controlled the vast terrain of Russia with its prestigious capitals, most of its industry and the network of railroads. In contrast, the Whites were divided between three main fronts, and could not therefore co-ordinate operations. The extent of this advantage has been consistently over-estimated by White historians, and as James D. White correctly points out, ' the situation of the Reds meant that they had to fight on four fronts while each opposition could concentrate on just the one'.
A far more important and probably crucial reason for the White's defeat was its inability to gain the support of the local populations. This problem plagued all major White offensives, as 'by far the biggest weakness of Kolchak's army was its failure to mobilise the local population'. The peasants were required by both sides throughout the Civil War to be the soldiers for their respective armies, and the inability of the Whites to gain the support of the peasants meant that they were always struggling. Whereas the Reds effectively used propaganda to gain the support of peasants when it was most needed, the Whites symbolised a return to feudalism, which the peasants had fought against strongly during the revolution. 'Rather than rallying the people to their side the Whites, in Wrangel's words "turned them into enemies".'
Where White historians have unduly emphasised the role of Red strategic superiority, Red historians have created a myth of the Red Army being a well-drilled army, superbly led by Trotsky, which overcame both the Whites and the Allies to establish Bolshevik power throughout Russia. Red historians have also claimed that the Reds did not start the Civil War, although the Bolsheviks themselves viewed it as necessary, and similar to a class war. One Bolshevik leader in Baku declared 'the Civil War is the same as class war' and was therefore an essential part of the communist revolution. The Red army was in no way a well-drilled army, many of their soldiers deserted because of the terrible condition of the army. There would also be mass desertions during the times of harvest, as peasants returned to their villages, while illness and disease was rampant throughout the Red Army. Normally 10-15 percent of the army would be too sick to fight, but in some units up to eighty percent of their men were unable to fight due to illness.
Nevertheless it was the Reds who were victorious, and they owed this victory to the superior relationship they had with the peasants, compared with that of that Whites. The symbolic power of fighting under the Red Flag, and fighting against feudalism, meant 'that the peasants, including hundreds of thousands of deserters, rallied to the Red Army during the Whites' advance towards Moscow in the autumn of 1919'. Moreover, military superiority was achieved by the Reds through the leadership of Trotsky, and the commitment of the Soviets.
The unwillingness of the Whites to make concessions with minorities was another important reason why they lost the Civil War. The territorial claims of the Poles and the Finns were not acceptable to the Whites, who wished to restore the old Russian Empire. However, with the military support of the Poles, the capture of Moscow might have been a distinct possibility and with the support of the Finns, the capture of Petrograd would have been a mere formality. The pride of the Whites therefore had much to do with their downfall, whereas the Reds were willing to adapt their ideology to the situation, the Whites would not adapt, and therefore lost out completely. By 1920, the Whites were outnumbered by ten to one, and the Reds' victory was accomplished by October.
The Russian Civil War lasted from October 1917 until 1920 and encompassed a great part of Russian society. Although mainly fought between White forces, conservative and officer-dominated part of the counter-revolution, other aspects such as the peasantry and the Cossacks were involved. The outcome of the Civil War was dependent upon the inability of the Whites to mobilise the peasant population and the unpopularity of their link with the old Tsarist system. The Bolsheviks therefore were victorious, and managed to install a communist system of government that would last until the 1990s.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Connaughton, Richard. The Republic of the UshaKovka: Admiral Kolchak and the Allied Intervention in Siberia 1918-1920, London, 1990.
Figes, Orlando. A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924, London, 1996.
Lincoln, W. Bruce. Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War, New York, 1989.
Mawdsley, The Russian Civil War, Winchester, 1987.
Pipes, Richard. A Concise History of the Russian Revolution, New York, 1995.
Westwood, J.N. Endurance and Endeavour: Russian History 1812-1992, Oxford,1993.
White, James D. The Russian Revolution 1917-1921, London, 1994.