Civil War and War Communism

Summary Notes – Civil War:

 7 November 1917 – 25 October 1922

 Causes:
o The Bolsheviks did not have support from the people, this was evident in the election of the
Constituent assembly, the Bolsheviks only getting 24% of the vote. Rather, it was the Socialist
Revolutionaries that had the majority, receiving 42% of the votes. The dissolution of the Constituent
assembly further angered people and turned them away from the Bolsheviks.
o There was large amounts of political unrest because of food shortages and slump in industry. This
was partially a result of the poor economy created after the cost of the WWI and the reparations
paid because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). These conditions were blamed on Lenin.
 Conditions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk:
 One-third (1 million square kilometres) of European Russia was lost
 Control over the fertile Ukraine region, Russia’s major grain source was lost
 Iron ore and coal reserves, industrial enterprises and railways were also lost
 Russia had to pay three billion roubles in gold as reparations
 The Russian army was to be demolished and Russian warships to be disarmed
 Prisoners of war were to be exchanged without negotiation
o After the attempted assassination of Lenin on 30 August 1918 by Fanny Kaplan, Lenin became
paranoid and angry, and introduced the policy of red terror on 2 September 1918. He attempted to
enforce absolute power through the Red Army and the CHEKA. Kaplan was a radical anarchist who
was from Ukraine which had been sacrificed to the Germans in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. People
began to view Lenin’s power as similar to that of the Tsar’s.
 Groups in the Civil War:
o The Reds: Were Lenin’s army – controlled by Trotsky; grew to 5 million men by 1920. They occupied
the strategic centre of Russia. They made use of Czarist military officers and their military
experience. Trotsky introduced strict military discipline.
 Strengths:
 Propaganda. The Bolsheviks could claim to be the ‘saviours of the nation’ as they
conscripted workers and peasants. Bred patriotism which was amplified by the unity of
purpose as it encouraged high morale and dedication.
 Lenin conscripted ex-tsarist military officers to run the red army. However Lenin then had to
appoint ‘loyal Bolsheviks’ to watch their every move.
 Geographic strongholds. Remained in control of concentrated areas of western Russia
including Petrograd and Moscow. They also controlled the rail networks.
 Conscription was enforced in areas of Bolshevik control.
 The CHEKA supported the Red Terror campaign and also requisitioned huge supplies of grain
(taken from peasants).
o The Whites: traditional conservative forces comprising of anti-Bolshevik forces including SRs,
Mensheviks, kadets and monarchists. Received help from the involvement of allied troops and were
supported by peasants, landowners, business men and ousted political groups. Led by Admiral
Kolchak and Generals Deniken and Wrangel they occupied the fringes of Russia. They were
ideologically fragmented and not one unified group, separate White armies were formed under the
command of different leaders. War was the only way to challenge Bolshevik Absolutism. Motives
included: monarchists who hoped to reinstate the Romanov dynasty and those who favoured a
republic based on a restored constituent assembly.
 Threats posed by the White armies:
 General Millers northern threat (September 1918)
 General Yudenich’s north-west threat (October 1919)
 Admiral Kolchak’s eastern threat (1918-20)
 General Denikin’s southern threat (December 1917-20)
 Strengths:
 Civil War and War Communism
 They had high numbers with experienced military generals and soldiers.
 Had access to sea-going and river-based naval forces
 Surrounded Bolshevik forces by obtaining territory around them
 Received assistance from Foreign powers
 Weaknesses:
 It was difficult to communicate between four armed groups
 They had no common unity of purpose as they had different motivation and political lack of
cooperation or unification of leadership.
 Each group attacked individually, most battles occurred one after the other and often
months apart which meant the Red Army only had to fight several battles instead of on big
battle.
 The White armies did not present themselves as a better alternative to the Red Army. Many
peasants considered the Reds as a lesser of two evils.
 Some groups even hated each other
 Bolsheviks had easier time to defeat each group
 Russia’s size made it difficult to transport supplies and soldiers, especially because of the
lack of an efficient railway system
o Foreign Intervention: The catalyst for foreign intervention was Lenin’s dramatic declaration on 18
January 1918 that all foreign debts were cancelled. This resulted in foreign powers supporting the
White armies.
 April 1918 – British landed in several northern ports and provided physical and financial
resources to Whites.
 April 1918 – French landed
 April 1918 – Japanese landed in Siberia hoping to gain territory
 August 1918 – Americans went to restrain the Japanese
 May 1918 – Czech legion threat – 30000 men that Lenin had approved to travel across
Russia, but ended up battling against the Bolsheviks.
o The Greens: National minorities, non Bolshevik socialists, mainly peasants. They were not a unified
group but did not support the Reds or the Whites. They operated in the outer provinces and fought
for national independence. Were a comparatively small force but their unpredictability was a
complicating factor in the way the Civil War was fought. (See peasant uprisings/Tambov)
 Polish-Soviet War – February 1919 to March 1921. Poland was a new country formed by the Treaty of
Versailles in 1919. Lenin saw Poland as having a strategic importance because it would allow easier
exportation of revolutionary ideas to other European nations. Poland wanted to expand their territory into
Ukraine, a territory of Russia and took advantage of the chaos. The Red Army was defeated at the battle of
Warsaw, which left the Russians feeling humiliating. As a part of the Treaty of Riga (signed in March 1921)
Poland received parts of Belorussia and Ukraine.
 At Ekaterinburg on 17 July 1918 Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were murdered by the local Bolshevik
group. Lead by the chairman of the local CHEKA, Yurovsky, their murder was a definitive statement of the
permanent rejection of the old regime and made it impossible for a return to Tsardom.
 The Red Terror was repression that accompanied that spread of Bolshevik control over Russia between 1918
and 1921. Enforced by the CHEKA and the Red Army, the Bolsheviks argued that it was the only possible
response to the problems confronting the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution. The CHEKA was a police
force that committed atrocities against both White armies and dissident workers and peasants. The number
of deaths that were a result of the Red Terror reached a minimum of 50000 but may have been as high as
500000. The decree on Red Terror, passed by Sovnarkom on 5 September 1918 allowed for the creation of
concentration camps to imprison “class enemies”. It authorised CHEKA to execute “anyone involved in White
Guard organisations, conspiracies and rebellions”. Thousands were summarily executed.
 Why did the Bolsheviks win?
o Poor leadership and lack of unity amongst the whites
o No coordination by foreign threats
 Civil War and War Communism
o The Whites were scattered geographically and depended on supplies from abroad
o The Bolsheviks had control of Petrograd and Moscow and such had factories and munitions
o Trotsky had a strong Red Army and was a good leader
o The Bolsheviks used the Red Terror, the CHEKA and propaganda
o The Bolsheviks had unity of purpose.
 Consequences:
o Soviet land and the economy were devastated
o Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania gained independence
o Lenin created a program of economic reform known as NEP
o Lenin also renamed his nation the USSR.

Summary Notes – War Communism:

 June 1918 until March 1921 (the end of the civil war)
 Were polices introduced by Bolsheviks to stabilise the economy, maintain firm government control, mobilise
the nation to fight the civil war and secure food for the cities as state capitalism was failing. The harsh
centralised economic measures intensified the authority of the Bolsheviks and became a part of the Terror.
 The poor economy was partly a result of the cost of the WWI and the reparations paid because of the Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk (1918). Furthermore Russia had lost productive territory and trade was blocked between
1819 and 1921. As food and resources were scarce, the Red Army took precedence.
 On 28 June 1918 the Decree on Nationalisation was passed which put major industrial enterprises including
metallurgy, textile, mining, tanning and railways under central government control.
 Features:
o Unwieldy bureaucracy – decisions caught up in red tape
o Lack of man power – due to military conscription and workers fleeing to the countryside
o Militarisation of the workplace – longer working hours, harsh conditions
o Voluntary work on the weekend was expected on the roads and trains.
 In November 1918 there was a ban of private trade with only the government allowed to supply consumer
items. The aim was for the government to be the sole producer of food and goods. However, it led to the
creation of a black market. Due to hyperinflation money was abolished as a means of exchange and the
trade of goods was encouraged. The government provided free postal service, public transport, medical
treatment and food rations – however thousands starved as there was not enough.
 Policies were introduced in an attempt to make the peasantry provide more food, however these were
resisted by the peasants as they preferred to sell their grain (which they began to do so through the black
market). Lenin was convinced that the Kulaks (rich peasants) were hoarding grain and causing the food
shortages and sent the CHEKA grain requestion squads to the countryside to seize the grain in which brutal
violent terror was used.
 Consequences:
o Production dropped – industrial output dropped to 15% pre-war levels
o Coal and electricity feel to 30 and 25% output since 1913
o Less food was produced as peasants only produced enough food for themselves
o Agricultural output dropped to 60% of pre-war levels
o By 1921 there was a severe famine due to the requisitioning, drought and war
o 1/5 of the population were starving
o Of the 10 million who died in the civil war, historian Oxley estimates that 9.5 million of these were
from famine and disease.
o Cannibalism became common, with salted human flesh being sold at markets. Horses, cats and dogs
went missing.
 The dire situation led to international support, Britain establishing the “Save the Children” fund in Russia
during 1921-22. Furthermore, medicine, food and seed distribution by the American Relief Administration
saved 14 million peasants from starvation. This was humiliating for the communists and Lenin.
 Civil War and War Communism
 There was much social unrest particularly in countryside areas such as the Tambov region and Ukraine. The
central Russian province of Tambov was an army of 20000 peasants who were led by Alexander Antonov a
SR. They attached and seized arms from the requisition squads and hunted, tortured, executed and
mutilated Red sympathisers. This event was significant because it displayed the power of the peasants and
their anger against the dictatorship of the Bolsheviks. The Red Army eventually defeated these peasant
uprisings by mid-1921.

Example Questions:

Explain the difficulties the White Armies faced in fighting the Civil War (5 marks)

The White armies faced many problems fighting in the Civil War, most stemming from the fact that they were not
one united army, rather multiple groups spaced around Russia who each fought their own battles. This made it
easier for the Red Army to defeat their attacks as they only had to fight individual events rather than one large
battle. Furthermore, the White armies experienced a lack of unity and purpose which resulted in a lack of
cooperation. There were four separate threats posed by the White armies: General Miller’s northern threat, General
Yudenich’s north-west threat, Admiral Kolchak’s eastern threat and General Denikin’s southern threat. Russia’s large
size also created difficulties as there was a large distance between armies which made it difficult for any strong
military leadership and to transport supplies and soldiers, especially because of the lack of an efficient railway
system. Moreover, the White armies also struggled to gain support from the peasant population. Mostly comprised
of old upper and middle class, the armies did not know how to capitalise on the struggle and despair of the peasant
communities. As a result they experienced less commitment from peasant recruits and also greater desertion as the
Reds were considered to be the lesser of two evils.

Suggest reasons the Red Army were able to win the Civil War. (5 marks)

The Red Army was able to win the Civil War for a number of reasons. Primarily, the Bolsheviks victory was a result of
the many weakness of the White armies. Russia’s large size created difficulties for the White armies, as there was a
large distance between armies which made it difficult for any strong military leadership and to transport supplies
and soldiers. In comparison the Red Army held power in the concentrated areas of western Russia including
Petrograd and Moscow. These geographic strongholds gave them factories and munitions and also allowed them to
control the rail networks. They also made strong usage of propaganda, unlike the White armies, claiming to be the
‘saviours of the nation’ as they conscripted workers and peasants. This bred patriotism which was amplified by the
unity of purpose in the Bolsheviks war campaign, peasants considering the Red Army to be the lesser of two evils.
Furthermore, the Red Army was strictly run under the control of Trotsky who was ruthless against deserters and
those who lost or lacked motivation. The army was made stronger by the ex-tsarist military officers Lenin
conscripted to run the army. In this regard, the Red Army had an edge over opposing forces.

Explain what led to the creation of War Communism. (6 marks)

War Communism was introduced by Bolsheviks to stabilise the economy, maintain firm government control,
mobilise the nation to fight the civil war and secure food for the cities as state capitalism was failing. The poor
economy was partly a result of the cost of the WWI and the reparations paid because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
(1918) and partly because workers had seized the factories and the peasants the land. Furthermore Russia had lost
productive territory and trade was blocked between 1819 and 1921. The policy was intended to work as both an
economic campaign to focus the economy solely on producing goods for a military victory, and as a political
campaign of terror to enforce Bolshevik authority in regions where it was being challenged by peasants and workers.
War Communism led to an introduction of militarisation of the workplace which involved longer working hours,
harsh conditions and expected voluntary work on the weekend. Furthermore, the CHEKA began grain requestioning
because Lenin was convinced that the Kulaks were hoarding grain and causing the food shortages. The CHEKA were
sent to the countryside to seize the grain in which brutal violent terror was used against the peasants. War
Communism was maintained as the state’s economy from June 1918 until March 1921 which marked the end of the
civil war.
 Civil War and War Communism
Explain what led to the Civil War. (6 marks)

The Russian Civil War was a result of the people’s lack of support for the Bolsheviks. This was first made evident in
the election of the Constituent assembly (5 January 1918), the Bolsheviks only getting 24% of the vote compared to
the Socialist Revolutionaries who got 42% of the vote. Lenin’s dissolution of the Constituent assembly further
angered people and turned them away from the Bolsheviks. Many Socialist Revolutionaries, who wanted a federal
government, joined the White armies in their campaign against the Bolsheviks. On top of this there was large
amounts of political unrest because of food shortages and slump in industry which was partially a result of the poor
economy created after the cost of the WWI and the reparations paid because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918).
These conditions were blamed on Lenin and people started to demand change. Furthermore, there were groups
within Russia which opposed Bolshevik rule for political reasons such as members of the Russian Orthodox Church
who were convinced the Bolsheviks would destroy religion and the liberal Kadets who objected the Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk and wanted to continue fighting in World War One. Finally, the White armies which formed to challenge
Bolshevik Absolutism were supported by international assistance; countries who were angered at Russia’s Soviet rule
after Lenin’s dramatic declaration on 18 January 1918 that all foreign debts were cancelled. As a result of these
factors civil war broke out throughout Russia from 7 November 1917 until 25 October 1922.

Historical interpretations – Civil War

Volkgonov: “Threatened by danger, the Bolsheviks resorted to the most repugnant means of saving their state, mass
terror against their own people”.

Thomas and McAndrew: “The Communists might have controlled the railways, the large enterprises and the armed
forces, but not the hearts and minds of the people”.

Deutscher: “The single-party system became for the Bolshevik an inescapable necessity. Their own survival, and no
doubt the survival of the revolution, depended on it”.

Historical interpretations – War Communism

Brovkin: “During the first months of Bolshevik rule there was little trouble between the new regime and the
peasantry. This changed dramatically when the Bolsheviks introduced war communism in 1918… [It] brought the
Soviet regime into conflict with the peasantry”.

Figes: “War Communism was not just a response to the Civil War; it was also a means of making civil war… the
policies of War Communism were seen by the Bolsheviks as an instrument of struggle against their social or
“internal” enemies”.

History of the CPSU: “War Communism had been an attempt to take the fortress of the capitalist elements in town
and countryside by assault”.

Historical interpretations – Red Terror

Pipes: “The ‘Red Terror’ was not a reluctant response to the actions of others but a prophylactic measure designed
to nip in the bud any thoughts of resistance to the dictatorship”.

Volkgonov: “The leaders of the revolution had become priests of terror”.

Figes: “The Bolsheviks were forced to turn increasingly to terror to silence their political critics and subjugate a
society they could not control by other means”.