Why did the reds win the Russian Civil war?

The Russian Civil war 1918-1921

The Whites included:

Menshaviks, Supporters of the Tsar, Landlords/factory owners who had lost land during the revoloution, British, American and French forces.

The Reds included:

Trotsky/Lennin

Bolshevik (red) army

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  • Created by: Annis
  • Created on: 17-02-14 10:51

Why did the reds win the Russian Civil war?

Advantages

  • The Checka (secret police) beat, shot or hung anybody who cooperated with the 'Whites', this was called the RED TERROR.
  • Lennin used war communism. This involved taking any extra food farmers produced and giving it to the army. Workers could be shot for striking, however it ensured the Red army soldiers were better fed than anybody else
  • Men could be shot for not joining the red army
  • Organised by army officers
  • Political commissioners worked with these officers, but they or their families were executed if they were bot loyal
  • Trotsky: clever, inspiring, ruthless
  • Factories taken over to supply red army with equiptment
  • Propaganda used to spread fear of the Tsar returning
  • Tsar & family killed in 1918
  • Good communication and transportation of troops

Disadvantages

  • The whites lost because:
  • They were not united, many came from different political backgrounds and did not want to work together.
  • They were spread around the edge of Russia with poor communication and poor troop mobalisation
  • They were not coordinated, so Trotsky defeated them one by one instead of fighting them as a united force
  • They were very unpopular (Patriotic Russians supported the reds)
  • French and British armies pulled out in 1919 as they were exhausted after the war and saw the Reds would win#

Evaluation

The Reds had excellent strategies and communication, they also forced people to support them by using the red terror. The whites were poorly organised and not united enough to defeat the Bolsheviks. Trotsky wanted to spread communism to Germany. but was defeated by the poles outside Warsaw in 1920. The Civil war ended in 1921 with a treaty but was a victory for Lennin.

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