Anti-Bolsheviks joined the Czech Legion and, protected by the Legion, they set up governments to organise a People’s Army against the Bolsheviks.
The Bolshevik government that had moved to Moscow established conscription. This forced men from eighteen to forty years old to join the Red Army. Trotsky, who was in charge of the Red Army, blackmailed the old officers of the Tsar’s army into joining the Red Army by threatening their families.
Four armies made up from the Whites started to advance on the Bolsheviks. The leaders of these armies were Generals Yudenich, Denikin and Miller and Admiral Kolchak. Foreigners from Britain, France, USA and Japan were mad at Bolshevik Russia for pulling out of the war so they joined the Whites and fought against the Bolsheviks.
A week after Lenin was shot the Sovnarkom ordered the Cheka, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky (secret police) to begin a “Red Terror”. Cheka agents tortured and killed anyone who went against the Reds and anyone who worked for the Whites. Trotsky also said that anyone who deserted his army would be shot. This was true; when a battalion of the Red Army tried to desert Trotsky had every one in ten of them shot by a firing squad.
Trotsky was a very effective military leader. From his war train Trotsky travelled around Russia ordering the Red Army and dealing with troublemakers.
The Reds slowly began to win the civil war. In 1919 the foreign armies withdrew from Russia and the Red Army defeated each White army one by one until they had defeated them all and won the Civil War.
The last major offensive against the Bolsheviks was in March 1921 when the sailors from the naval base on the island of Kronstadt rebelled. These sailors were formerly the most loyal of all people to the Bolsheviks but now they had turned against the Bolsheviks. When the sailors rebelled the sea between the island and Russia was frozen so Trotsky sent his soldiers over the ice to crush the rebellion. To make sure none of the soldiers deserted the Cheka was sent in behind the army and the army knew if they turned back they would be killed.
Even though Trotsky’s Red Army was up against a large opposition that consisted of four other countries’ forces he still defeated his opposition with discipline and organisation.
The Bolsheviks helped to win the war by using a policy called “War Communism”. This policy took food from peasants and rationed it among the people and, most importantly, the army.
Factories in Moscow and Petrograd were taken over to manufacture ammunition and equipment for the army.
Propaganda convinced people that the Bolsheviks were fighting for a good cause and this encouraged people to join them.
The Cheka used the Red Terror to keep the army and the people under control and focused on winning the war for the Reds.
The Red Army was very organised, had very good communication with each other and were moved to where they needed to be by rail.
The Whites, however, were very unorganised. They consisted of many different groups of people who did not work together.
Communication between the White armies was poor.
The armies were spread all over Russia so they could not fight together at the same time and focus their forces.
The people did not like the Bolsheviks but preferred them to the Whites because if the Whites won the Tsar and the landlords would return.
The most important factors that made the Reds win the war, and also made the Whites lose the war, were that the Red Army was very well organised and led by Trotsky and the Whites were spread over Russia and not united so Trotsky could move his army to where force was required and defeat each White army one by one.
The support of the peasants to the Bolsheviks was also a very big factor. The peasants supported the Reds because they wanted a change and they knew that things would be better after the war if the Reds won rather than returning back to dictatorship from the Tsar and landlords if the Whites won.
