Explain why the Whites despite allied intervention were unable to win the civil war.

Despite the lack of commitment form the allies the white were at a major disadvantage from the start, due to the set up and hence ideology of the army on a whole. As the White Army was composed from an amalgamation of different groups, there was much division within it, on the aims, strategies and ideal outcome of the war. Therefore the army was often divided on key issues and communication was at times extremely poor. The White Army also faced problems finding conscripts, had to fight on a long frontline and also were not supported by many peasants as they feared the loss of newly gained land under their control. Overall though it was the Whites lack of organisation, a key factor, which lead to their defeat. The White Army could not organise itself efficiently, due to certain points above, and hence much allied support was in vain. Their ability to distribute equipment etc properly meant that on some occasions the Whites even managed to supply the enemy with the resources intended for themselves.

Besides the unintentional resources the Reds benefited from, they had no allied support. However they did have a number of things to their advantage. The Red Army's troops were well disciplined and on the whole the army was well equipped. Also as the Bolsheviks were the party in power they were able to introduce laws/acts to work to their advantage. For example War Communism was introduced, which kept the troops fed and equipped. Also in the Reds favour was the allied intervention. In addition to resources gained, their involvement gave justification to the Bolsheviks as they were seen as patriotic, fighting off foreign interference.

So although on the surface it appears that with the backing of the allies the Whites should have easily been able to defeat the Reds it is apparent that the support given was perhaps not adequate to influence the course of events. This teamed with the Whites lack of organisation, further limited the effect of the allied intervention, to the extent of even helping the enemy. The Red Army's set up and hence advantages also obviously worked against the favour of the Whites along with fact that they were seen as traitors by the people, which was initially caused by the allied intervention anyway.