Apart from the access to factories there was one major cause for Bolsheviks’ having plentiful resources - the war communism. Former bourgeois specialists were brought to the factories because of their experience and knowledge on how to enhance production and manage people (although they were under control of political commissars). People’s work was organised to suit the war’s needs. In the cities the major industrial enterprises were brought under central government control and the production was shifted to weapons and war equipment.The large Red Army needed large amounts of food hence the Bolsheviks introduced grain requisitioning forcing all the peasant to give their surpluses of grain to government so that it could feed the soldiers and factory workers. Although the grain requisitioning seems not to had been working well (because some of the peasants stopped producing surpluses), it managed to feed the Red Army.
Yet, apart from resources and weapons, there were still many factors which contributed to the Bolshevik’s survival of the Civil war. White’s forces consisted of diverse people from diverse nations with diverse aims (for example the Czech legion who were fighting to bring Russia back to the war with Germany). Because of this diversity the White’s armies were worse organised than the Red Army.
Another factor worth considering is the Bolshevik’s discipline and rigour in the army. Trotsky introduced death punishments for deserters, soldiers selling their weapons and for disobeying officers. This raised morale and prevented the army from shrinking. As the army needed commanders Trotsky employed previous army officers yet each of them had a commissar who ensured that they weren’t plotting to bring back the old regime.
The geographical position of Whites also played a significant role in Bolshevik survival. The Whites had their forces to the east, west and south of the center of Russia controlled by Bolsheviks. Yet their armies were miles apart from each other which made it impossible for them to communicate and cooperate effectively. As a result the Bolshevik’s were able to pick them off and deal with them separately reducing their chances of success.
Bolsheviks managed to survive due to their skillful propaganda and repression. They knew that even a slightest sign of weakness could cost them the power they had. That’s why thee secret police called Cheka was appointed. Its task was to infiltrate anti-Bolshevik groups and arrest their members who were then sent into exile or shot. An good example of a ruthless Bolshevik action was the suppression of the Kronstadt Rebellion, where the 60-thousand Red Army completely crushed the protestants.
What gave the Bolsheviks a significant advantage over the Whites was their complete devotion to the cause. They were fighting for an ideology they believed in ,or, at least, were manipulated to think they believed in, unlike the White who fought for their personal benefits. Bolsheviks believed that workers of other countries would follow Russian example and hence the communism would spread all over the world. That’s why they simply couldn’t afford to lose and were prepared to pay a price as high as was needed.
I don’t agree that Bolsheviks’ survival was due to the advantage of having more resources or weapons. I think that the strong leadership of Lenin and Trotsky contributed more to their survival. They weren’t afraid to use ruthless methods to preserve communism and made the army work properly which turned out to be enough to win the civil war.