How significant was Trotskys contribution to the Bolsheviks victory in the Civil War?
Alix Parrish
How significant was Trotsky’s contribution to the Bolshevik’s victory in the Civil War?
After the Russian Civil War broke out in January 1918, when the Constituent Assembly was violently dissolved by the Bolsheviks, Trotsky as the People’s Commissar of War reorganised the Bolsheviks’ Red Guard into the Red Army in order to defend the area loyal to the Bolsheviks from the Whites, intent on forcefully removing them from power.
Trusted into the position of People’s Commissar of War by Lenin, Trotsky had great managerial and organization skills that were necessary in order to make the Red Army effective enough to win the war for the Bolsheviks. As well as this Trotsky was a huge inspiration to the troops throughout the war, travelling by armoured train to the front lines to inspect and talk to the troops personally inevitably encouraging their loyalty and effectiveness and preventing desertion.