How were the reds able to defeat the whites in the Russian civil war

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How were the Reds able to defeat the Whites in the Russian civil war?

From the summer of 1918 a civil war began in Russia between the Bolsheviks (called the reds) and their opponents (called the whites). There were several reasons why the reds won the civil war in 1921, I will go through each of them in turn before coming to a conclusion on which I think was the most influential.

The Reds were a single minded group with a single political aim based on an important single geographical area of Russia. The Whites on the other hand were divided politically and geographically and they received only limited support from the western countries. There was a massive turning point in the war. This was very important. Up until the autumn of 1919, the Whites had been successful. They were starting to look to close to victory for Trotsky’s liking. General Colchacks forces were closing in around the Eastern front and Yudenich was on the outskirts of Petrograd. Trotsky realized the state things were in and rushed back to Petrograd where his armies attacked and slaughtered the Whites armies in and around petrograd, causing them to retreat. This was the turning point and was very important. The White army were poorly organized. They were split up all over the country meaning communication was very difficult. This was a major disadvantage because it made it very difficult to organise attacks without teamwork. Another huge disadvantage was that they lost the support of their foreign allies. All British, French and American troops left during 1919. Japan only stayed on longer as they wanted more power in the Far East.

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The Reds created an effective army led by Trotsky. Trotsky was a very influential man. Without him it is questionable whether they would have gone on to win the war. In his organising of the Red army, Trotsky used professional army officer to make sure the battles were carefully and tactically organised. He got political commissars to work with the officers. This was not their only job however, if the officers were not loyal the Commissars were too execute them. Sometimes they used their families as hostages. Another factor that helped the Red Army was that Trotsky made sure ...

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