Lenin employed Trotsky, originally a Menshevik who was to transform the outcome of the Civil War of 1918-20. He could improve moral and rally the masses. He introduced discipline back into the military by using a force known as the Cheka who would go to the extremes of corporal punishment. In 1918 Trotsky introduced conscription to the working class in Moscow and St Petersburg and later to the peasants. In 1917 the Red Army had just over 7,000 men, but by 1920 Trotsky had turned that into 5,000,000 men. After being promoted to the task of war commissar, Trotsky raced across the battlefields to fight and rally his troops. This determination and headstrong idea caused morale to be high. When he arrived at the battlefields, soldiers would believe they were invincible for as long as he was there. When he saw untrained men get slaughtered by there thousands he turned to the ex Tsarist officers to help him train the men. He did this by holding their family’s hostage.
The White Army, because of there diversity wanted different things from this war. Because of this arguments started and they became immobile. The tactics of the Whites were hit them hard and fast in small fractions, this resulted in many hundred of thousands of White soldiers dying. This was because the cities they tried to attack were so heavily defended the Whites were fighting a losing battle. For example Denkin and Wrangel in the south of Russia had a plan to take over a major strategic city called Tsaristyn, which was under control by the Reds. The Whites came within 320km from Moscow before being forced to retreat by Trotsky’s ferocious counterattack.
War communism was an idea by Lenin for how a city should be under communist leadership during a war. He had 2 main things to do; they were to win the war (short term), Introduce Marxist style economic policies to Russia (long term). This meant that money was abolished, a ban on private trading and trade unions. Military discipline in factories and planners to determine production levels. But above all they wanted requisitioning of the grain and to give out rations (priority to Red Army and Industrial workers). This gave Lenin some good things like high production levels and supplies going out to the troops. Problems are that black-markets will form, workers had no incentive to work in factories when they could have an easier job such as road sweeping. Overall it worked and this put the whole nation on a war footing, and gave the Bolshevik armies the supplies they needed.
The leaders of the Red Army were a very important factor to the Reds victory. Lenin made important decisions to try and keep communism present and also try to win the war. For a man who has very little if no experience in politics he is doing very well. This can also be said for Trotsky (war commissar) without Trotsky Lenin would be defeated. Stalin, Denikin and Zinoviev also played major roles by using tactics to outsmart the Whites.
The Whites did not have much propaganda apart from anti Bolshevik handouts and posters. The Reds on the other hand had re-education, and manifesto’s of what they will promise if they win. By sending leading figures into battle Lenin was able to keep morale up for the men on the front.
There were six reasons why the Bolsheviks won the Civil War. The first reason was that the Whites were disunited. They were a coalition of different enemies of the Bolsheviks (Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, Tsarists, army officers angry at Brest Litovsk, and nobles whose land had been given to the peasants). In fact, all these different groups hated each other! They were disunited and their armies were thousands of miles apart – Generals Yudenich and Deniken attacked Russia from the west, Admiral Kolchak from the east. This meant that Trotsky could co-ordinate his forces much better, and fight his enemies one at a time. The second reason was Trotsky, who was a brilliant war leader and strategist, so the Red Army had good tactics.
A third reason was belief. Many Russians were Communists, who believed they were fighting for a better world. Others fought for them because they hated foreign (British, American and French) armies invading Russia. This motivated the Bolshevik soldiers – they were fervent and enthusiastic. Most of their enemies were fighting only because they were paid to. Lenin helped the Bolsheviks by introducing War Communism. The Bolsheviks nationalised the factories, and introduced military discipline. Strikes were made illegal. They introduced rationing and forced the peasants to give food to the government. This put the whole nation on a war footing, and gave the Bolshevik armies the supplies they needed.
Whereas the whites were disunited, the Bolsheviks maintained absolute unity through Terror. The Tsar and his family were put to death, which removed a focal point for the whites. The Cheka murdered any Whites they found more than 7000 people were executed, and Red Army generals were kept loyal by taking their families’ hostage so the Bolsheviks were united and disciplined towards a single end winning the war.
Finally, the Bolsheviks had what they needed to win the war. The British, French and American armies were fighting thousands of miles from home, at the end of a long supply line. The Bolsheviks, on the other hand, had control of the main cities of Moscow and Petrograd (with their factories), control of the railways (vital), an army of 300,000 men, very strict army discipline, and internal lines of communication giving them the advantage in the war. When Kolchak was defeated in 1919, the foreign armies went home. The last white army was defeated in the Crimea in 1920.