The civil war was as much a battle of hearts and minds as it was of territory and power. Propaganda was used by both the White and Red army to win people over to their cause and support them. The Reds put particular emphasis on propaganda, they tried to get support of peasants and workers by putting across how the Whites would take land away from the peasants and the reds offered a wonderful new society for both peasants and workers. The Reds showed themselves as fighting for the workers and peasants – many of their pictures showed visual hints at this such as factories being in the background. They also tried to get support from patriotic Russians by saying that the Whites were controlled by foreign invaders because of the western intervention – which was very important as these people may have been sympathetic towards the Whites because of the opposition to the Brest-Litovsk treaty. The Reds also showed opposition to members of the bourgeoisie in its propaganda, such as opposition to land owners and also to priests of the orthodox church. Also the Red army cavalry was often depicted as it was iconic of the strength of the army.
This is a Bolshevik propaganda poster of Trotsky slaying the reactionary dragon, created in 1918. It shows Trotsky represented as St George, slaying the dragon of counter revolution. The dragon is wearing a top hat, which the Soviets associated with capitalism. The Soviet symbol of the hammer and sickle is also shown, which represents that he is fighting for the workers and peasants.
This is a White Army propaganda poster depicting Trotsky as a red devil. The text above the picture reads, "Peace and Liberty in Sovdepiya". This shows Trotsky as an evil monster who is killing people and destroying Russia.
The Red Terror was the mass killing of the Reds opponents by the secret police, the Cheka. From the start revolutionary terror was to be an essential feature of Bolshevik rule. Lenin said “We can achieve nothing unless we use terror”. The Bolsheviks rejected western ideas of legality in favour of their revolutionary justice – this meant that someone would be judged by their class, not by what they have done. Many people were executed simply for who they were, not for their deeds. Martin Latsis, chief of the Ukrainian Cheka, said - "Do not look in the file of incriminating evidence to see whether or not the accused rose up against the Soviets with arms or words. Ask him instead to which class he belongs, what is his background, his education, his profession. These are the questions that will determine the fate of the accused. That is the meaning and essence of the Red Terror". The Cheka was set up in December 1917 and was led by Felix Dzerzhisnky and by summer 1918 the Cheka had 40,000 agents. In July Socialist Revolutionaries assassinated the German Ambassador in opposition to the peace talks, and staged an uprising. This was brutally suppressed by the Cheka. In revenge a Socialist Revolutionary shot Lenin, however this only seriously wounded him and was not fatal. As part of the Terror on the 17th of July 1918 the former Tsar, Nicholas II and his family were shot. An estimated 300,000 people were executed by the Bolsheviks during the civil war.
War Communism was a series of economic policies introduced by Lenin in the Civil war. The first of these policies was grain requisitioning. The Bolsheviks sent out soldiers to forcefully take grain from the peasants – this went against what the Bolsheviks had promised which was peace, bread and land. In protest the peasants only grew enough for themselves, however this just meant that the crops were taken and they would starve. All private trade was banned, however this introduced problems as the state trading organization was extremely chaotic and there were not enough consumer goods. A huge black market developed, and people traded their goods for others instead of using worthless paper money. All industry was brought under state control. Workers comities were replaced by managers reporting to central authorities to stop the workers from voting themselves for huge pay rises and other benefits. This was a lot like the previous bourgeoisie system, however the workers did not complain as they were desperate to keep their jobs. Labour discipline was brought back to the work place. You would have to work hard to get rations. A class based system of rationing was introduced – the Red army and workforce were given priority, and the middle classes were discriminated against and got barely enough to live on.
Also the whites alienated themselves from different groups and minorities. The whites lost support of the peasants as they did not legalize the take over of land by peasants, Kolchak even gave land to people who had not owned it in the first place. Also the Whites wanted to restore the Russian empire with its pre-1917 borders – this lost the support of nationalist groups such as the Ukrainians.
The Greens were another force in the civil war. They were mainly made up from deserters from the Reds and Whites, as well as peasants who wanted land but not under the terms the Reds were putting forward as they resented the policy of grain requisitions.
Western intervention also played a big part in the civil war. In October 1917 not much was known about the Bolsheviks, and it was assumed that they were German spies. Trotsky angered the Western governments by his publication of the secret wartime treaties and repudiation of Russia’s foreign debts. Also the Bolsheviks decision to accept a separate peace with Germany meant that the Germans became stronger as they only had to fight on one front. In 1918, British troops were sent to Northern Russia to safeguard war supplies stockpiled in these ports. Contact was also made with Socialist Revolutionaries and other anti-Bolshevik groups in the hope of them taking power from the Bolsheviks and re-opening the eastern front. After Germany’s surrender in November 1918, the Allies began to send aid to the White armies. Winston saw Bolshevism as a deadly threat to Western countries so was keen to destroy it. British Prime Minister Lloyd George was more sceptical - he said “Russia has never been conquered by a foreign foe, although it has been successfully invaded many times. It is a country which it is easy to get into, but very difficult to get out of”. Britain sent £100,000,000 worth of equipment to the Whites but a lot of this was misused and some supplies also fell into the hands of the Red army. The Allies also suspected the political aims of the generals who came to dominate the White cause. Because of these factors in 1919, the Allies withdrew their troops and cut off aid to the Whites.
There were many factors that led to the Bolsheviks winning the civil war. The leadership and organization of the party was far greater than the Whites. Lenin and Trotsky had to go against many things they believed in, but had to do this to try and help the country in the long run. Also the Bolsheviks used propaganda better, whereas the Whites did not value it as much which proved to be a mistake. Red terror was also an important factor, as the Red army had more chance of surviving by attacking poorly equipped against the whites than they did if they were to flee. The war was finally won in 1922, however the Bolsheviks would never fully heal from it.