Another advantage which helped the Bolshevik regime win the Civil War was Lenin’s strong, purposeful leadership compared to the lack of purpose and disunity of the white army. The Bolsheviks was a united force, they were organized and their purpose were all to win the Civil War so they could continue with governing Russia and bring about reforms. On the other hand, the Anti-Bolsheviks were not a united force, the groups of Czechs, socialist revolutionaries, democrats, landlords, nobles and the armies of intervention from Britain, France, America and Japan all had different purposes. Some wanted a more democratic system of government, many favored monarchy, others were resentful towards the way the Bolsheviks pushed the Socialist Revolutionaries out of the Constituent Assembly while the Armies of Intervention wanted to get Russia back into the World War I. Therefore, although the whites had large numbers of soldiers, they never used that to their advantage, but in fact fought in their own scattered groups.
This was another reason in which the Bolshevik regime was able to defeat its opponents by 1922. The Red Army had the advantage of holding a ‘central position’, defending the centre of Moscow, the army was not scattered but fought as a united force, whilst the White Armies was never a united force and Trotsky was almost always able to fight them one at a time. Trotsky’s excellent military leadership was one of the main contributions to the winning of the Civil War; he directed the movements of the Red Army, delivered supplies and ensured that encouragement were given while troublemakers were dealt with severely. The Red Army also had the benefit of fighting within a small area with only short lines of communication which was far more effective than the scattered White Army who often disagreed with each other and had differing purposes if they win.
The Red Army was also well-equipped with military equipment, as compare to the Whites in which many groups were poorly equipped. The Bolsheviks had possessions of military equipment from the old imperial army under the Tsar and also controlled areas where industries produced these items. Most of the Whites had little money, supplies and instructors as they were only dependent on what the foreign nations had given them which was inadequate.
The Bolshevik regime also had the support of most of the people of Russia, as the leaders were well-educated men who were aware of the importance of propaganda and skilled in politics. Most of the Anti-Bolsheviks, however, were unskilled in politics and totally ignored the possible use of propaganda to gain support from the people of Russia. In fact, it was believed that many of the Whites put violence ahead of everything else, leading to the Russians on the borders of the Bolshevik’s controlled areas into supporting the Red Army. Also, since Russia composed of mainly peasants, Lenin’s decrees on land from his ‘First decrees of Sovnarkom’ favored peasants far more than the future which the Whites wanted, which was a likelihood of returning to the old Tsar land system. This drove most of the Russian population to support the Bolshevik regime and so they helped the Red Army instead of the Whites.
The Bolsheviks’ choice to kill the old Tsar, Nicholas II and his family also aided in their defeat of their opponents in the Civil War. Their fear was that the Tsar may be rescued and made leader of the White Army, which would be a very possible thing as some of the Whites consisted of nobles and landlords who wanted the old monarchy back. Thus, by executing the ex-Tsar and his family, it led to many supporters of the old government system from the Whites withdrawing from the war as their hope of restoring the old monarchy ended.
With not much chance of winning the Civil War, the foreign Armies of Intervention withdrew from the war in 1919. By then most of the Whites have also withdrawn from the war, and by the end of 1919 only a few isolated groups of Whites remained fighting, who were easily crushed by the Reds.
There was another revolt of 10,000 sailors at Kronstadt, in March 1921 a naval base near Petrograd in opposition to War Communism, a system of communism introduced during the Civil War to keep the Red Army supplied with food and weapons. However, the Red Army easily defeated them greatly outnumbering the sailors with 60,000 troops.
The Bolshevik regime finally ended these four years of bitter fighting in the Russian Civil War. Although, suffering terrible aftermaths from the war, the Bolsheviks were able to win this war and defeat all its opponents by 1922 due to Trotsky’s well establish army, a united purpose and the advantage of the White Army’s lack of co-operation with each oth
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BOOKS
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Webb, KW, Modern history-HSC examination essentials, McGraw-Hill Book Company Australia Pty Limited, Australia, 1988
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Brooman, JB, Russia in War and Revolution, Longman Group Limited, United State of America, 1986
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http://www.courseworkbank.co.uk/coursework/account_for_success_the_bolsheviks_gaining_power_russia_by_2906/, 25/6/04
