To fight successful an army needs to be united for a single cause, the whites did not unify and probably would not have, and this gave the Reds their first major advantage in the war. Part of the reason that the Whites could not unite is that their leaders did not trust each other because of the political and social differences between them. Without strong leadership the Whites were at another disadvantage.
The Red army had the figurehead of Lenin to give them hope and a united symbol. But he could not be called the leader of the Red army. Trotsky was the true leader and also the true Red army hero. He was able to prove himself as a true leader and player in the Bolshevik party. He was able to train and use his specially trained army forces to go to the front line and support areas of trouble. He led the Red army to victory by combining clever tactical manoeuvres with a strict discipline. The army was fighting also in fear of their superior officers and punishments if they failed.
The Whites did not have a strong figurehead or a single strong leader. This meant there was confusion of orders and a lack of discipline and control over the troops. This meant that the Bolsheviks were stronger in this area of the war as well. But the Whites were particularly weak, it seems it is mainly to do with the lack of organisation of the Whites compared to the Reds. The Reds were not amazingly supervised but compared to the Whites they come of very well.
Both sides knew that the bulk of the army lied within the support of the peasants. The peasants seemed to have no real feelings and opinions on either side and there loyalties laid with neither. But in previous times Lenin had given them the right to claim their land and own it for themselves. This gave the peasants reason to be inclined towards the Reds. This gave the Reds the bulk and numbers to fight a strong battle against the Whites. On the issue of support another serious blow was dealt to the Whites as they abruptly lost support of the nationalist groups; the Ukrainians and Georgians. This decreased their numbers and gave further support to the reds. This meant that yet again the Reds were relying on the failure of the Whites to strengthen the Red army.
Another key factor that caused the Whites to fail is the geographical set up of the battles. The Reds held the central areas like Petrograd and Moscow. These areas contained the main railway tracks and other necessary transport routes. This was not the fault of the Whites but it was to the advantage of the Reds. The Whites were just scattered around the edges of the city and could not contend with the strongly industrialised (armament benefits) This is part of the defence for the Whites because it illustrates that the Whites were also facing difficult situations and circumstances. The Reds had advantages that were more than being a better or stronger army.
Foreign intervention could have and should have been the saviour of the Whites as it would have armed their forces and increased numbers ten fold but this was not to be. Another bonus for the Reds as the foreign efforts was weak and half-hearted. It also provided the Bolsheviks with tactical propaganda to do with how the Whites were ‘selling out Russia and the Reds were fighting for their company’.
The Foreign support should have helped the Whites but in the end the Reds gained more from the Propaganda than the Whites did from the interventions.
Over all it is apparent that the Whites were not only suffering from not being a well structured army or even political group but also various factors that were out of their control were influencing their failure. The Reds were stronger but they were also able to gain strength and win by taking advantage of the Whites failures. I feel it is definitely more of the case that the Whites failed as an army rather than a clear victory by the Reds.
