The Bolshevik Regime's Ability to Defeat Its Opponents by 1922
By the end of 1919, with only a few isolated groups of Anti-Bolsheviks
fighting, the Bolshevik regime was evidently winning the Russian Civil
War. The reasons which lie behind their ability to defeat all their
opponents by 1922 is mainly due to a well-disciplined and equipped
army, Lenin’s strong, purposeful leadership and the advantage of the
disunity of the Anti-Bolshevik force.
The Russian Civil War started when serious fighting broke out in May
1918 during the transportation of 45,000 Czech prisoners of war to
Vladivostok with the Soviets of a town on the railway. As more Czech
prisoners of war joined in the fight, the Trans-Siberian Railway and
the towns along its route were seized by them and anti-Bolsheviks
consisting of Socialist Revolutionaries, democrats, landlords, nobles
and Armies of intervention rushed to join in.
The ‘White’ army as they became known set up their own governments.
The Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly (Komuch)
organized the anti-Bolsheviks into a ‘People’s Army’ and began to
launch attacks. In response, the Bolshevik regime introduced
conscription, “any men aged eighteen to forty had to serve in a new
Bolshevik army- the Red Army” ( Russian in war & Revolution, Brooman,
pg 28), whilst the officers were taken from the former officers from
the Tsar’s army.
Although most of the conscripts and officers were forced into the job,
there were still many men who had a belief that they were fighting to
change the world and defend the long anticipated revolution. This was
one of the reasons for the Bolshevik regime’s success in...
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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
Bibliography-
BOOKS
* Webb, KW, Modern history-HSC examination essentials, McGraw-Hill
Book Company Australia Pty Limited, Australia, 1988
* Brooman, JB, Russia in War and Revolution, Longman Group Limited,
United State of America, 1986
WEBSITES
* http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch11.htm#s1, Smitha, FS, 1998, 29/6/04
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Civil_War, 26/6/04
* http://www.russiansabroad.com/russian_history_55.html, 29/6/04
* http://www.courseworkbank.co.uk/coursework/account_for_success_the_bolsheviks_gaining_power_russia_by_2906/,
25/6/04