The Reds' Defeat Over the Whites in the Russian Civil War

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The Reds' Defeat Over the Whites in the Russian Civil War

From the summer of 1918 a civil war began in Russia between the

Bolsheviks (called the reds) and their opponents (called the whites).

There were several reasons why the reds won the civil war in 1921, I

will go through each of them in turn before coming to a conclusion on

which I think was the most influential.

The Reds were a single minded group with a single political aim based

on an important single geographical area of Russia. The Whites on the

other hand were divided politically and geographically and they

received only limited support from the western countries. There was a

massive turning point in the war. This was very important. Up until

the autumn of 1919, the Whites had been successful. They were starting

to look to close to victory for Trotsky’s liking. General Colchacks

forces were closing in around the Eastern front and Yudenich was on

the outskirts of Petrograd. Trotsky realized the state things were in

and rushed back to Petrograd where his armies attacked and slaughtered

the Whites armies in and around petrograd, causing them to retreat.

This was the turning point and was very important. The White army were

poorly organized. They were split up all over the country meaning

communication was very difficult. This was a major disadvantage

because it made it very difficult to organise attacks without

teamwork. Another huge disadvantage was that they lost the support of

their foreign allies. All British, French and American troops left

during 1919. Japan only stayed on longer as they wanted more power in

the Far East.

The Reds created an effective army led by Trotsky. Trotsky was a very

influential man. Without him it is questionable whether they would

have gone on to win the war. In his organising of the Red army,

Trotsky used professional army officer to make sure the battles were

carefully and tactically organised. He got political commissars to

work with the officers. This was not their only job however, if the

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