Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
The Civil War - Coggle Diagram
The Civil War
Trotsky's Role
His role in the Civil War was important, as he proved himself a skilful organiser and propagandist. Lenin gave him a free hand to mould the Red Army into an effective army of over 3 million men
Trotsky directed the war, and travelled with his own elite force, visiting the various fronts and meeting commanders and their troops
-
Trotsky could inspire and helped boost morale of the troops and other Bolshevik leaders, who were not convinced the Reds would win
-
He recruited 50,000 former tsarist army officers for their experience and used them to train new recruits
Appointed political commissars to army units (committed Party loyalists who could be relied on to obey them). The commissars had to countersign all army officers' orders and instil ideological principles in the troops
-
Summary executions were carried out to 'discourage' waverers, and the Cheka was used to shoot deserters behind the lines
Made the Red Army a professional force, reintroducing traditional ranks and practices
When it was necessary to build up its numbers, conscription was introduced in some areas, either into fighting units or labour battalions (sometimes made up of bourgeoisie, used on the front line to clear debris and remove bodies/wounded)
Brutal atrocities took place on both sides during the War, including torture and massacres. Civilians in occupied areas were often badly treated in order to encourage the rest of the population to keep in line
-
Murder of the Tsar
The Tsar had few supporters, and most of the Whites fighting were not trying to restore the Tsar to the throne
Many Bolsheviks were fearful that he might become the focus for resistance against the Bolsheviks, particularly as the Civil War began
In July 1918, the local Bolshevik police unit, part of the Cheka, which was guarding the royal family, shot the whole family without a trial
The death made little difference to subsequent events. It removed a potential figurehead for the Whites
Since so few wanted the Tsar back in power, his loss cannot really be considered of importance
-
The Outbreak
By the spring of 1918, an anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army had been created in the south of the country, partly financed by Germany
In anticipation of the growing threat, the Bolsheviks moved their capital to Moscow in March 1918
However, the spark to war came when members of the Czech legion began attacking Bolsheviks in Western Siberia in May
The Czech Legion
In March 1918, the Bolsheviks gave permission for the Czechoslovak 'Army of Liberation' to travel eastwards, through Siberia, to continue their fight against their enemies on the Western Front
Formed from Czech nationalists who had arrived in Russia during WW1, by 1918 it comprised 45,000 soldiers
As this force travelled along the Trans-Siberian railway, in May, some Bolshevik officials tried to arrest some of the Czech soldiers and fighting broke out, as a result of which the Czech Legion seized the railway line through much of Western Siberia and parts of eastern European Russia
With this, they abandoned their original plans, joined forces with anti-Bolsheviks and began to advance westwards towards Moscow
The Causes
There was no declaration of civil war, but fighting broke out in the summer of 1918
The civil war was complicated by the involvement of several other countries, whose governments had their own agendas for fighting the Bolsheviks
These included opposition to Russia's withdrawal from the war against Germany, a fear that the Bolsheviks were a threat to their own governments because of the Bolsheviks' aim of spreading international revolution, and opposition to the Bolsheviks' repudiation of tsarist debts together with their nationalisation of foreign-owned industries
-
-