Causes of Civil War Flashcards
(17 cards)
What were the causes of the civil war?
• Opposition forces United to form the whites which were supported by foreign countries
• there were increasing attacks and attempts to overthrow the Bolsheviks
• the SR try to seize power of Moscow Soviet
• several assassination attempts on Lenin
• 50,000 check prisoners of war took over the Trans-Siberian railways as they wanted Russia back in the war
• there was anger at the treaty of Brest literal which was directed at Trotsky
• Starvation grew opposition to the Bolsheviks
• national minorities wanted to seize opportunity to get independence
Was there a formal declaration of Civil War?
• no but fighting broke out in the summer of 1918
What was the key cause of the civil war?
• a key cause was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• people upset with the amount of land lost to Germany
What complicated the Civil War?
• The involvement of several other countries, such as Poland and Ukraine who opposed the Bolsheviks
Who were the reds?
•Bolsheviks
What was the aim of The reds?
•’Stay in power’
What did the red guard become known as?
•The red army
Who were key figures throughout the Civil War?
•Lenin and Trotsky
Who was the driving force of the reds?
•Lenin who inspired success
Who became an officer in the red army?
•Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky
What did the Bolsheviks use that was questioned?
•They used Ex-tsarist officers
•Trotsky insisted they would bring expertise which would win the war
Who were the whites?
•Any group that opposed the Bolsheviks
Who were they?
• After the Bolsheviks had seized power by force in Moscow and Petrograd in October/November 1917
•Many people had a reason to oppose the Bolsheviks
• The opponents on the right could claim the Bolsheviks had no right to rule
•Those in the centre said that they had not submitted to popular elections
• Those on the left, said that they had largely ignored the Soviet, which had helped to place them in power
• those on the left were alienated by Bolshevik ideology such as the aristocrats and bourgeoisie who stood to loose the most
• Mensheviks were alienated
• on the right some still earned for the old Tsarist regime just not Nicholas II -this group included army officers
• some Russians were alienated by the Bolsheviks who are unable to solve Russia’s economic problems- the initial euphoria at the collapse of Tsardom had been replaced by a sense of disillusionment
Did all the individuals who opposed Bolshevik have things in common?
• many of these individuals and groups had very little and common with each other except for the hatred and fear of the Bolsheviks
Why were the whites formed?
•Estbslished anger towards Bolshevik consolidation couple with the treaty of Brest-Litovsk created a force which was the whites in the course of 1918
Who led the whites?
• the leadership was taken over by former Tsarist officers
