Stages Of The Civil War Flashcards
(16 cards)
Spring 1918
-an anti bolshevik volunteer army had been created in the south
-in anticipation of the growing threat the bolsheviks moved their capital from petrograd to Moscow in March 1918. However the spark for war came when members of the Czech legion began attacking holsheviks in western siberia
First stage of civil war (1918-1920)
-civil war had very fluid campaigns, battles and skirmishes fought over large areas.
-various actions were fought simultaneously but not in any coordinated way
- even if the intention had been there, a coordinated war by the whites would have been difficult given the different forces involved, the lack of command and the vast geographical distances.
- Bs held the central area of eur Russia including petrograd and Moscow although petrograd was threatened by yudenichs forces Oct 1919. White forces appeared to threaten red from all directions
April-May 1918
Czech legion seizes parts of the trans siberian railway. War begin. When Bs tried to arrest Czech soldiers traveling across Russia on the railway, the Czechs joined the whites and began advancing towards Moscow
Summer 1918
Denkin, whose army included many cossacs, attacked in the Don region , threatening tsaritsyn(stalingrad). Successful red resistance here prevented Denkin from linking up with white armies in the East
Kolchaks army captured cities of Kazan and samora, but was halted by red counter attacks.
Summer 1919
Denkin began another offensive and got within 200 miles of Moscow by oct but trotsky forced denkins army south towards Crimea
Oct 1919
Yudenichs army in the north was relatively small about 15,000 men but he got close to the petrograd before being forced back by red troops
Autumn 1919
Kolchak was in retreat. In 1920 he was captured and shot
1920
Wrangel replaced Denkin in the crimea. This white army held out for several months but the green peasant army under Nestor Mahno fought as an irregular division for the reds, in nov 1920 British and French ships evacuated the remnants of the white army form the crimea
By the end of 1920, due to primarily the bs geographical advantages and superior organisation in the face of white division, most of the former Russian empire was in community hands. 10 mill lives lost from hunger, disease and military action.
Second stage (1920-21)
The war continued as a more nationalist struggle against the Polish armies into 1921.
The poles invaded western Ukraine but were driven back
After the second rising was crushed the treaty of Riga was signed March 1921 and granted the independence of Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Formation of the whites
-very little in common except fear and hatred of Bs
-anger at the concessions of the treaty of brest-litovsk merged with factors to create a force of ‘whites’ in the course of 1918
-numbers of bs opponents organised themselves into armies or armed groups with the semblance of being an organised force
-their leadership was taken over by former tsarist officers
-among these included general denkin in the south, admiral kolchak in siberia, general yudenich in Estonia and Baron Wrangek who replaced denkin in crimea
Reds
Bolshevik red army led by trotsky
The whites
Various armies and armed groups made up of the bs opps and led by former tsarist officials. Their attacks were rarely coordinated and they often had very little in common with each other apart form their hatred of the Bolsheviks
The Czech legion
Formed from Czech nationalists who had arrived in Russia during the war against Germany. The army joined forces with the whites after the bs tried to block some of the Czech soldiers as they travelled along the trans siberian railway
The allies
Britain france and USA sent troops to help the whites
The poles
Polish armies fought to gain control of western ukraine
The greens
Largely peasant army fighting for independence from control from anybody, reds or whites. Led by mahno they led a guerilla campaign in Ukraine. Sided with bouth and fought against whites and reds at different points on the war
