Russian Civil War

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The Russian Civil War was a civil war. The Red Army and the White Army fought this war from the year 1918 to 1922. The Red Army was an army of the communists. The White Army was of those who opposed the communists. Finally, the Red Army won this war. After this war, the communists established the Soviet Union in 1922.

[edit] Overview

Czar Nicholas II, the traditional ruler of the Russian Empire had just lost his throne. The Russian Revolution of 1917 had just ended. The position in many regions forming part of the Russian Empire was not stable. Many groups had arisen in the Soviet Union. The workers and farmers supporting the communists organized themselves in the Red Army. People opposing them organized themselves in the White Army.

In Ukraine some groups fighting for a free Ukraine organized themselves as the Green Army. There were several other groups. The Green Army and the smaller groups fought among themselves, and sometimes they fought the Red Army and the White Army. At the same time, some foreign countries were worried about the communists ruling the Soviet Union. They feared that the communism will come to their countries also. So, they added the forces who were against the communists’ Red Army. Slowly, the war became very large and continued for years. This war became known as the Russian Civil War.

[edit] The periods

The Red Army and the White Army fought this war on three main regions. These regions were located in the eastern, the southern and the northwestern of the Soviet Union. There were also three main periods of the war. The outbreak of the Russian Civil War and its big scale surprised Lenin.

Soon after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the first period of the Russian Civil War begun. Most of the fighting in this period was on a small scale. But, the fighting started at many places. Some foreign countries also helped the White Army.

The second period of the Russian Civil War was very important phase. It lasted from January to November 1919. At first, the White Army was winning on all three fronts. But, Leon Trotsky reorganized the Red Army. The Red Army fought back, and the White Army’s loss was heavy. The White Army almost lost its fighting power.

Fighting in Crimea was the third and the final period of the Russian Civil war. Many soldiers of the White Army had gathered in Crimea. They had made their position very secure and strong. The Red Army continued to fight with them. When the Polish-Soviet war ended, more soldiers of the Red Army could reinforce their comrades in Crimea. This action defeated the White Army in November 1920.

[edit] After the war

• During and after the Russian Civil War, the Soviet Russia suffered great damage.
• In 1920 and 1921, there were little rains. This caused serious famine in 1921.
• In this war, about 15 million persons lost their lives. Out of them, about one million were soldiers of the Red Army.
• The anti-communists and their White Army killed at least 50,000 communists.
• Many million persons also died due to famine, starvation, and epidemics. In Ukraine and southern Russia, many Jews were killed.
• About one million Russians left Russia and went to other countries to live there on a permanent basis. Many of them were very educated and expert persons.
• Economic loss was also very big. Estimates say that the war cost the Soviet Russia around 50 billion rubles or $35,000,000,000.00 in today’s price. Production of industrial goods fell to very low level. For example, The Soviet Union was producing only 5 % of the cotton, and only 2 % of the iron ore, compared to the production of 1913. Generally, the production had fallen to 20% of the production of 1913.
• The Russian Civil War had a very bad result for agriculture also. Farm produced only 37 % of the normal production. Number of horses fell from 35 million (in 1916) to 24 million (in 1920). The number of cattle also became less, from 58 million to 37 million.
• The value of Russia’s currency (ruble) also fell. In 1914, with 2 rubles one can buy a US dollar. In 1920, one had to give 1,200 rubles to buy one US dollar.

During this war, the government of the Soviet Union could somehow manage the country. However, after few years of this war, the Soviet Union developed very fast in 1930s. But, the result of the First World War and the Russian Civil War was very bad for the life and society of the Soviet Union. People always remembered their bad results.