"White" and "Red" movement in the Civil War. Leaders of the red movement

The causes of the Civil War are a deep crisis of the social order that developed during the late Romanov Empire, accompanied by an extreme degree of social class hatred of some sections of society towards others; the presence on both sides of political forces interested in inciting this hatred: on the part of the Reds, this is the Bolshevik Party, interested in establishing the dictatorship of the proletariat, on the part of the Whites, these are the nobility, the bourgeoisie and representatives of the Entente countries, interested in weakening Russia.

Main events and stages:

Before the start of the war (October 1917-spring 1918).

The triumphal procession of Soviet power; the creation of Soviet government bodies in most of the territory of Russia. Consolidation of anti-communist forces; the creation of the Volunteer Army in the south-west of Russia and the Semyonov organization in Manchuria.

The beginning of the war (March-December 1918)

The beginning of the intervention; Germany occupies Ukraine, Crimea, the Baltic states, British troops land in Murmansk, Japanese troops in the Far East. The uprising of the Czechoslovak Legion, with the support of which Socialist-Revolutionary organizations come to power in a number of cities along the Trans-Siberian Railway and Soviet power is liquidated. To the east of the Urals, the Siberian, Ural governments arise. The Semyonov organization occupies Transbaikalia. Ice campaign of the Volunteer Army to the south of Russia. Proclamation of Kolchak as the Supreme Ruler of Russia.

Active stage of the war (1919)

The advance of Kolchak's Eastern White Army into European Russia. The Whites are approaching Kazan and Samara. Yudenich's advance on Petrograd. AFSR advance to the north. By the end of the year, all three offensives were repulsed, and the counteroffensive of the Red Army was launched beyond the Urals. By the beginning of 1920, the Reds take Omsk, the Kolchakites flee from Omsk to the east. Denikin's army was thrown back to the south as a result of the battles near Orel, Kastorna, Tsaritsyn

End of the main part of the war (1920)

The victory of the Red Army is a foregone conclusion. The beginning of the offensive of the Red Army on the positions of the All-Union Socialist League in southern Russia. In Irkutsk, members of the Socialist-Revolutionary-Menshevik political center captured Admiral Kolchak, the remnants of Kolchak adjoin the troops of General Semyonov in Transbaikalia. Kolchak was handed over to the Bolsheviks and shot.

From January to March 1920, the Red Army completes the defeat of Denikin's army. By April, the south of Russia was cleared of the Whites, with the exception of the Crimea.

In April 1920, the Polish army invades Ukraine. The beginning of the Soviet-Polish war. In October - a peace treaty between the RSFSR and Poland: the division of Ukraine and Belarus into western and eastern. November - attack on the remnants of the White troops in the Crimea, the defeat of Wrangel.

End of the Civil War (1921-22)

Offensive in the Far East, the defeat of Semyonov, Ungern. Antonov uprising, uprising of sailors in Kronstadt.

By 1922, all anti-Soviet and anti-communist speeches were suppressed and Soviet power was restored in most of the territory of the former Russian Empire, with the exception of Poland, Finland, Western Ukraine and Belarus, the Baltic states, and the Kars region. It became possible to create the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Civil war in Russia - armed confrontation in 1917-1922. organized military-political structures and state formations, conditionally defined as "white" and "red", as well as national-state formations on the territory of the former Russian Empire (bourgeois republics, regional state formations). The armed confrontation also involved spontaneously emerging military and socio-political groups, often denoted by the term "third force" (insurgent detachments, partisan republics, etc.). Also, foreign states (denoted by the concept of "interventionists") participated in the civil confrontation in Russia.

Periodization of the Civil War

There are 4 stages in the history of the Civil War:

First stage: summer 1917 - November 1918 - formation of the main centers of the anti-Bolshevik movement

Second stage: November 1918 - April 1919 - beginning of the Entente intervention.

Reasons for intervention:

To deal with the Soviet power;

Protect your interests;

Fear of socialist influence.

Third stage: May 1919 - April 1920 - simultaneous struggle of Soviet Russia against the White armies and Entente troops

Fourth stage: May 1920 - November 1922 (summer 1923) - the defeat of the White armies, the end of the civil war

Background and reasons

The origin of the Civil War cannot be reduced to any one cause. It was the result of deep political, socio-economic, national and spiritual contradictions. An important role was played by the potential of public discontent during the years of the First World War, the devaluation of the values of human life. The agrarian and peasant policy of the Bolsheviks also played a negative role (the introduction of committees and surplus appropriations). The Bolshevik political doctrine, according to which civil war is the natural outcome of the socialist revolution, caused by the resistance of the overthrown ruling classes, also contributed to the civil war. On the initiative of the Bolsheviks, the All-Russian Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and the multi-party system was gradually eliminated.

The actual defeat in the war with Germany, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk led to the fact that the Bolsheviks were accused of "destroying Russia."

The right of peoples to self-determination proclaimed by the new government, the emergence of many independent state formations in different parts of the country was perceived by the supporters of the "United, Indivisible" Russia as a betrayal of its interests.

Dissatisfaction with the Soviet government was also expressed by those who opposed its demonstrative break with the historical past and ancient traditions. Especially painful for millions of people was the anti-church policy of the Bolsheviks.

The civil war took various forms, including uprisings, individual armed clashes, large-scale operations with the participation of regular armies, guerrilla actions, and terror. A feature of the Civil War in our country was that it turned out to be extremely long, bloody, and unfolded over a vast territory.

Chronological framework

Separate episodes of the Civil War took place already in 1917 (the February events of 1917, the July "half-uprising" in Petrograd, Kornilov's speech, the October battles in Moscow and other cities), and in the spring - summer of 1918 it acquired a large-scale, front-line character .

It is not easy to determine the final frontier of the Civil War. Front-line military operations on the territory of the European part of the country ended in 1920. But then there were also mass peasant uprisings against the Bolsheviks, and performances by Kronstadt sailors in the spring of 1921. Only in 1922-1923. ended the armed struggle in the Far East. This milestone as a whole can be considered the time of the end of a large-scale Civil War.

Features of armed confrontation during the Civil War

Military operations during the Civil War differed significantly from previous periods. It was a time of a kind of military creativity that broke the stereotypes of command and control, the system of manning the army, and military discipline. The greatest success was achieved by the commander who commanded in a new way, using all means to achieve the task. The civil war was a war of maneuver. Unlike the period of the "positional war" of 1915-1917, there were no continuous front lines. Cities, villages, villages could change hands several times. Therefore, active, offensive actions, caused by the desire to seize the initiative from the enemy, were of decisive importance.

The fighting during the Civil War was characterized by a variety of strategies and tactics. During the establishment of Soviet power in Petrograd and Moscow, the tactics of street fighting were used. In mid-October 1917, the Military Revolutionary Committee established in Petrograd under the leadership of V.I. Lenin and N.I. Podvoisky, a plan was developed to capture the main urban facilities (telephone exchange, telegraph, railway stations, bridges). Fights in Moscow (October 27 - November 3, 1917 old style), between the forces of the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee (heads - G.A. Usievich, N.I. Muralov) and the Committee of Public Security (commander of the Moscow Military District Colonel K. I. Ryabtsev and the head of the garrison, Colonel L. N. Treskin) were distinguished by the offensive of the Red Guards and soldiers of the reserve regiments from the outskirts to the city center, occupied by the junkers and the White Guard. Artillery was used to suppress white strongholds. A similar tactic of street fighting was used in the establishment of Soviet power in Kyiv, Kaluga, Irkutsk, Chita.

Formation of the main centers of the anti-Bolshevik movement

Since the beginning of the formation of units of the White and Red armies, the scale of military operations has expanded. In 1918, they were conducted, mainly along the lines of railways and were reduced to the capture of large junction stations and cities. This period was called the "echelon war".

In January-February 1918, the Red Guard detachments under the command of V.A. Antonov-Ovseenko and R.F. Sivers to Rostov-on-Don and Novocherkassk, where the forces of the Volunteer Army under the command of Generals M.V. Alekseeva and L.G. Kornilov.

In the spring of 1918, units of the Czechoslovak Corps formed from prisoners of war of the Austro-Hungarian army took part. Located in echelons along the line of the Trans-Siberian Railway from Penza to Vladivostok, the corps led by R. Gaida, Y. Syrov, S. Chechek was subordinate to the French military command and sent to the Western Front. In response to demands for disarmament, during May-June 1918, the corps overthrew the Soviet government in Omsk, Tomsk, Novonikolaevsk, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok and throughout the territory of Siberia adjacent to the Trans-Siberian Railway.

In the summer-autumn of 1918, during the 2nd Kuban campaign, the Volunteer Army took the junction stations Tikhoretskaya, Torgovaya, gg. Armavir and Stavropol actually decided the outcome of the operation in the North Caucasus.

The initial period of the Civil War was associated with the activities of the underground centers of the White movement. In all major cities of Russia there were cells associated with the former structures of the military districts and military units located in these cities, as well as with underground organizations of monarchists, cadets and socialist-revolutionaries. In the spring of 1918, on the eve of the performance of the Czechoslovak Corps, an officer underground operated in Petropavlovsk and Omsk under the leadership of Colonel P.P. Ivanov-Rinov, in Tomsk - Lieutenant Colonel A.N. Pepelyaev, in Novonikolaevsk - Colonel A.N. Grishin-Almazova.

In the summer of 1918, General Alekseev approved the secret regulation on the recruiting centers of the Volunteer Army, created in Kyiv, Kharkov, Odessa, Taganrog. They transmitted intelligence information, sent officers across the front line, and also had to oppose the Soviet regime at the moment the White Army units approached the city.

A similar role was played by the Soviet underground, which was active in the White Crimea, the North Caucasus, Eastern Siberia and the Far East in 1919-1920, creating strong partisan detachments, which later became part of the regular units of the Red Army.

By the beginning of 1919, the formation of the White and Red armies was completed.

As part of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, 15 armies operated, covering the entire front in the center of European Russia. The highest military leadership was concentrated at the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) L.D. Trotsky and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic, former Colonel S.S. Kamenev. All issues of logistical support for the front, issues of regulating the economy on the territory of Soviet Russia were coordinated by the Council of Labor and Defense (STO), whose chairman was V.I. Lenin. He also headed the Soviet government - the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom).

They were opposed by the united under the Supreme command of Admiral A.V. Kolchak Army of the Eastern Front (Siberian (Lieutenant General R. Gaida), Western (Artillery General M.V. Khanzhin), Southern (Major General P.A. Belov) and Orenburg (Lieutenant General A.I. Dutov) , as well as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (VSYUR), Lieutenant General A. I. Denikin, who recognized the power of Kolchak (Volunteer (Lieutenant General V. Z. May-Maevsky), Donskaya (Lieutenant General V. I. Sidorin) were subordinate to him) and Caucasian (Lieutenant-General P.N. Wrangel) armies).In the general direction, the troops of the Commander-in-Chief of the North-Western Front, General of Infantry N.N. Yudenich and the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Region, Lieutenant General E.K. Miller, acted on Petrograd.

The period of greatest development of the Civil War

In the spring of 1919, attempts at combined attacks by the white fronts began. Since that time, combat operations have been in the nature of full-scale operations on a wide front, using all branches of the armed forces (infantry, cavalry, artillery), with the active assistance of aviation, tanks and armored trains. In March-May 1919, the offensive of the Eastern Front of Admiral Kolchak began, striking in divergent directions - on Vyatka-Kotlas, on connection with the Northern Front and on the Volga - on connection with the armies of General Denikin.

The troops of the Soviet Eastern Front, under the leadership of S.S. Kamenev and, mainly, the 5th Soviet Army, under the command of M.N. Tukhachevsky by the beginning of June 1919 stopped the advance of the White armies, inflicting counterattacks in the Southern Urals (near Buguruslan and Belebey), and in the Kama region.

In the summer of 1919, the offensive of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSUR) began on Kharkov, Yekaterinoslav and Tsaritsyn. After the occupation of the last army of General Wrangel, on July 3, Denikin signed a directive on the "march on Moscow." During July-October, the troops of the All-Union Socialist League occupied most of Ukraine and the provinces of the Black Earth Center of Russia, stopping at the line Kyiv - Bryansk - Orel - Voronezh - Tsaritsyn. Almost simultaneously with the offensive of the VSYUR on Moscow, the offensive of the North-Western Army of General Yudenich on Petrograd began.

For Soviet Russia, the time of autumn 1919 became the most critical. Total mobilization of communists and Komsomol members was carried out, the slogans "Everything - to the defense of Petrograd" and "Everything - to the defense of Moscow" were put forward. Thanks to control over the main railway lines converging to the center of Russia, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) could transfer troops from one front to another. So, at the height of the fighting in the Moscow direction, several divisions were transferred from Siberia, as well as from the Western Front to the Southern Front and near Petrograd. At the same time, the White armies failed to establish a common anti-Bolshevik front (with the exception of contacts at the level of individual detachments between the Northern and Eastern fronts in May 1919, as well as between the front of the All-Union Socialist Republic and the Ural Cossack Army in August 1919). Thanks to the concentration of forces from different fronts, by mid-October 1919 near Orel and Voronezh, the commander of the Southern Front, former Lieutenant General V.N. Egorov managed to create a strike group, which was based on parts of the Latvian and Estonian rifle divisions, as well as the 1st Cavalry Army under the command of S.M. Budyonny and K.E. Voroshilov. Counterattacks were launched on the flanks of the 1st Corps of the Volunteer Army advancing on Moscow under the command of Lieutenant General A.P. Kutepova. After stubborn fighting during October-November 1919, the VSYUR front was broken, and a general retreat of the Whites from Moscow began. In mid-November, before reaching 25 km from Petrograd, units of the North-Western Army were stopped and defeated.

The military operations of 1919 were distinguished by the extensive use of maneuver. Large cavalry formations were used to break through the front and conduct raids behind enemy lines. In the white armies, the Cossack cavalry was used in this capacity. The 4th Don Corps, specially formed for this purpose, under the command of Lieutenant General K.K. Mamantov in August-September made a deep raid from Tambov to the borders with the Ryazan province and Voronezh. Siberian Cossack Corps under the command of Major General P.P. Ivanov-Rinov broke through the red front near Petropavlovsk in early September. The "Red Division" from the Southern Front of the Red Army raided the rear of the Volunteer Corps in October-November. By the end of 1919, the beginning of operations of the 1st Cavalry Army, advancing in the Rostov and Novocherkassk directions, dates back.

In January-March 1920, fierce battles unfolded in the Kuban. During operations on the Manych and under Art. Yegorlykskaya, the last major equestrian battles in world history took place. Up to 50 thousand horsemen from both sides participated in them. Their result was the defeat of the VSYUR and evacuation to the Crimea, on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet. In the Crimea, in April 1920, the White troops were renamed the "Russian Army", commanded by Lieutenant General P.N. Wrangell.

The defeat of the white armies. End of the Civil War

At the turn of 1919-1920. was finally defeated by A.V. Kolchak. His army scattered, partisan detachments were operating in the rear. The supreme ruler was taken prisoner, in February 1920 in Irkutsk he was shot by the Bolsheviks.

In January 1920, N.N. Yudenich, who undertook two unsuccessful campaigns against Petrograd, announced the dissolution of his Northwestern Army.

After the defeat of Poland, the army of P.N. Wrangel was doomed. Having carried out a short offensive north of the Crimea, she went on the defensive. The forces of the Southern Front of the Red Army (commander M.V., Frunze) defeated the Whites in October - November 1920. The 1st and 2nd Cavalry armies made a significant contribution to the victory over them. Almost 150 thousand people, military and civilian, left the Crimea.

Fighting in 1920-1922 differed in small territories (Tavria, Transbaikalia, Primorye), smaller troops and already included elements of a positional war. During the defense, fortifications were used (the White lines at Perekop and Chongar in Crimea in 1920, the Kakhovka fortified area of the 13th Soviet army on the Dnieper in 1920, built by the Japanese and transferred to the white Volochaevsky and Spassky fortified areas in Primorye in 1921-1922. ). Long-term artillery preparation, as well as flamethrowers and tanks, were used to break through them.

Victory over P.N. Wrangel did not yet mean the end of the Civil War. Now the main opponents of the Reds were not the Whites, but the Greens, as the representatives of the peasant insurrectionary movement called themselves. The most powerful peasant movement unfolded in the Tambov and Voronezh provinces. It began in August 1920 after the peasants were given an overwhelming task of surplus appropriation. The rebel army, commanded by the Socialist-Revolutionary A.S. Antonov, managed to overthrow the power of the Bolsheviks in several districts. At the end of 1920, units of the regular Red Army led by M.N. were sent to fight the rebels. Tukhachevsky. However, it turned out to be even more difficult to fight the partisan peasant army than with the White Guards in open battle. Only in June 1921 the Tambov uprising was suppressed, and A.S. Antonov is killed in a shootout. In the same period, the Reds managed to win a final victory over Makhno.

The high point of the Civil War in 1921 was the uprising of the sailors of Kronstadt, who joined the protests of St. Petersburg workers demanding political freedoms. The uprising was brutally crushed in March 1921.

During 1920-1921. units of the Red Army made several campaigns in Transcaucasia. As a result, independent states were liquidated on the territory of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia and Soviet power was established.

To fight the White Guards and interventionists in the Far East, the Bolsheviks created in April 1920 a new state - the Far Eastern Republic (FER). The army of the republic for two years knocked out Japanese troops from Primorye and defeated several White Guard atamans. After that, at the end of 1922, the FER became part of the RSFSR.

In the same period, having overcome the resistance of the Basmachi, who fought to preserve medieval traditions, the Bolsheviks won a victory in Central Asia. Although a few rebel groups operated until the 1930s.

Results of the Civil War

The main result of the Civil War in Russia was the establishment of the power of the Bolsheviks. Among the reasons for the victory of the Reds are:

1. The use by the Bolsheviks of the political moods of the masses, powerful propaganda (clear goals, prompt resolution of issues both in the world and on earth, exit from the world war, justification of terror by fighting the country's enemies);

2. Control by the Council of People's Commissars of the central provinces of Russia, where the main military enterprises were located;

3. The disunity of the anti-Bolshevik forces (lack of common ideological positions; the struggle "against something", but not "for something"; territorial fragmentation).

The total population losses during the years of the Civil War amounted to 12-13 million people. Almost half of them are victims of famine and mass epidemics. Emigration from Russia took on a massive character. About 2 million people left their homeland.

The country's economy was in a catastrophic state. The cities were depopulated. Industrial production has fallen in comparison with 1913 by 5-7 times, agricultural - by one third.

The territory of the former Russian Empire fell apart. The largest new state was the RSFSR.

Military equipment during the Civil War

New types of military equipment were successfully used on the battlefields of the Civil War, some of them appeared in Russia for the first time. So, for example, British and French tanks were actively used in parts of the All-Union Socialist Republic, as well as the Northern and North-Western armies. The Red Guards, who did not have the skills to deal with them, often retreated from their positions. However, during the assault on the Kakhovka fortified area in October 1920, most of the white tanks were hit by artillery, and after the necessary repairs they were included in the Red Army, where they were used until the early 1930s. A prerequisite for supporting infantry, both in street battles and during front-line operations, was the presence of armored vehicles.

The need for strong fire support during cavalry attacks caused the appearance of such an original means of combat as horse-drawn carts - light carts, two-wheelers, with a machine gun mounted on them. Carts were first used in the rebel army of N.I. Makhno, but later began to be used in all large cavalry formations of the White and Red armies.

Squadrons interacted with the ground forces. An example of a joint operation is the defeat of D.P. Rednecks by aviation and infantry of the Russian army in June 1920. Aviation was also used to bombard fortified positions and reconnaissance. During the "echelon war" and later, along with infantry and cavalry, armored trains operated on both sides, the number of which reached several dozen per army. Of these, special units were created.

Manning armies in the Civil War

Under the conditions of the Civil War and the destruction of the state mobilization apparatus, the principles of recruiting armies changed. Only the Siberian Army of the Eastern Front was completed in 1918 by mobilization. Most units of the VSYUR, as well as the Northern and Northwestern armies, were replenished at the expense of volunteers and prisoners of war. The most reliable in combat terms were volunteers.

The Red Army was also characterized by the predominance of volunteers (initially, only volunteers were accepted into the Red Army, and admission required "proletarian origin" and "recommendation" of a local party cell). The predominance of mobilized and prisoners of war became widespread at the final stage of the Civil War (in the ranks of the Russian army of General Wrangel, as part of the 1st Cavalry in the Red Army).

The white and red armies were distinguished by a small number and, as a rule, a discrepancy between the real composition of military units and their staff (for example, divisions of 1000-1500 bayonets, regiments of 300 bayonets, even a shortfall of up to 35-40% was approved).

In the command of the White armies, the role of young officers increased, and in the Red Army - nominees along the party line. A completely new institution of political commissars for the armed forces was established (which first appeared under the Provisional Government in 1917). The average age of the command level in the positions of chiefs of divisions and corps commanders was 25-35 years.

The absence of an order system in the All-Russian Union of Socialist Youth and the awarding of successive ranks led to the fact that in 1.5-2 years officers went through a career from lieutenants to generals.

In the Red Army, with a relatively young command staff, a significant role was played by former officers of the General Staff who planned strategic operations (former lieutenant generals M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, V.N. Egorov, former colonels I.I. Vatsetis, S.S. Kamenev, F.M. Afanasiev, A.N. Stankevich and others).

Military-political factor in the Civil War

The specifics of the civil war, as a military-political confrontation between the whites and the reds, also consisted in the fact that military operations were often planned under the influence of certain political factors. In particular, the offensive of the Eastern Front of Admiral Kolchak in the spring of 1919 was undertaken in anticipation of an early diplomatic recognition of him as the Supreme Ruler of Russia by the Entente countries. And the offensive of the North-Western Army of General Yudenich on Petrograd was caused not only by the expectation of an early occupation of the "cradle of the revolution", but also by the fear of concluding a peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Estonia. In this case, Yudenich's army lost its base. The offensive of the Russian army of General Wrangel in Tavria in the summer of 1920 was supposed to pull back part of the forces from the Soviet-Polish front.

Many operations of the Red Army, regardless of strategic reasons and military potential, were also purely political in nature (for the sake of the so-called "triumph of the world revolution"). So, for example, in the summer of 1919, the 12th and 14th armies of the Southern Front were supposed to be sent to support the revolutionary uprising in Hungary, and the 7th and 15th armies were supposed to establish Soviet power in the Baltic republics. In 1920, during the war with Poland, the troops of the Western Front, under the command of M.N. Tukhachevsky, after operations to defeat the Polish armies in the territory of Western Ukraine and Belarus, transferred their operations to the territory of Poland, counting on the creation of a pro-Soviet government here. The actions of the 11th and 12th Soviet armies in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia in 1921 were of a similar nature. At the same time, under the pretext of defeating parts of the Asian Cavalry Division, Lieutenant General R.F. Ungern-Sternberg, the troops of the Far Eastern Republic, the 5th Soviet Army were introduced into the territory of Mongolia and a socialist regime was established (the first in the world after Soviet Russia).

During the years of the Civil War, it became a practice to carry out operations dedicated to anniversaries (the beginning of the assault on Perekop by the troops of the Southern Front under the command of M.V. Frunze on November 7, 1920, on the anniversary of the 1917 revolution).

The military art of the Civil War became a vivid example of the combination of traditional and innovative forms of strategy and tactics in the difficult conditions of the Russian "distemper" of 1917-1922. It determined the development of Soviet military art (in particular, in the use of large cavalry formations) in the following decades, until the outbreak of World War II.

Every Russian knows that in the Civil War of 1917-1922, two movements opposed - "red" and "white". But among historians there is still no consensus on how it began. Someone believes that the reason was Krasnov's March on the Russian capital (October 25); others believe that the war began when, in the near future, the commander of the Volunteer Army, Alekseev, arrived on the Don (November 2); it is also believed that the war began with the fact that Milyukov proclaimed the “Declaration of the Volunteer Army, delivering a speech at the ceremony, called the Don (December 27). Another popular opinion, which is far from unfounded, is the opinion that the Civil War began immediately after the February Revolution, when the whole society split into supporters and opponents of the Romanov monarchy.

"White" movement in Russia

Everyone knows that "whites" are adherents of the monarchy and the old order. Its beginnings were visible as early as February 1917, when the monarchy was overthrown in Russia and a total restructuring of society began. The development of the "white" movement was during the period when the Bolsheviks came to power, the formation of Soviet power. They represented a circle of dissatisfied with the Soviet government, disagreeing with its policy and principles of its conduct.
The "whites" were fans of the old monarchical system, refused to accept the new socialist order, adhered to the principles of traditional society. It is important to note that the "whites" were very often radicals, they did not believe that it was possible to agree on something with the "reds", on the contrary, they had the opinion that no negotiations and concessions were allowed.
The "Whites" chose the tricolor of the Romanovs as their banner. Admiral Denikin and Kolchak commanded the white movement, one in the South, the other in the harsh regions of Siberia.
The historical event that became the impetus for the activation of the "whites" and the transition to their side of most of the former army of the Romanov Empire is the rebellion of General Kornilov, which, although it was suppressed, helped the "whites" strengthen their ranks, especially in the southern regions, where, under the command of the general Alekseev began to gather huge resources and a powerful disciplined army. Every day the army was replenished due to newcomers, it grew rapidly, developed, tempered, trained.
Separately, it must be said about the commanders of the White Guards (this was the name of the army created by the "white" movement). They were unusually talented commanders, prudent politicians, strategists, tacticians, subtle psychologists, and skillful speakers. The most famous were Lavr Kornilov, Anton Denikin, Alexander Kolchak, Pyotr Krasnov, Pyotr Wrangel, Nikolai Yudenich, Mikhail Alekseev. You can talk about each of them for a long time, their talent and merits for the "white" movement can hardly be overestimated.
In the war, the White Guards won for a long time, and even brought their troops to Moscow. But the Bolshevik army was growing stronger, besides, they were supported by a significant part of the population of Russia, especially the poorest and most numerous sections - workers and peasants. In the end, the forces of the White Guards were smashed to smithereens. For some time they continued to operate abroad, but without success, the "white" movement ceased.

"Red" movement

Like the "whites", in the ranks of the "reds" there were many talented commanders and politicians. Among them, it is important to note the most famous, namely: Leon Trotsky, Brusilov, Novitsky, Frunze. These commanders showed themselves excellently in battles against the White Guards. Trotsky was the main founder of the Red Army, which was the decisive force in the confrontation between the "whites" and the "reds" in the Civil War. The ideological leader of the "red" movement was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, known to every person. Lenin and his government were actively supported by the most massive sections of the population of the Russian State, namely, the proletariat, the poor, landless and landless peasants, and the working intelligentsia. It was these classes who quickly believed the tempting promises of the Bolsheviks, supported them and brought the "Reds" to power.
The main party in the country was the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks, which was later turned into a communist party. In fact, it was an association of intelligentsia, adherents of the socialist revolution, whose social base was the working classes.
It was not easy for the Bolsheviks to win the Civil War - they had not yet completely strengthened their power throughout the country, the forces of their fans were dispersed throughout the vast country, plus the national outskirts began a national liberation struggle. A lot of strength went into the war with the Ukrainian People's Republic, so the Red Army during the Civil War had to fight on several fronts.
Attacks of the White Guards could come from any side of the horizon, because the White Guards surrounded the Red Army soldiers from all sides with four separate military formations. And despite all the difficulties, it was the “Reds” who won the war, mainly due to the broad social base of the Communist Party.
All representatives of the national outskirts united against the White Guards, and therefore they also became forced allies of the Red Army in the Civil War. To win over the inhabitants of the national outskirts, the Bolsheviks used loud slogans, such as the idea of "one and indivisible Russia."
The Bolsheviks won the war with the support of the masses. The Soviet government played on the sense of duty and patriotism of Russian citizens. The White Guards themselves also added fuel to the fire, since their invasions were most often accompanied by mass robbery, looting, violence in its other manifestations, which could not in any way encourage people to support the "white" movement.

Results of the Civil War

As has been said several times, the victory in this fratricidal war went to the "Reds". The fratricidal civil war became a real tragedy for the Russian people. The material damage caused to the country by the war, according to estimates, amounted to about 50 billion rubles - unimaginable money at that time, several times higher than the amount of Russia's external debt. Because of this, the level of industry decreased by 14%, and agriculture - by 50%. Human losses, according to various sources, ranged from 12 to 15 million. Most of these people died from starvation, repression, and disease. During the hostilities, more than 800 thousand soldiers from both sides gave their lives. Also, during the Civil War, the balance of migration dropped sharply - about 2 million Russians left the country and went abroad.

"Red Movement"

The Red movement relied on the support of the main part of the working class and the poorest peasantry. The social basis of the white movement was the officers, bureaucracy, the nobility, the bourgeoisie, individual representatives of the workers and peasants. The party that expressed the position of the Reds was the Bolsheviks. The party composition of the white movement is heterogeneous: Black Hundred-monarchist, liberal, socialist parties. The program goals of the red movement are: the preservation and establishment of Soviet power throughout Russia, the suppression of anti-Soviet forces, the strengthening of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a condition for building a socialist society.

The Bolsheviks won a military-political victory: the resistance of the White Army was suppressed, Soviet power was established throughout the country, including in most national regions, conditions were created for strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat and implementing socialist transformations. The price of this victory was huge human losses (more than 15 million people were killed, died of hunger and disease), mass emigration (more than 2.5 million people), economic ruin, the tragedy of entire social groups (officers, Cossacks, intelligentsia, nobility, clergy and etc.), society's addiction to violence and terror, the break in historical and spiritual traditions, the split into reds and whites.

"Green Movement"

The "Green" movement is the third force in the Civil War. In Russia, there were many opponents of both whites and reds. They were members of the rebel, the so-called "green" movement.

The largest manifestation of the "green" movement was the activities of the anarchist Nestor Makhno (1888-1934). The movement headed by Makhno (the total number is variable - from 500 to 35,000 people) acted under the slogans of a "powerless state", "free councils", waged an armed struggle against everyone - the German interventionists, Petliura, Denikin, Wrangel, Soviet power. Makhno dreamed of creating an independent state in the steppe Ukraine with its capital in the village of Gulyai-Pole (now the city of Gulyai-Pole, Zaporizhzhia region). Initially, Makhno collaborated with the Reds and helped defeat Wrangel's army. Then his movement was liquidated by the Red Army. Makhno with a group of surviving associates in 1921 managed to hide abroad and died in France.

Peasant uprisings engulfed areas of Tambov, Bryansk, Samara, Simbirsk, Yaroslavl, Smolensk, Kostroma, Vyatka, Novgorod, Penza and Tver provinces. In 1919-1922. in the area of the village of Ankuvo, Ivanovo Territory, the so-called “Ankovskaya gang” operated - a detachment of “greens” led by E. Skorodumov (Yushko) and V. Stulov. The detachment consisted of peasant deserters who evaded conscription into the Red Army. The "Ankovskaya gang" destroyed the food detachments, raided the city of Yuryev-Polsky, and robbed the treasury. The gang was defeated by the regular units of the Red Army.

Assessment by domestic and foreign historians of the causes of the civil war

The outstanding philosopher of the 20th century, Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell (who had a sober and critical attitude towards the Bolsheviks), having spent five weeks in 1920 at the height of the civil war in Russia, described and comprehended what he had to see: “The main thing that the Bolsheviks succeeded in , is to kindle hope ... Even under the existing conditions in Russia, one can still feel the influence of the life-giving spirit of communism, the spirit of creative hope, the search for means to destroy injustice, tyranny, greed, everything that hinders the growth of the human spirit, the desire to replace personal competition with joint actions , the relationship of master and slave - free cooperation.

The “spirit of creative hope” (B. Russell) helped the struggling workers and peasants, despite the incredible hardships (including due to the “war communism” regime), hunger, cold, epidemics, found the strength to endure the trials of those harsh years and victoriously end the civil war.

"White" and "Red" movement in the Civil War 27.10.2017 09:49

Every Russian knows that the Civil War of 1917-1922 was opposed by two movements - "red" and "white". But among historians there is still no consensus on how it began. Someone believes that the reason was Krasnov's March on the Russian capital (October 25); others believe that the war began when, in the near future, the commander of the Volunteer Army, Alekseev, arrived on the Don (November 2); it is also believed that the war began with the fact that Milyukov proclaimed the “Declaration of the Volunteer Army, delivering a speech at the ceremony, called the Don (December 27).

Another popular opinion, which is far from unfounded, is the opinion that the Civil War began immediately after the February Revolution, when the whole society split into supporters and opponents of the Romanov monarchy.

"White" movement in Russia

The "whites" were fans of the old monarchical system, refused to accept the new socialist order, adhered to the principles of traditional society. It is important to note that the "whites" were very often radicals, they did not believe that it was possible to agree on something with the "reds", on the contrary, they had the opinion that no negotiations and concessions were allowed.
The "Whites" chose the tricolor of the Romanovs as their banner. Admiral Denikin and Kolchan commanded the white movement, one in the South, the other in the harsh regions of Siberia.

The historical event that became the impetus for the activation of the "whites" and the transition to their side of most of the former army of the Romanov Empire is the rebellion of General Kornilov, which, although it was suppressed, helped the "whites" strengthen their ranks, especially in the southern regions, where, under the command of the general Alekseev began to gather huge resources and a powerful disciplined army. Every day the army was replenished due to newcomers, it grew rapidly, developed, tempered, trained.

Separately, it must be said about the commanders of the White Guards (this was the name of the army created by the "white" movement). They were unusually talented commanders, prudent politicians, strategists, tacticians, subtle psychologists, and skillful speakers. The most famous were Lavr Kornilov, Anton Denikin, Alexander Kolchak, Pyotr Krasnov, Pyotr Wrangel, Nikolai Yudenich, Mikhail Alekseev. You can talk about each of them for a long time, their talent and merits for the "white" movement can hardly be overestimated.

In the war, the White Guards won for a long time, and even brought their troops to Moscow. But the Bolshevik army was growing stronger, besides, they were supported by a significant part of the population of Russia, especially the poorest and most numerous sections - workers and peasants. In the end, the forces of the White Guards were smashed to smithereens. For some time they continued to operate abroad, but without success, the "white" movement ceased.

"Red" movement

The main party in the country was the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks, which was later turned into a communist party. In fact, it was an association of intelligentsia, adherents of the socialist revolution, whose social base was the working classes.

It was not easy for the Bolsheviks to win the Civil War - they had not yet completely strengthened their power throughout the country, the forces of their fans were dispersed throughout the vast country, plus the national outskirts began a national liberation struggle. A lot of strength went into the war with the Ukrainian People's Republic, so the Red Army during the Civil War had to fight on several fronts.

Attacks of the White Guards could come from any side of the horizon, because the White Guards surrounded the Red Army soldiers from all sides with four separate military formations. And despite all the difficulties, it was the “Reds” who won the war, mainly due to the broad social base of the Communist Party.

All representatives of the national outskirts united against the White Guards, and therefore they also became forced allies of the Red Army in the Civil War. To win over the inhabitants of the national outskirts, the Bolsheviks used loud slogans, such as the idea of "one and indivisible Russia."

The Bolsheviks won the war with the support of the masses. The Soviet government played on the sense of duty and patriotism of Russian citizens. The White Guards themselves also added fuel to the fire, since their invasions were most often accompanied by mass robbery, looting, violence in its other manifestations, which could not in any way encourage people to support the "white" movement.

Results of the Civil War

Most of these people died from starvation, repression, and disease. During the hostilities, more than 800 thousand soldiers from both sides gave their lives. Also during the Civil War, the balance of migration fell sharply - about 2 million Russians left the country and went abroad.