The reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War: the prehistory of war and the loss in the course of the war

For many years historians have been trying to formulate the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War. The evaluation of the events of those years varied greatly depending on the era.

Centralized power

The main difference between the "reds" and "whites" was that the Communists could create a centralized power from the very beginning of the war, to which all the territory conquered by them was subordinate. The Bolsheviks managed to seize Petrograd and Moscow. In their hands were the two largest cities of the country.

"Whites" have never been a single movement. Among the opponents of the Communists were several leaders (for example, Denikin and Kolchak). All of them operated in different regions in the absence of clear communication and without setting a common goal. In many respects, it was precisely this disunity that comprised the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War.

Dissatisfied with Lenin and his party represented completely different political views. Among the "white" were monarchists and Republicans, nationalists and emperts. Contradictions and ideological differences often did not allow the leaders to unite their efforts in the fight against the "reds." Thus, the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War were not in their advantage, but in the shortcomings of their opponents.

Skillful propaganda

"White" were bad agitators. The ideological work with the troops and the population of the conquered territories was conducted somehow. Only in time the opponents of the Communists understood the importance of agitation, but by the end of the war the strategic advantage was already in the hands of Lenin's supporters.

Often ideological processing of troops lay on the shoulders of officers of the former tsarist army. Of course, they were completely unprepared for such work. At the same time, the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks during the Civil War were also their ability to organize effective propaganda directed against the enemies. This is not surprising, because the entire party elite had an excellent education and was shod in ideological issues.

The Soviet leadership from the very first day after coming to power had a clear program of action concerning the future transformations of the country. As soon as the October Revolution took place, the famous Decrees about the land and the world were published, which increased the popularity of the "reds" among the vacillating peasantry and the military.

The leaders of the "white" movement, as a rule, had a military education. They were good generals, but completely lost in talking about the future of Russia. The revolutions that occurred before the eyes of the former aristocracy sowed the horror and confusion of the minds in the ranks of the opponents of the "reds." In their uncertainty, the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War were concealed. To put it briefly, the inconsistency of the actions and decisions of the "white" generals negated all of their military successes.

Discipline in the Army

Both sides of the conflict suffered from desertion. People fled the armies because of poor conditions of detention, inept organization, officer domination, etc.

When the army of Denikin achieved maximum success at the front, she was already on the outskirts of Moscow. It was at that moment that the main reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War affected. In Moscow, they decided to launch repression against deserters and waverers. Also, the surplus-equipment in the village increased. The Bolsheviks did not consider the victims on the way to achieving their goal. As a result, the village was ruined (there was a famine), but the army began to steadily receive rations and other resources. Discipline in the troops also increased, which allowed to coordinate the forces for a decisive strike against the "whites".

At the same time, the Armed Forces of the South of Russia suffered from the partisan movement of the "green" gangs. The "whites" could not win over the whole peasantry, due to the fact that their program on transferring land to the villagers has stalled. The Denikinites had to beat off the villages and towns that had already been devastated by the war. The deplorable state of the economy and the impoverishment of the population have painfully hit the positions of the "white" governments.

Because of the desertion to the opponents of the Communists had to recruit new detachments of captured Red Army men. From these armed formations there was much more harm than good. They quickly moved to the side of the enemy, organized sabotage, fled the battlefield, and so on.

Refusal of the tsarist system

In Soviet historiography, the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War, the re-organization of the Civil War and its entire history were given in textbooks in very rigid ideological frameworks. It was emphasized hatred of the "white" urban proletariat, who did not want the return of the old order.

Indeed, the populist rhetoric of the communists about the advent of the socialist paradise acted much more strongly on the poor people of the country than the languid exhortations of the royal officers. In the "red" propaganda the "whites" were exploiters, followed by noblemen and other insatiable capitalists, who were not loved by the workers. The proletariat believed that, after the establishment of Soviet power in the whole country, a new era of prosperity for ordinary workers from the factories would begin.

The struggle against the bourgeoisie

Hardly anyone then (even in the party leadership) expected what the creation of the USSR would be like. The reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War, in short, largely consisted in their support by the peasantry after the introduction of the Decree on Land. However, none of the villagers understood that after the establishment of Soviet power, the reverse process of enslavement would begin in the form of creating collective farms in the most ugly forms.

Communist ideology assumed that it was necessary to abolish the capitalist exploitation of the workers. After the Civil War, the bourgeoisie was indeed wiped from the face of the country. But in place of the former exploiter came the state, which systematically squeezed all the juices from the peasantry and the working class. During the war, loud slogans about social justice were extremely effective among the poor and war-weary population.

Heirs of the First Revolution

For many proletarians, the 1905 revolution was memorable. Its continuation was the Civil War in Russia. The reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks were that they were supported by people who suffered from the tsarist repressions, arranged ten years before. Particularly vividly advocated and recalled the episode with Bloody Sunday, when in St. Petersburg was shot by a delegation of workers who walked with petition to the sovereign.

To understand what are the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War, it is also enough to recall the factor of the First World War. The "white" government (as well as the Provisional Government of 1917) consistently supported the Entente in the conflict with Germany. The slogan "war to the victorious end" became a red rag for exhausted front-line soldiers.

Lenin and his party seized this banner in time. Negotiations began with Germany, which ended with the signing of the Brest Peace Treaty. Hence the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War. Communists in the mass consciousness became messengers of the long-awaited peace. The First World War was called "imperialist", it was branded for many years in Soviet textbooks.

Intervention Entente

If we list the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War by points, we can not fail to mention the fatal mistake of the "whites" who accepted the help of the European allies. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest in the Entente, the Soviet leadership was rightly accused of treason.

The allies went on rapprochement with the "whites". However, their support was extremely weak and consisted in the occupation of several northern ports. Then the Europeans did not go. Their aggression also includes the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War. The people of the Communist Party took advantage of this attack as a successful propaganda move.

Now the "whites" were called traitors to national interests, who went on a deal with the invaders. So there were new reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War. The main stages of this bloody conflict are often formulated according to the situation at the front. But the "white" lost the war not in battle, but in the ideological field. Every move of the enemy by dexterous "red" propaganda used to its advantage.

And do not get lost if you are asked: "Name the reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks in the Civil War." In order to list them, it suffices to mention the theses described above.

The war against the invaders

In their struggle against foreign interventionists, the Soviet leadership effectively used the interests of the world proletariat. Workers from all European countries looked at the Russian revolution as their own victory. Foreign armies were flooded with Soviet agents and agitators, who demoralized the enemy from within.

It is interesting that Lenin himself wrote in his letters that the Entente countries were in enough strength to destroy the Bolsheviks and occupy Moscow with Petrograd. However, the Allies did not do this. In their assistance to the "white", they limited themselves to small (on a strategic scale) supplies of products and weapons.

The defeat of "white"

In 1919 there was a radical change in the Civil War. "White" on all fronts retreated. Kolchak with his army left behind all Siberia and died in Irkutsk.

Denikin also defeated and began to retreat to the south. In 1921, the "white" remained only the Crimea, from which the hasty evacuation of the opponents of the Communists began. With the end of the Civil War, the streets of European capitals were filled with Russian monarchists, liberals and other ghosts of the "old order".