Chronological table of the civil war 1917 1922. Chronology of the Civil War

Armed conflicts of the Civil War took place in the period 1917-1922/23. 1917 - the start of events that led to a radical change in the political regime. The main causes of the war were unresolved problems of a political and economic nature, ethnic tensions.

The civil war in Russia began with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks during the October Revolution in 1917. The beginning of events is not disputed among historians, but the end date has been controversial for many years:

1918 - this date was called by Soviet historians, based on the writings of Lenin. He called the period 1917-1918 the time of the rise of the Bolsheviks to the pinnacle of power.
1920 is a date popular among historians of the Soviet period, but many modern researchers are inclined to believe that the events of the war ended just then. Arguments in favor of this statement - in 1920, active hostilities between the parties to the conflict ended.
1922/1923: modern researchers of the war period tend to believe that this date completes the logical chain of events. Then the Bolsheviks finally established themselves at the pinnacle of power.

Historians divide the period of the Civil War into stages- they differ in internal and external political conditions for the development of the conflict, the level of activity of the warring parties, the composition and number of participants.

Preparation period: February - October 1917. The stage began with the February coup or revolution, during which the monarchy was overthrown. The causes of the events of February 1917 were a deep political crisis. During the preparatory phase, there was a consolidation of forces in the Bolshevik environment in order to implement global plans.

First phase of the war: October 1917 - November 1918. At the beginning of the first stage there was an accumulation of military power of the parties to the conflict, the formation of combat zones. During the storming of the Winter Palace by the Bolsheviks, under the chairmanship of A. Gotz, the Committee for the Salvation of the Motherland and the Revolution is formed. His goal was to protect statehood, the Provisional Government from the Bolsheviks. By the end of November, the body had become the Union for the Defense of the Constituent Assembly. At the beginning of 1918, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved, and the Union was liquidated. On January 15, the Red Army was formed, and at the end of January, the Red Fleet.

The Bolsheviks had a strong enemy - the White Movement. The ideas and goals of the struggle of the "whites" were radically different - they became the force that set the overthrow of the Bolshevik system as the main task. A characteristic feature of the first stage is that it developed simultaneously with the hostilities of the First World War, which continued in Europe. Despite the fact that Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, according to which it pledged not to participate in hostilities, both the Entente and the Quadruple Alliance actively intervened in the internal affairs of the country. The civil war began with local battles, which gradually turned into large-scale hostilities.

During the first stage, the "whites" had a strategic advantage. The destabilizing factor was the events on the territory of modern Ukraine - the struggle for autonomy and independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic coincided with the first stage of the civil war. Detachments of "Basmachi" in Central Asia were active against the Bolsheviks, for some time an alliance was concluded with the "whites". The stage ended with the recognition of Alexander Kolchak as the Supreme Ruler of Russia and the design of large "white" centers in different regions of the country. In 1918, the "whites" had the greatest advantage, their actions were the most united. The main reason for the victories of the "whites" at the first stage was the professionalism of the army.

Second phase(November 1918 - April 1920) is considered the turning point of the war. Command cadres were finally formed. As a result of the battles between the "Reds" and "Whites", the strategic advantage passed to the first, the "Reds" under the leadership of M. Frunze defeated the army of A. Kolchak in April 1919. At the beginning of the stage, we can talk about the successes of the White Movement, but with the end of the First World War, the foreign contingent was withdrawn from the territory of Russia, and the “whites” lost their support. The Entente, which supported the "Whites" at the first stage, was not able to continue to provide assistance, so the "Reds" managed to establish control over a large territory of the country in a short period. The counteroffensive of the "Reds" began in October 1919, at the beginning of 1920 one of the leaders of the White movement, A. Kolchak, was shot. During the second stage of the Civil War, the balance of power changed. The beginning of the war with Poland coincided with the second stage.

At the third stage(April 1920 - October 1922/1923) the Bolsheviks finally established themselves throughout the country. This period is called the Little Civil War. Active, large-scale hostilities were no longer conducted - pockets of military activity remained only on the outskirts of the country in the border regions. The "Whites" completely lost control over the situation and the Bolsheviks' power was no longer threatened. In 1920, the "Reds" completely occupied the Crimea, which was controlled by the "Whites". Some researchers call the capture of Crimea the official date of the end of the Civil War - this event confirmed the advantage of the "Reds". In November of the same year, the Bolsheviks organize a large-scale celebration on the occasion of the anniversary of the October Revolution.

Party conferences are being held, the nationalization of large enterprises.

The absence of a clear date for the end of the Civil War is due to the non-simultaneity of the establishment of Soviet power - in 1922 the Ukrainian, Belarusian, Transcaucasian SFSR and the RSFSR were united, and only a year later Soviet power was established on the territory of Kamchatka and Chukotka. In March 1921, peace was signed with Poland - the Russian-Polish war was over. In addition, individual anti-Bolshevik detachments continued to be active until the end of 1923.

It is worth noting that the "Basmachi", who fought in Central Asia, acted until the end of the 30s, but they could not inflict serious damage on Soviet power.

The goals of the White movement were: the liberation of Russia from the Bolshevik dictatorship, the unity and territorial integrity of Russia, the convening of a new Constituent Assembly to determine the state structure of the country.

Contrary to popular belief, the monarchists were only a small part of the White movement. The White movement was made up of forces heterogeneous in their political composition, but united in the idea of rejection of Bolshevism. Such was, for example, the Samara government, "Komuch", in which representatives of the left parties played a large role.

A big problem for Denikin and Kolchak was the separatism of the Cossacks, especially the Kuban. Although the Cossacks were the most organized and worst enemies of the Bolsheviks, they sought, first of all, to liberate their Cossack territories from the Bolsheviks, hardly obeyed the central government and were reluctant to fight outside their lands.

Military actions

Wrestling in the South of Russia

The core of the White movement in southern Russia was the Volunteer Army, created under the leadership of Generals Alekseev and Kornilov in Novocherkassk. The region of the initial actions of the Volunteer Army was the Donskoy Region and the Kuban. After the death of General Kornilov during the siege of Yekaterinodar, the command of the white forces passed to General Denikin. In June 1918, the 8,000-strong Volunteer Army began its second campaign against the Kuban, which had completely rebelled against the Bolsheviks. Having defeated the Kuban grouping of the Reds as part of three armies, volunteers and Cossacks take Yekaterinodar on August 17, and by the end of August they completely clear the territory of the Kuban army from the Bolsheviks (see also Deployment of the war in the South).

In the winter of 1918-1919, Denikin's troops established control over the North Caucasus, defeating and destroying the 90,000-strong 11th Red Army operating there. Having repulsed the offensive of the Southern Front of the Reds (100 thousand bayonets and sabers) in the Donbass and Manych in March-May, on May 17, 1919, the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (70 thousand bayonets and sabers) launched a counteroffensive. They broke through the front and, having inflicted a heavy defeat on the units of the Red Army, by the end of June they captured the Donbass, Crimea, June 24 - Kharkov, June 27 - Yekaterinoslav, June 30 - Tsaritsyn. On July 3, Denikin set his troops the task of capturing Moscow.

During the attack on Moscow (for details, see Denikin's campaign against Moscow) in the summer and autumn of 1919, the 1st Corps of the Volunteer Army under the command of General. Kutepov took Kursk (September 20), Orel (October 13) and began moving to Tula. October 6, parts of the gene. Skins occupied Voronezh. However, White did not have enough strength to develop success. Since the main provinces and industrial cities of central Russia were in the hands of the Reds, the latter had an advantage both in the number of troops and in weapons. In addition, Makhno, having broken through the White front in the Uman region, with his raid in Ukraine in October 1919, destroyed the rear of the All-Union Socialist League and diverted significant forces of the Volunteer Army from the front. As a result, the attack on Moscow failed and, under the onslaught of the superior forces of the Red Army, Denikin's troops began to retreat to the south.

On January 10, 1920, the Reds occupied Rostov-on-Don, a major center that opened the way to the Kuban, and on March 17, 1920, Yekaterinodar. The Whites fought back to Novorossiysk, and from there they crossed by sea to the Crimea. Denikin resigned and left Russia (for more details, see Battle of the Kuban).

Thus, by the beginning of 1920, Crimea turned out to be the last bastion of the White movement in southern Russia (for more details, see Crimea - the last bastion of the White movement). The command of the army was taken by Gen. Wrangell. The number of Wrangel's army in the middle of 1920 was about 25 thousand people. In the summer of 1920, the Russian army of Wrangel launched a successful offensive in Northern Tavria. In June, Melitopol was occupied, significant Red forces were defeated, in particular, the cavalry corps of Zhloba was destroyed. In August, an amphibious landing on the Kuban was undertaken, under the command of Gen. S. G. Ulagaya, however, this operation ended in failure.

On the northern front of the Russian army throughout the summer of 1920, stubborn battles were going on in Northern Tavria. Despite some successes of the Whites (Alexandrovsk was occupied), the Reds, in the course of stubborn battles, occupied a strategic foothold on the left bank of the Dnieper near Kakhovka, creating a threat to Perekop.

The position of the Crimea was facilitated by the fact that in the spring and summer of 1920 large Red forces were diverted to the west, in the war with Poland. However, at the end of August 1920, the Red Army near Warsaw was defeated, and on October 12, 1920, the Poles signed a truce with the Bolsheviks, and Lenin's government threw all its forces into the fight against the White Army. In addition to the main forces of the Red Army, the Bolsheviks managed to win over Makhno's army, which also took part in the storming of the Crimea. The location of the troops at the beginning of the Perekop operation (on November 5, 1920)

To storm the Crimea, the Reds pulled together huge forces (up to 200 thousand people against 35 thousand for the Whites). The attack on Perekop began on 7 November. The battles were distinguished by extraordinary tenacity on both sides and were accompanied by unprecedented losses. Despite the gigantic superiority in manpower and weapons, the Red troops could not break the defense of the Crimean defenders for several days, and only after, having forded the shallow Chongar Strait, the units of the Red Army and Makhno’s allied detachments entered the rear of the main positions of the Whites (see. diagram), and on November 11, the Makhnovists under Karpova Balka defeated the cavalry corps of Borbovich, the defense of the whites was broken through. The Red Army broke into the Crimea. Wrangel's army and many civilian refugees on the ships of the Black Sea Fleet were evacuated to Constantinople. The total number of those who left the Crimea was about 150 thousand people.

Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

The Red Army, the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (Red Army) - the official name of the Ground Forces and the Air Force, which, together with the Navy, Border Troops, Internal Guard Troops and the State Escort Guard, made up the Armed Forces of the USSR from January 15, 1918 to February 1946. February 23, 1918 is considered the birthday of the Red Army - the day when the German offensive on Petrograd was stopped and the armistice was signed (see Defender of the Fatherland Day). The first leader of the Red Army was Leon Trotsky.

Since February 1946 - the Soviet Army, the term "Soviet Army" meant all types of the Armed Forces of the USSR, except for the Navy.

The size of the Red Army has varied over time, from the largest army in history in the 1940s, until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The size of the People's Liberation Army of China at some periods exceeded the size of the Red Army.

Intervention

Intervention is the military intervention of foreign states in the civil war in Russia.

The beginning of the intervention

Immediately after the October Revolution, during which the Bolsheviks came to power, the "Decree on Peace" was announced - Soviet Russia withdrew from the First World War. The territory of Russia broke up into several territorial-national formations. Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, Ukraine, the Don and Transcaucasia were occupied by German troops.

Under these conditions, the Entente countries, which continued the war with Germany, began to land their troops in the North and East of Russia. On December 3, 1917, a special conference was held with the participation of the United States, England, France and their allied countries, at which a decision was made on military intervention. On March 1, 1918, the Murmansk Soviet sent a request to the Council of People's Commissars, asking in what form it was possible to accept military assistance from the allies, proposed by the British Rear Admiral Kemp. Kemp suggested landing British troops in Murmansk to protect the city and the railway from possible attacks by the Germans and White Finns from Finland. In response, Trotsky, who served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, sent a telegram.

On March 6, 1918, a detachment of 150 British marines with two guns landed from the English battleship Glory in Murmansk. This was the beginning of the intervention. The next day, the British cruiser Cochran appeared on the Murmansk roadstead, on March 18 - the French cruiser Admiral Ob, and on May 27 - the American cruiser Olympia.

Continued intervention

On June 30, the Murmansk Soviet, with the support of the interventionists, decided to break off relations with Moscow. On March 15-16, 1918, a military conference of the Entente was held in London, at which the question of intervention was discussed. In the conditions of the beginning of the German offensive on the western front, it was decided not to send large forces to Russia. In June, another 1,500 British and 100 American soldiers landed in Murmansk.

August 1, 1918 British troops landed in Vladivostok. On August 2, 1918, with the help of a squadron of 17 warships, a 9,000-strong Entente detachment landed in Arkhangelsk. Already on August 2, the interventionists, with the help of white forces, captured Arkhangelsk. In fact, the invaders were the masters. They established a colonial regime; declared martial law, introduced courts-martial, during the occupation they took out 2,686 thousand pounds of various cargoes totaling over 950 million rubles in gold. The entire military, commercial and fishing fleet of the North became the prey of the interventionists. American troops performed the functions of punishers. Over 50 thousand Soviet citizens (more than 10% of the total controlled population) were thrown into the prisons of Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Pechenga, Iokanga. Only in the Arkhangelsk provincial prison, 8 thousand people were shot, 1020 died of hunger, cold and epidemics. Due to the lack of prison space, the battleship Chesma, plundered by the British, was turned into a floating prison. All interventionist forces in the North were under British command. The commander was first General Poole, and then General Ironside.

On August 3, the US War Department orders General Graves to intervene in Russia and send the 27th and 31st Infantry Regiments to Vladivostok, as well as volunteers from the 13th and 62nd Graves Regiments in California. In total, the United States landed about 7,950 soldiers in the East and about 5,000 in northern Russia. According to incomplete data, the United States spent more than $25 million just on the maintenance of its troops - without a fleet and help to the whites. At the same time, the US Consul in Vladivostok, Caldwell, is informed: "The government has officially committed itself to helping Kolchak with equipment and food ...". The United States transfers to Kolchak loans issued and unused by the Provisional Government in the amount of $ 262 million, as well as weapons in the amount of $ 110 million. In the first half of 1919, Kolchak received more than 250 thousand rifles, thousands of guns and machine guns from the USA. The Red Cross supplies 300 thousand sets of linen and other property. On May 20, 1919, 640 wagons and 11 steam locomotives were sent to Kolchak from Vladivostok, on June 10 - 240,000 pairs of boots, on June 26 - 12 steam locomotives with spare parts, on July 3 - two hundred guns with shells, on July 18 - 18 steam locomotives, etc. This just a few facts. However, when in the fall of 1919 rifles purchased by the Kolchak government in the USA began to arrive in Vladivostok on American ships, Graves refused to send them further by rail. He justified his actions by saying that the weapon could fall into the hands of units of Ataman Kalmykov, who, according to Graves, with the moral support of the Japanese, was preparing to attack American units. Under pressure from other allies, he nevertheless sent weapons to Irkutsk.

After the defeat of Germany in the First World War, German troops were withdrawn from the territory of Russia and at some points (Sevastopol, Odessa) were replaced by the troops of the Entente.

In total, among the participants in the intervention in the RSFSR and Transcaucasia, there are 14 states. Among the interventionists were France, the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Poland, Romania, and others. The interventionists either sought to seize part of Russian territory (Romania, Japan, Turkey), or to obtain significant economic privileges from the Whites supported by them (England, the United States, France, etc.). ). So, for example, on February 19, 1920, Prince Kurakin and General Miller, in exchange for military assistance, gave the British the right to exploit all the natural resources of the Kola Peninsula for 99 years. The goals of different interventionists were often opposite to each other. For example, the United States opposed Japan's attempts to annex the Russian Far East.

On August 18, 1919, 7 British torpedo boats attacked the ships of the Red Baltic Fleet in Kronstadt. They torpedoed the battleship "Andrew the First-Called" and the old cruiser "Memory of Azov".

The interventionists practically did not engage in battles with the Red Army, limiting themselves to supporting white formations. But the supply of weapons and equipment to whites was also often fictitious. AI Kuprin wrote in his memoirs about the supply of Yudenich's army by the British.

In January 1919, at the Paris Peace Conference, the Allies decided to abandon their plans for intervention. A major role in this was played by the fact that the Soviet representative Litvinov, at a meeting with the American diplomat Bucket, held in January 1919 in Stockholm, announced the readiness of the Soviet government to pay pre-revolutionary debts, provide the Entente countries with concessions in Soviet Russia, and recognize the independence of Finland, Poland and the countries Transcaucasia in the event of termination of the intervention. Lenin and Chicherin conveyed the same proposal to the American representative Bullitt when he arrived in Moscow. The Soviet government clearly had more to offer the Entente than its opponents. In the summer of 1919, 12 thousand British, American and French troops stationed in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk were evacuated from there.

By 1920, the interventionists left the territory of the RSFSR. Only in the Far East did they hold out until 1922. The last regions of the USSR liberated from the interventionists were Wrangel Island (1924) and Northern Sakhalin (1925).

List of powers that took part in the intervention

The most numerous and well-motivated were the troops of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Britain and Japan, and Poland. The personnel of the other powers poorly understood the need for their presence in Russia. In addition, French troops by 1919 are facing the danger of revolutionary ferment under the influence of events in Russia.

Significant contradictions were observed between the various interventionists; after the defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary in the war, their units were withdrawn, in addition, in the Far East there were noticeable frictions between the Japanese and British-American interventionists.

Central Powers

German Empire

Part of European Russia

the Baltics

Austro-Hungarian Empire

From 1964 to 1980 Kosygin was chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.

Under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, Gromyko was Minister of Foreign Affairs.

After the death of Brezhnev, Andropov took over the leadership of the country. Gorbachev was the first president of the USSR. Sakharov - Soviet scientist, nuclear physicist, creator of the hydrogen bomb. Active fighter for human and civil rights, pacifist, Nobel Prize winner, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Founders and leaders of the democratic movement in the USSR in the late 80s: A. Sobchak, N. Travkin, G. Starovoitova, G. Popov, A. Kazannik.

Leaders of the most influential factions in the modern State Duma: V.V. Zhirinovsky, G.A. Yavlinsky; G.A. Zyuganov; V.I.Anpilov.

US leaders who participated in Soviet-American negotiations in the 80s: Reagan, Bush.

The leaders of European states who contributed to the improvement of relations with the USSR in the 80s: Thatcher.

Terminological dictionary

Anarchism- a political theory, the purpose of which is the establishment of anarchy (Greek αναρχία - anarchy), in other words, the creation of a society in which individuals freely cooperate as equals. As such, anarchism opposes any form of hierarchical control and domination.

Entente(French entente - consent) - the military-political bloc of England, France and Russia, otherwise called the "Triple Consent"; formed mainly in 1904-1907 and completed the delimitation of the great powers on the eve of the First World War. The term originated in 1904 originally to refer to an Anglo-French alliance, with the expression l'entente cordiale ("cordial consent") in memory of a short Anglo-French alliance in the 1840s, which bore the same name.

Bolshevik- a member of the left (revolutionary) wing of the RSDLP after the party split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. Subsequently, the Bolsheviks separated into a separate party of the RSDLP (b). The word "Bolshevik" reflects the fact that Lenin's supporters were in the majority in the elections of the leading bodies at the second party congress in 1903.

Budyonovka- a Red Army cloth helmet of a special pattern, a uniform headdress for servicemen of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army.

White army, or White movement(the names “White Guard”, “White Cause” are also used) - the collective name of political movements, organizations and military formations that opposed the Bolsheviks during the Civil War in Russia.

Blockade- actions aimed at isolating an object by cutting off its external links. Military blockade Economic blockade Blockade of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War.

Great Patriotic War (WWII)- Soviet Union 1941-1945 - the war of the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany and its European allies (Hungary, Italy, Romania, Finland, Slovakia, Croatia); the most important and decisive part of the Second World War.

All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), the highest legislative, administrative and controlling body of state power of the RSFSR in 1917-1937. He was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets and acted in the periods between congresses. Before the formation of the USSR, it also included members from the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR, who were elected at the republican congresses of Soviets.

State Defense Committee- an emergency management body created during the Great Patriotic War in the USSR.

GOELRO(abbreviation for the State Commission for the Electrification of Russia) - a body created to develop a project for the electrification of Russia after the revolution of 1917. The abbreviation is often also deciphered as the State Plan for the Electrification of Russia, that is, the product of the GOELRO commission, which became the first long-term plan for the development of the economy, adopted and implemented in Russia after the revolution.

Decree(lat. decretum resolution from decernere - to decide) - a legal act, a decision of an authority or official.

Intervention- military intervention of foreign states in the civil war in Russia.

Committee of the Poor (Combed)- an organ of Soviet power in rural areas during the years of "War Communism". Were created by decrees of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee 1) the distribution of bread, basic necessities and agricultural implements; 2) assisting local food authorities in seizing grain surpluses from the hands of the kulaks and the rich, and the interest of the Kombeds was obvious, because the more they took away, the more they themselves had from it.

Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)- the ruling political party in the Soviet Union. Founded in 1898 as the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP). The Bolshevik faction of the RSDLP - RSDLP (b) played a decisive role in the October Revolution of 1917, which led to the formation of a socialist system in Russia. Since the mid-1920s, after the introduction of the one-party system, the Communist Party has been the only party in the country. Despite the fact that the party did not formally form a party government, its actual ruling status as the leading and guiding force of Soviet society and the one-party system of the USSR were legally enshrined in the Constitution of the USSR. The party was dissolved and banned in 1991, however, on July 9, 1992, the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU was held, and on October 10, 1992, the XX All-Union Conference of the CPSU was held, and then the Organizing Committee was created to hold the XXIX Congress of the CPSU. The 29th Congress of the CPSU (March 26-27, 1993, Moscow) transformed the CPSU into the SKP-CPSU (Union of Communist Parties - Communist Party of the Soviet Union). At present, the SKP-CPSU rather plays the role of a coordinating and information center, and this is due both to the positions of a number of leaders of individual communist parties, and to the objective conditions of the growing disintegration and disunity of the former Soviet republics.

Comintern- Communist International, 3rd International - in 1919-1943. An international organization that united the communist parties of various countries. Founded by 28 organizations on the initiative of the RCP(b) and personally Vladimir Ilyich Lenin for the development and dissemination of the ideas of revolutionary international socialism, as opposed to the reformist socialism of the Second International, the final break with which was caused by the difference in positions regarding the First World War and the October Revolution in Russia. After Stalin came to power in the USSR, the organization served as a conductor of the interests of the USSR, as Stalin understood them.

Manifesto(from late Latin manifestum - appeal) 1) A special act of the head of state or the highest body of state power, addressed to the population. Adopted in connection with any important political event, solemn date, etc. 2) Appeal, declaration of a political party, public organization, containing a program and principles of activity. 3) A written statement of the literary or artistic principles of any direction or group in literature and art.

People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD)- the central body of state administration of the Soviet state (RSFSR, USSR) for combating crime and maintaining public order in 1917-1946, later renamed the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.

Nationalization- transfer of land, industrial enterprises, banks, transport and other property belonging to private individuals or joint-stock companies into the ownership of the state. It can be carried out through gratuitous expropriation, full or partial redemption.

Insurgent Army of Ukraine- armed formations of anarchist peasants in Ukraine in 1918 - 1921 during the Civil War in Russia. Better known as "Makhnovists"

Red Army, Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army(Red Army) - the official name of the Ground Forces and Air Force, which, together with the Navy, Border Troops, Internal Security Forces and the State Escort Guard, made up the Armed Forces of the USSR from January 15, 1918 to February 1946. February 23, 1918 is considered the birthday of the Red Army - the day when the German offensive on Petrograd was stopped and the armistice was signed (see Defender of the Fatherland Day). The first leader of the Red Army was Leon Trotsky.

Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (SNK, Council of People's Commissars)- from July 6, 1923 to March 15, 1946, the highest executive and administrative (in the first period of its existence also legislative) body of the USSR, its government (in each union and autonomous republic there was also a Council of People's Commissars, for example, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR).

Revolutionary military council(Revolutionary Military Council, RVS, R.V.S.) - the highest collegial body of military power and political leadership of the armies, fronts, fleets of the Armed Forces of the RSFSR in 1918-1921.

Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate (Rabkrin, RKI)- the system of authorities dealing with issues of state control. The system was headed by the People's Commissariat

Trade unions (trade unions)- a voluntary public association of citizens connected by common interests by the nature of their activities in production, in the service sector and culture. The association is created with the aim of representing and protecting the social and labor rights and interests of the participants.

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union(until the spring of 1917: Central Committee of the RSDLP; 1917-1918 Central Committee of the RSDLP (b); 1918-1925 Central Committee of the RCP (b); 1925-1952 Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks) - the highest party body in the intervals between party congresses. The record number of members of the Central Committee of the CPSU (412 members) was elected at the XXVIII Congress of the CPSU (1990).

Civil War is a fierce armed struggle of various social, national and political forces for power within the country.

Causes of the Civil War:

a nationwide crisis in the country, which gave rise to irreconcilable contradictions between the main social strata of society;
features of the socio-economic and anti-religious policy of the Bolsheviks, aimed at inciting hostility in society;
the desire of the nobility and the bourgeoisie to regain the lost position;
the fall in the value of human life during the First World War is a psychological factor.

Specific features of the Civil War:

was accompanied by the intervention of foreign powers, seeking to weaken Russia as much as possible;
was carried out with extreme bitterness ("red" and "white" terror).

Major events of the Civil War.

The first stage (October 1917 - spring 1918): the victory of the armed uprising in Petrograd and the overthrow of the Provisional Government. Military operations were local in nature. Anti-Bolshevik forces used political methods of struggle or created armed formations (Volunteer Army).

The second stage (spring - December 1918): the formation of anti-Bolshevik centers and the beginning of active hostilities.

Key dates

March, April- the occupation by Germany of Ukraine, the Baltic states and the Crimea, in response, the Entente countries decide to send their troops to the territory of Russia. England lands troops in Murmansk, Japan - in Vladivostok => intervention

May- the rebellion of the Czechoslovak Corps, which consisted of captured Czechs and Slovaks who had gone over to the side of the Entente and was moving on echelons to Vladivostok for transfer to France. The reason for the uprising was an attempt by the Bolsheviks to disarm the corps. Results: the simultaneous fall of Soviet power along the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

June- the creation of a number of Socialist-Revolutionary governments: the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly in Samara, the Provisional Siberian Government in Tomsk, the Ural Regional Government in Yekaterinburg.

September- the creation in Ufa of the "All-Russian government" - the Ufa directory.

November- dispersal of the Ufa directory by Admiral A. V. Kolchak, who declared himself "the supreme ruler of Russia."

The third stage (January - December 1919) - the culmination of the Civil War: the relative equality of forces, large-scale operations on all fronts. By the beginning of 1919, three main center of the White movement:

troops of Admiral A. V. Kolchak (Urals, Siberia);
Armed forces of the South of Russia, General A. I. Denikin (Don region, North Caucasus);
troops of General N. N. Yudenich in the Baltic.

Key dates

March, April- the general offensive of Kolchak's troops on Kazan and Moscow, the mobilization of all possible resources by the Bolsheviks.

End of April - December- the counter-offensive of the Red Army (S. S. Kamenev, M. V. Frunze, M. N. Tukhachevsky), the expulsion of Kolchak's troops beyond the Urals and their complete defeat by the end of 1919

May— June Yudenich's first offensive against Petrograd. Hardly beaten off. General offensive of Denikin's troops. Captured Donbass, part of Ukraine, Belgorod, Tsaritsyn.

September October- the beginning of Denikin's offensive on Moscow (maximum advance - to Orel). The second offensive of the troops of General Yudenich on Petrograd. The counteroffensive of the Red Army against the forces of Denikin (A.I. Ego-ditch, CM. Budyonny) and Yudenich (A.I. Kork).

November- Yudenich's troops were driven back to Estonia.

Results: By the end of 1919, there was a clear preponderance of forces in favor of the Bolsheviks, in fact, the outcome of the war was a foregone conclusion.

The fourth stage (January - November 1920): the defeat of the White movement in the European part of Russia.

Key dates

April - October- Soviet-Polish war. The invasion of Polish troops into Ukraine and the capture of Kyiv (May). Counteroffensive of the Red Army.

October— Riga Peace Treaty with Poland: Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were transferred to Poland. But due to this, Soviet Russia managed to free up troops for an offensive in the Crimea.

November- the offensive of the Red Army in the Crimea (M. V. Frunze) and the complete defeat of the troops of Vran-gel. Completion of the Civil War in the European part of Russia.

Fifth stage (late 1920-1922): the defeat of the White movement in the Far East.

October 1922- liberation of Vladivostok from the Japanese.

Reasons for the victory of the Reds in the war:

managed to win over the peasantry with a promise to implement the Decree on Land after victory in the war. The agrarian program of the whites provided for the return of the seized lands to the landlords;
the lack of a unified command and plans for waging war among the whites. The Reds, on the contrary, had a compact territory, a single leader - Lenin, single plans for conducting military operations;
the unsuccessful national policy of the Whites - the slogan of "one and indivisible Russia" alienated the national outskirts from the White movement, while the slogan of freedom of national self-determination provided the Bolsheviks with their support;
the whites relied on the help of the Entente, i.e. interventionists, and therefore in the eyes of the population looked like their accomplices, acted as an anti-national force. For the same reason, almost half of the officers of the tsarist army went over to the side of the Reds as military experts;
the reds managed to mobilize all the resources through the policy "War Communism" what whites couldn't do. The main measures of this policy: the introduction of surplus appropriation (in fact, the confiscation of food from the peasants for the needs of the army) and general labor conscription (i.e., the militarization of labor), the ban on private trade, the nationalization of medium and even small enterprises, the course to curtail commodity-money relations

Consequences of the Civil War:

a severe economic crisis, economic ruin, a 7-fold drop in industrial production, and a 2-fold drop in agricultural production;
huge demographic losses - during the years of the First World War and the Civil War, about 10 million people died from hostilities, famine and epidemics;
the final formation of the Bolshevik dictatorship, while the harsh methods of governing the country during the Civil War began to be considered as quite acceptable for peacetime.

After the October Revolution, a tense socio-political situation developed in the country. The establishment of Soviet power in the autumn of 1917 - in the spring of 1918 was accompanied by many anti-Bolshevik demonstrations in different regions of Russia, but all of them were scattered and had a local character. At first, only separate, not numerous groups of the population were drawn into them. A large-scale struggle, in which huge masses from various social strata joined on both sides, marked the development of the Civil War - a general social armed confrontation.

In historiography, there is no consensus on the time of the start of the Civil War. Some historians attribute it to October 1917, others to the spring-summer of 1918, when strong political and well-organized anti-Soviet pockets formed and foreign intervention began. Disputes among historians also raise the question of who was responsible for unleashing this fratricidal war: representatives of the classes that had lost power, property and influence; the Bolshevik leadership, which imposed its own method of transforming society on the country; or both of these socio-political forces, which the popular masses used in the struggle for power.

The overthrow of the Provisional Government and the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, the economic and socio-political measures of the Soviet government turned against it the nobles, the bourgeoisie, the wealthy intelligentsia, the clergy, and the officers. The discrepancy between the goals of transforming society and the methods for achieving them alienated the democratic intelligentsia, the Cossacks, the kulaks and the middle peasants from the Bolsheviks. Thus, the internal policy of the Bolshevik leadership was one of the causes of the Civil War.

The nationalization of all the land and the confiscation of the landowner's aroused fierce resistance from its former owners. The bourgeoisie, confused by the sweep of the nationalization of industry, wanted to return factories and factories. The liquidation of commodity-money relations and the establishment of a state monopoly on the distribution of products and commodities dealt a painful blow to the property position of the middle and petty bourgeoisie. Thus, the desire of the overthrown classes to preserve private property and their privileged position was the reason for the start of the Civil War.

The creation of a one-party political system and the "dictatorship of the proletariat", in fact, the dictatorship of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), pushed the socialist parties and democratic public organizations away from the Bolsheviks. With the Decrees "On the Arrest of the Leaders of the Civil War against the Revolution" (November 1917) and on the "Red Terror", the Bolshevik leadership legally substantiated the "right" to violent reprisals against their political opponents. Therefore, the Mensheviks, right and left SRs, anarchists refused to cooperate with the new government and took part in the Civil War.

The peculiarity of the Civil War in Russia was the close interweaving of the internal political struggle with foreign intervention. Both Germany and the Entente allies incited the anti-Bolshevik forces, supplied them with weapons, ammunition, financial and political support. On the one hand, their policy was dictated by the desire to put an end to the Bolshevik regime, return the lost property of foreign citizens, and prevent the "spread" of the revolution. On the other hand, they pursued their own expansionist plans aimed at dismembering Russia, gaining new territories and spheres of influence at the expense of it.

Civil War in 1918

In 1918, the main centers of the anti-Bolshevik movement were formed, differing in their socio-political composition. In February, the "Union of the Revival of Russia" arose in Moscow and Petrograd, uniting the Cadets, Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries. In March 1918, the "Union for the Defense of the Motherland and Freedom" was formed under the leadership of the well-known Social Revolutionary, terrorist B.V. Savinkov. A strong anti-Bolshevik movement unfolded among the Cossacks. In the Don and Kuban they were led by General P. N. Krasnov, in the Southern Urals - Ataman A. I. Dutov. In the south of Russia and the North Caucasus, under the leadership of Generals M. V. Alekseev and L. I. Kornilov began to form an officer Volunteer Army. She became the basis of the White movement. After the death of L. G. Kornilov, General A. I. Denikin took command.

In the spring of 1918 foreign intervention began. German troops occupied Ukraine, Crimea and part of the North Caucasus. Romania captured Bessarabia. The Entente countries signed an agreement on the non-recognition of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the future division of Russia into spheres of influence. In March, an English expeditionary force was landed in Murmansk, which was later joined by French and American troops. In April, Vladivostok was occupied by Japanese troops. Then detachments of the British, French and Americans appeared in the Far East.

In May 1918, the soldiers of the Czechoslovak Corps rebelled. Slavic prisoners of war from the Austro-Hungarian army were gathered there, who expressed a desire to participate in the war against Germany on the side of the Entente. The corps was sent by the Soviet government along the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Far East. It was assumed that he would then be delivered to France. The uprising led to the overthrow of Soviet power in the Volga region and Siberia. In Samara, Ufa and Omsk, governments were created from the Cadets, Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. Their activity was based on the idea of the revival of the Constituent Assembly, expressed in opposition to both the Bolsheviks and the extreme right-wing monarchists. These governments did not last long and were swept away during the Civil War.

In the summer of 1918, the anti-Bolshevik movement led by the Socialist-Revolutionaries assumed enormous proportions. They organized performances in many cities of Central Russia (Yaroslavl, Rybinsk, etc.). On July 6-7, the Left SRs attempted to overthrow the Soviet government in Moscow. It ended in complete failure. As a result, many of their leaders were arrested. Representatives of the Left SRs who opposed the policies of the Bolsheviks were expelled from the Soviets of all levels and state bodies.

The complication of the military-political situation in the country affected the fate of the imperial family. In the spring of 1918, Nicholas II with his wife and children, under the pretext of activating the monarchists, was transferred from Tobolsk to Yekaterinburg. Having coordinated their actions with the center, the Ural Regional Council on July 16, 1918 shot the tsar and his family. In the same days, the tsar's brother Michael and 18 other members of the imperial family were killed.

The Soviet government launched active actions to protect its power. The Red Army was reorganized on new military-political principles. A transition was made to universal military service, and extensive mobilization was launched. Strict discipline was established in the army, the institution of military commissars was introduced. Organizational measures to strengthen the Red Army were completed by the creation of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR) and the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense.

In June 1918, the Eastern Front was formed against the rebellious Czechoslovak corps and the anti-Soviet forces of the Urals and Siberia under the command of I. I. Vatsetis (since July 1919 - S. S. Kamenev). At the beginning of September 1918, the Red Army went on the offensive and during October-November drove the enemy beyond the Urals. The restoration of Soviet power in the Urals and the Volga region ended the first stage of the Civil War.

Escalation of the Civil War

In late 1918 - early 1919, the white movement reached its maximum scope. In Siberia, Admiral A.V. Kolchak, who was declared the "Supreme Ruler of Russia", seized power. In the Kuban and the North Caucasus, A.I. Denikin united the Don and Volunteer armies into the Armed Forces of the South of Russia. In the north, with the help of the Entente, General E. K. Miller formed his army. In the Baltic states, General N. N. Yudenich was preparing for a campaign against Petrograd. From November 1918, after the end of the First World War, the Allies increased their assistance to the White movement, supplying it with ammunition, uniforms, tanks, and aircraft. The scale of intervention has expanded. The British occupied Baku, landed in Batum and Novorossiysk, the French - in Odessa and Sevastopol.

In November 1918, A.V. Kolchak launched an offensive in the Urals with the aim of connecting with the detachments of General E.K. Miller and organizing a joint attack on Moscow. Again, the Eastern Front became the main one. On December 25, the troops of A. V. Kolchak took Perm, but already on December 31, their offensive was stopped by the Red Army. In the east, the front temporarily stabilized.

In 1919, a plan was created for a simultaneous attack on Soviet power: from the east (A. V. Kolchak), the south (A. I. Denikin) and the west (N. N. Yudenich). However, it was not possible to carry out a combined performance.

In March 1919, A.V. Kolchak launched a new offensive from the Urals towards the Volga. In April, the troops of S. S. Kamenev and M. V. Frunze stopped him, and in the summer they drove him to Siberia. A powerful peasant uprising and partisan movement against the government of A.V. Kolchak helped the Red Army to establish Soviet power in Siberia. In February 1920, by the verdict of the Irkutsk Revolutionary Committee, Admiral A.V. Kolchak was shot.

In May 1919, when the Red Army was winning decisive victories in the east, N. N. Yudenich moved to Petrograd. In June, he was stopped and his troops driven back to Estonia, where the bourgeoisie came to power. The second offensive of N. N. Yudenich on Petrograd in October 1919 also ended in defeat. His troops were disarmed and interned by the Estonian government, which did not want to come into conflict with Soviet Russia, which offered to recognize the independence of Estonia.

In July 1919, A. I. Denikin captured Ukraine and, having carried out a mobilization, launched an offensive against Moscow (Moscow Directive) In September, Kursk, Orel and Voronezh occupied his troops. In this regard, the Soviet government concentrated all its forces on I. Denikin. The Southern Front was formed under the command of A.I. Egorov. In October, the Red Army went on the offensive. She was supported by the insurgent peasant movement led by N. I. Makhno, who deployed a “second front” in the rear of the Volunteer Army. In December 1919 - early 1920, the troops of A.I. Denikin were defeated. Soviet power was restored in southern Russia, Ukraine and the North Caucasus. The remnants of the Volunteer Army took refuge on the Crimean Peninsula, the command of which A. I. Denikin transferred to General P. N. Wrangel.

In 1919, revolutionary fermentation began in the occupying units of the Allies, intensified by Bolshevik propaganda. The interventionists were forced to withdraw their troops. This was facilitated by a powerful social movement in Europe and the USA under the slogan "Hands off Soviet Russia!".

The final stage of the Civil War

In 1920, the main events were the Soviet-Polish war and the fight against P. N. Wrangel. Having recognized the independence of Poland, the Soviet government began negotiations with it on territorial delimitation and the establishment of a state border. They reached a dead end, as the Polish government, headed by Marshal Yu. Pilsudski, presented exorbitant territorial claims. To restore "Greater Poland", Polish troops invaded Belarus and Ukraine in May, captured Kyiv. The Red Army under the command of M. N. Tukhachevsky and A. I. Yegorov in July 1920 defeated the Polish grouping in Ukraine and Belarus. The attack on Warsaw began. It was perceived by the Polish people as an intervention. In this regard, all the forces of the Poles, materially supported by Western countries, were directed to resist the Red Army. In August, the offensive of M. N. Tukhachevsky bogged down. The Soviet-Polish war was ended by a peace signed in Riga in March 1921. According to it, Poland received the lands of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus. In Eastern Belarus, the power of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic remained.

Since April 1920, the anti-Soviet struggle was led by General P. N. Wrangel, who was elected "ruler of the south of Russia." He formed the “Russian Army” in Crimea, which launched an offensive against the Donbass in June. To repel it, the Southern Front was formed under the command of M.V. Frunze. At the end of October, the troops of P. I. Wrangel were defeated in Northern Tavria and pushed back to the Crimea. In November, units of the Red Army stormed the fortifications of the Perekop Isthmus, crossed Lake Sivash and broke into the Crimea. The defeat of P. N. Wrangel marked the end of the Civil War. The remnants of his troops and part of the civilian population opposed to the Soviet regime were evacuated with the help of the allies to Turkey. In November 1920, the Civil War actually ended. Only isolated pockets of resistance to Soviet power remained on the outskirts of Russia.

In 1920, with the support of the troops of the Turkestan Front (under the command of M.V. Frunze), the power of the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Khiva was overthrown. The Bukhara and Khorezm People's Soviet Republics were formed on the territory of Central Asia. In Transcaucasia, Soviet power was established as a result of military intervention by the government of the RSFSR, material and moral and political assistance from the Central Committee of the RCP (b). In April 1920, the Musavatist government was overthrown and the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was formed. In November 1920, after the liquidation of the power of the Dashnaks, the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was created. In February 1921, Soviet troops, violating the peace treaty with the government of Georgia (May 1920), captured Tiflis, where the creation of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. In April 1920, by decision of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the government of the RSFSR, a buffer Far Eastern Republic was created, and in 1922 the Far East was finally liberated from the Japanese invaders. Thus, on the territory of the former Russian Empire (with the exception of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Finland), the Soviet government won.

The Bolsheviks won the Civil War and repelled foreign intervention. They managed to keep the main part of the territory of the former Russian Empire. At the same time, Poland, Finland, and the Baltic states separated from Russia and gained independence. Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and Bessarabia were lost.

Reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks

The defeat of the anti-Soviet forces was due to a number of reasons. Their leaders canceled the Decree on Land and returned the land to its former owners. This turned the peasants against them. The slogan of preserving "one and indivisible Russia" contradicted the hopes of many peoples for independence. The unwillingness of the leaders of the white movement to cooperate with the liberal and socialist parties narrowed its socio-political base. Punitive expeditions, pogroms, mass executions of prisoners, widespread violation of legal norms - all this caused discontent among the population, up to armed resistance. During the Civil War, the opponents of the Bolsheviks failed to agree on a single program and a single leader of the movement. Their actions were poorly coordinated.

The Bolsheviks won the Civil War because they managed to mobilize all the resources of the country and turn it into a single military camp. The Central Committee of the RCP(b) and the Council of People's Commissars created a politicized Red Army, ready to defend Soviet power. Various social groups were attracted by loud revolutionary slogans, the promise of social and national justice. The Bolshevik leadership was able to present itself as the defender of the Fatherland and accuse their opponents of betraying national interests. Of great importance was international solidarity, the help of the proletariat of Europe and the USA.

The civil war was a terrible disaster for Russia. It led to a further deterioration of the economic situation in the country, to complete economic ruin. Material damage amounted to more than 50 billion rubles. gold. Industrial production decreased by 7 times. The transport system was completely paralyzed. Many segments of the population, forcibly drawn into the war by the opposing sides, became its innocent victims. In battles, from hunger, disease and terror, 8 million people died, 2 million people were forced to emigrate. Among them were many members of the intellectual elite. Irreplaceable moral and ethical losses had profound socio-cultural consequences, which for a long time affected the history of the Soviet country.

Civil War 1918 - 1920 in Russia: reasons, participants, results.

Civil War is a fierce armed struggle of various social, national and political forces for power within the country.

Causes of the Civil War:

1. a nationwide crisis in the country, which gave rise to irreconcilable contradictions between the main social strata of society;

2. features of the socio-economic and anti-religious policy of the Bolsheviks, aimed at inciting hostility in society;

3. the desire of the nobility and the bourgeoisie to regain their lost position;

4. The fall in the value of human life during the First World War is a psychological factor.

Specific features of the Civil War:

1. was accompanied by the intervention of foreign powers, seeking to weaken Russia as much as possible;

2. was carried out with extreme bitterness ("red" and "white" terror).

Major events of the Civil War.

The second stage (spring - December 1918): the formation of anti-Bolshevik centers and the beginning of active hostilities.

Key dates

March, April- German occupation of Ukraine, the Baltic states and Crimea, in response, the Entente countries decide to send their troops to the territory of Russia. England lands troops in Murmansk, Japan - in Vladivostok è intervention

May- the rebellion of the Czechoslovak corps, which consisted of captive Czechs and Slovaks who had gone over to the side of the Entente and was moving on trains to Vladivostok for transfer to France. The reason for the uprising was an attempt by the Bolsheviks to disarm the corps. Results: the simultaneous fall of Soviet power along the entire length of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

June- the creation of a number of SR governments: the Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly in Samara, the Provisional Siberian Government in Tomsk, the Ural Regional Government in Yekaterinburg.

September- the creation in Ufa of the "All-Russian government" - the Ufa directory.

November- dispersal of the Ufa directory by Admiral A. V. Kolchak, who declared himself "the supreme ruler of Russia."

1) the troops of Admiral A. V. Kolchak (Urals, Siberia);

2) Armed forces of the South of Russia, General A.I. Denikin (Don region, North Caucasus);

3) the troops of General N. N. Yudenich in the Baltic.

Key dates

March, April- the general offensive of Kolchak's troops on Kazan and Moscow, the mobilization of all possible resources by the Bolsheviks.

End of April - December- the counteroffensive of the Red Army (S. S. Kamenev, M. V. Frunze, M. N. Tukhachevsky), the expulsion of Kolchak's troops beyond the Urals and their complete defeat by the end of 1919

May- June- Yudenich's first offensive against Petrograd. Hardly beaten off. General offensive of Denikin's troops. Captured Donbass, part of Ukraine, Belgorod, Tsaritsyn.

September October- the beginning of Denikin's offensive on Moscow (maximum advancement - to Orel). The second offensive of the troops of General Yudenich on Petrograd. The counteroffensive of the Red Army against the forces of Denikin (A.I. Egorov, CM. Budyonny) and Yudenich (A.I. Kork).

November- Yudenich's troops were driven back to Estonia.

Results: by the end of 1919, there was a clear preponderance of forces in favor of the Bolsheviks, in fact, the outcome of the war was a foregone conclusion.

The fourth stage (January - November 1920): the defeat of the White movement in the European part of Russia.

Key dates

April - October- Soviet-Polish war. The invasion of Polish troops into Ukraine and the capture of Kiev (May). Counteroffensive of the Red Army.

October- Riga Peace Treaty with Poland: Western Ukraine and Western Belarus were transferred to Poland. But due to this, Soviet Russia managed to free up troops for an offensive in the Crimea.

November- the offensive of the Red Army in the Crimea (M. V. Frunze) and the complete defeat of Wrangel's troops. The end of the Civil War in the European part of Russia.

Fifth stage (end of 1920-1922): defeat of the White movement in the Far East.

October 1922- liberation of Vladivostok from the Japanese.

Reasons for the victory of the Reds in the war:

It was possible to win over the peasantry with a promise to implement the Decree on Land after the victory in the war. The agrarian program of the whites provided for the return of the seized lands to the landlords;

The lack of a unified command and plans for waging war among the whites. The Reds, on the contrary, had a compact territory, a single leader - Lenin, single plans for conducting military operations;

the unsuccessful national policy of the Whites - the slogan of "one and indivisible Russia" alienated the national outskirts from the White movement, while the slogan of freedom of national self-determination provided the Bolsheviks with their support;

The Whites relied on the help of the Entente, i.e. interventionists, and therefore in the eyes of the population looked like their accomplices, acted as an anti-national force. For the same reason, almost half of the officers of the tsarist army went over to the side of the Reds as military experts;

The Reds managed to mobilize all resources through the policy "War Communism" what whites couldn't do. The main measures of this policy are: the introduction of surplus appropriation (essentially, the confiscation of food from the peasants for the needs of the army) and general labor conscription (i.e., the militarization of labor), the prohibition of private trade, the nationalization of medium and even small enterprises, the course towards the curtailment of commodity-money relations

Consequences of the Civil War:

The most severe economic crisis, economic ruin, the fall in industrial production by 7 times, agricultural production - by 2 times;

Huge demographic losses - during the years of the First World War and the Civil War, about 10 million people died from hostilities, famine and epidemics;

The final formation of the dictatorship of the Bolsheviks, while the harsh methods of governing the country during the Civil War, began to be regarded as quite acceptable for peacetime.

Chronological table of the civil war 1917 1922. Chronology of the Civil War

Military actions

Workers' and Peasants' Red Army

Intervention

The beginning of the intervention

Continued intervention

List of powers that took part in the intervention

Central Powers

Terminological dictionary

Civil War in 1918

Escalation of the Civil War

The final stage of the Civil War

Reasons for the victory of the Bolsheviks