80 likes | 189 Views
The Coming of Communism. Essential Question. Why did the Communists win the Russian Civil War?. Who Were the Bolsheviks?. Held radical Marxist beliefs Thought a small group of revolutionaries could change Russia A slight majority in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets
E N D
Essential Question Why did the Communists win the Russian Civil War?
Who Were the Bolsheviks? • Held radical Marxist beliefs • Thought a small group of revolutionaries could change Russia • A slight majority in the Petrograd and Moscow soviets • Soviets—representative councils of workers and soldiers • Leader—Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin • Became involved in revolutionary activities at age 17 • Translated The Communist Manifesto into Russian • Exiled several times • Became head of the Bolsheviks • Signed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany • Gave up eastern Poland, Ukraine, Finland, and the Baltic Provinces
Civil War • The White Army fought the Red Army • White Army—all opponents of Bolshevism, supported by the Allies • Red Army—Bolsheviks • The White Army attacked from Siberia • Reds murdered the royal family in the Ural Mountains • White forces nearly reached Moscow • 1920—most White forces were defeated
Why Did the Reds Win? • Better organization • Result of work by Leon Trotsky • Draft reinstated; strict troop discipline • Anti-Communist forces were disorganized • Political differences created distrust • Anti-Communist forces were helped by the Allies • Patriotic Russians resented foreign intervention
A Communist State • War communism—government control of banks, industry, and food • Helped supply the Red Army • The Red Terror • Secret police arrested all who might oppose the new regime • 1921—Communists are in total control of Russia