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starter activity. Trotsky aboard an Agitprop train. Starving peasants forced into cannibalism. Red Army recruitment poster. Assassination attempt on Lenin. Red Army puts down mutiny at Kronstadt.
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starter activity Trotsky aboard an Agitprop train Starving peasants forced into cannibalism Red Army recruitment poster Assassination attempt on Lenin Red Army puts down mutiny at Kronstadt Between 1918 and 1921 civil war ravaged Russia. Above the pictures suggest reasons for Bolshevik success in the war and threats to their authority. Which is which?
Why were the Bolsheviks successful in winning the Civil War (1918-21)? Aims Identify causes of Civil War Timeline key events Examine strengths of Reds & Whites Analyse reasons for Bolshevik success
Your task • Study Lynch p. 110-112 and Oxley p.117-119 list the causes of the Civil War in Russia (1918-20)
Collapse of Russian Empire • Decree on Nationalities allowed national minorities chance to govern themselves • Many territories declared independence from RSFSR • Central Siberian Region Soviet rejected Tr of B-L • 33 sovereign governments in Russia (June 1918)
Political opposition • Growth of political opposition, e.g. Union for Defence of the Motherland & Liberty (Jan 1918) • SRs and Mensheviks excluded from Constituent Assembly & Sovnakom joined anti-Bolshevik alliance, ‘Whites’
Allied opposition • Western allies angry with Russia’s withdrawal from WWI • Churchill sent £100m of supplies to help Whites • French govt sent 7 million francs to Kaedin • USA, Japan, Italy, Canada sent troops
Breakdown of law & order • Class warfare broke out – Bolsheviks led attacks on burzhui • Peasants acting illegally seizing land without official sanction • Arbitrary arrest & imprisonment by Cheka
Food requisitioning • Loss of Ukraine – ‘bread basket of Russia’ as part of Tr. of B-L exacerbated problem • Soaring inflation • Kulaks accused of grain hoarding Officers of Cheka recover hidden grain
Your task • Watch the clip from the Russian Revolution in colour and complete the question sheet your teacher gives you.
Cheka officers sometimes paid the ultimate price for their devotion to duty
Your task • Create a timeline of events using the information in Oxley, p.119-120
November 1917, Kerensky fails to rally an army • Spring 1918, Bolsheviks crush resistance from Cossacks (Ural Mountains) & Volunteer Army (raised by Gen Kornilov) • May 1918, rebellion of Czech Legion; Komuch (rival assembly) estd. at Samara • July 1918, assassination of Tsar Nicholas & family, Ekaterinburg
August 1918, Trotsky enforces military discipline, 1 in 10 retreating officers in Red Army shot • September, another rival govt, the Directory, estd. at Ufa • Nov 1918, Kolchak takes control of Directory & appoints himself dictator • March 1919 Kolchak’s White Armt advances West along Trans-Sib • April 1919, Trotsky forced to retreat • May 1919, Denikin & Cossacks (Whites) advance on Moscow
August 1919, Red Army abandons Kiev, capital of Ukraine • Oct 1919, Yudenich’s (Whites) advance on Petrograd & Denikin’s attack on Moscow halted • Jan 1920, Kolchak abdicates • Apr 1920, beginning of Russo-Polish War • Oct 1920, Tr of Riga signed • Nov 1920, last Whites leave southern Russia • 1921 defeat of Greens led by Makno (Ukraine) & Antonov (Tambov)
Your task • Study the information in Oxley, p.124-126 and create a scales chart weighing up the strengths of the Reds against the weaknesses of the Whites • Did foreign interventions help or hinder the Reds? Read Lynch p.113-116 and make notes.
Strengths of Reds • Conscription – 5m soldiers in Red Army by 1920; Reds controlled key cities • Trotsky – ranks; harsh discipline; recruited Tsarist officers; commissars within army; Red cavalry; agitprop trains • Munitions – controlled factories; Whites reliant on imported weapons
Strengths of Reds • Ideological commitment – proletariat didn’t want restoration of Tsarism; Communist propaganda v. effective • Red Terror – Cheka; 50,000 executions in 1918; execution of Tsar • Control of railways – Reds controlled railway hubs; same units fought against Kolchak, Denikin & Yudenich
Weaknesses of Whites • Reliant on foreign assistance – foreign forces rarely involved in fighting; Whites portrayed as invading army • Divisions – some wanted return to Tsarism, others military dictatorship, others Constituent Assembly • Lack of planning – problems with communications; geographical distances; rivalry between leaders • Desertions – peasants worried about land issues
Foreign interventions • Foreign states interested in military consequences of Revolution (Russia’s commitment to WWI) • Germany sponsored Bolshevism • No single aim – trade protectionism (e.g. Japan & USA), territorial independence (e.g. Poland) • Interventionists portrayed by Bolsheviks as imperialist aggressors • Many countries were war-weary • Sympathy with Bolsheviks, e.g. among TUs in UK
Plenary • Sum up the reasons for the success of the Reds in the Russian Civil War (1918-21) • What was the biggest factor contributing to their success?