2. Revolution
Russia’s October Revolution of 1917 produced a civil war
between the Bolshevik government (Reds) – who had just
seized power - and a number of rebel armies (Whites). This
civil war is often said to have started in 1918, but bitter
fighting began in 1917.
Although most of the war was over by 1920, it took until 1922
for the Bolsheviks, who held the industrial heartland of
Russia from the start, to crush all opposition.
3. Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich (1870-1924) - one of the leaders of
the Bolshevik party since its formation in 1903. Led
the Soviets to power in October, 1917. Elected to the
head of the Soviet government until 1922, when he
retired due to ill health.
4. Geography
In the European part
of Russia, the war
was fought across
three main fronts:
the eastern, the
southern, and the
northwestern. It can
also be roughly split
into the following
periods.
5. Intervention
The civil war was complicated
by Allied intervention.
In North Russia, British,
French, and American forces
occupied (Mar., 1918)
Murmansk and later
Arkhangelsk with the stated
purpose of protecting Allied
stores against possible
seizure by the Germans; they
were evacuated only in Nov.,
1919. In the Russian Far
East the Allies occupied
Vladivostok, which the
Japanese held until 1922.
6. Timeline
• October 1917 - Kerensky and his supporters flee
Petrograd.
• 5 January 1918 - The Red Guard
break up a meeting of the Constituent
Assembly on Lenin's orders.
• 28 January 1918 - Trotsky sets up the Red army.
• March 1918 - Bolsheviks move the Russian capital to
Moscow from Petrograd for protection and better
communications as it is in the centre of their territory.
• 14 October 1919 - Denikins army reaches Orel 300 km
from Moscow.
7. Timeline
• 22 October 1919 - White forces reach the outskirts of
Petrograd. Trotsky organises a counterattack.
• Early November 1919 - Western allies pull the plug on
support for the whites. Troops begin to desert.
• 7 February 1920 - Kerensky is executed by the Bolsheviks
after being handed over by the Czech Legion.
• April 1920 - Poles are driven back
into Poland by the Bolsheviks
• 1921 - Some groups continue
to fight but the Whites are beaten.
8. Many parts of the former Tsarist Empire attempted to
gain independence during the Civil War.
The three Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia all
successfully gained independence, as did Finland and
Poland.
None could escape the Civil War with all a playing a
part. Poland for example waged war against Soviet
Russia from 1920-21 over where to draw the border
between the two nations.
9. Aftermath
• About 15 million people lost their lives during the Russian
Civil War. Out of them, about one million were soldiers of
the Red Army.
• The anti-communists and their
White Army killed at least
50,000 communists.
• Many millions of people also died due to famine,
starvation, and epidemics.
10. Economy
• The Russian economy was devastated by the war, with
factories and bridges destroyed, cattle and raw materials
pillaged, mines flooded, and machines damaged.
• The industrial production value descended to one seventh
of the value of 1913, and agriculture to one third.
• The exchange rate with the U.S. dollar declined
from two rubles in 1914 to 1,200 in 1920.
