What were the factors that lead the Bolsheviks to win during Russia civil war over the Whites?

Answer 1

The Russian Civil War began as a war between conflicting ideologies and power groups; but victory was decided by the simple fact that the Red Army became militarily superior to all opponents.

The Bolshevik revolution of late 1917 was a seizure of power at the center by a relatively small – but determined, united and organized – group of political extremists, with local armed backing. The Bolshevik coup was not pre-destined to succeed. In its early phase, the only areas where the Bolsheviks were firmly in control were the Moscow and Leningrad regions. Most of old Czarist Russia lay under the uncertain control of a disunited “opposition”, led in different regions by: -
• Monarchists;
• Nationalist-separatists;
• Socialist-Revolutionaries;
• Liberals;
• and supported in various ways by foreign interventionists.

If these “opposition” groups could have formed a united coalition and agreed upon a concerted military strategy to oust the Bolsheviks, they might have succeeded. But each group pursued its own agenda. And they were not only separated by their various conflicting ideas and ambitions for the future of Russia; they were also cut off from one another geographically by vast belts of almost empty, uncontrolled territory.

The Bolsheviks took full advantage of their control over the central rail network with its hub at Moscow. As ever in the vastness of Russia, control of rail networks was crucial to military movement and logistics. From their position at the center of the rail networks, the Bolsheviks were able to shuttle their armed forces from one front to another, dealing with their distant and disunited opponents one-by-one.

Without a doubt, Trotsky was the organizer and inspirer of victory. As Commissar for War, Trotsky created the Red Army essentially from scratch. He was not only supreme commander of the Bolshevik armed forces; he was responsible for mobilizing and deploying manpower, and for sending war supplies to the fighting fronts.

The Red Army was created in January 1918, four months before Trotsky was appointed War Commissar. At first, it was a purely volunteer force, undisciplined and unreliable. Once placed in charge, Trotsky initiated conscription and appointed former Czarist officers to impose severe discipline. The officers were themselves closely shadowed and watched by Bolshevik political commissars; and their families were held hostage to ensure their loyalty to the regime. Trotsky personally hurried from front-to-front in his famous armored train, raising morale by his presence.

By 1919, Trotsky’s Red Army had become a formidable fighting force. Thereafter, its victory was only a matter of time.

Answer 2

There were many factors:
1. They promised things desired by people. "Land for peasants" and "Lets stop the pointless war with Germans", for example.
2. The Communists ideas sounded great - about a worldwide brotherhood, a new world without wretcheds, an equality of people without refference to nation or gender.
3.The solidarity of Bolsheviks's Red Army. In the same way their enemies hadn't neither the one idea ore one ruler.
4.They attracted the majority of army and fleet.
5. The wide propaganda through the whole country.

And what about the terror and mass-murders of POW - their enemies weren't saints too.

P.S. Though I'm Russian, I'm not Communist at all. I just noww my history pretty well.

Answer 3

Once the Congress of Peasants and the Soviets of Workers and Soldiers Deputies united on November 16 1917 theBosheviks had a huge power base throughout Russia controlling the railways , the Red Army and the means of production. Their popular support just became to much for the Whites to overcome.

Answer 4

Yes. A revolution in attitude towards want and greed. With the need to look after yourself and community. The collapse of the US Empire under the weight of its debt will leave people sitting around waiting in vain for the nanny state to rescue them. (or fox / ccn news tell them what to do) Be prepared for change.

Answer 5

TROTSKY - - - scarcely credited following the rise of Stalin, still examining the issue one discovers that it was Trotsky who organized the Red Army and set it on the course of Victory for the Bolsheviks. And for all his faults, Lenin was a smart leader who organized the Bolsheviks while his enemies were badly disorganized. There was no 'common' front against the Bolsheviks. There were factions favoring a restoration of the Czar. There were factions wanting a 'Democracy.' These groups often hated one another more than they hated the Bolsheviks.

But once more I suggest studying Trotsky. He was the key to Bolshevik Success.
This first link is a reprint of a 1923 Article...
http://www.marxists.org/archive/radek/1923/xx/trotsky.htm
"Origin of the Concept of the Red Army
I do not know to what extent Comrade Trotsky occupied himself before the war with questions of military knowledge. I believe that he did not gain his gifted insight into these questions from books, but received his impetus in this direction at the time when he was acting as correspondent in the Balkan war, this final rehearsal of the great war. It is probable that he deepened his knowledge of war technique and of the mechanism of the army, during his sojourn in France (during the war), from where he sent his brilliant war sketches to the Kiev Mysl. It may be seen from this work how magnificently he grasped the spirit of the army. The Marxist Trotsky saw not only the external discipline of the army, the cannon, the technique. He saw the living human beings who serve the instruments of war, he saw the sprawling charge on the field of battle.
Trotsky is the author of the first pamphlet giving a detailed analysis of the causes of the decay of the International. Even in face of this great decay Trotsky did not lose his faith in the future of socialism; on the contrary, he was profoundly convinced that all those qualities which the bourgeoisie endeavors to cultivate in the uniformed proletariat, for the purpose of securing its own victory, would soon turn against the bourgeoisie, and serve not only as the foundation of the revolution, but also of revolutionary armies. One of the most remarkable documents of his comprehension of the class structure of the army, and of the spirit of the army, is the speech which he made – I believe at the first Soviet Congress and in the Petrograd Workers’ and Soldiers’ Council – on Kerensky’s July offensive. In this speech Trotsky predicted the collapse of the offensive, not only on technical military grounds, but on the basis of the political analysis of the condition of the army.
“You” – and here he addressed himself to the Mensheviki and the SR’s – “demand from the government a revision of the aims of the war. In doing so you tell the army that the old aims, in whose name Czarism and the bourgeoisie demanded unheard-of sacrifices, did not correspond to the interests of the Russian peasantry and Russian proletariat. You have not attained a revision of the aims of the war. You have created nothing to replace the Czar and the fatherland, and yet you demand of the army that it shed its blood for this nothing. We cannot fight for nothing, and your adventure will end in collapse.”
The secret of Trotsky’s greatness as organizer of the Red Army lies in this attitude of his towards the question.""""

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUStrotsky.htm
""""--------After the October Revolution it was decided by Vladimir Lenin that the old Russian Army would have to be turned into an instrument of the Communist Party. The old army was demobilized and in January 1918 the Soviet government ordered the formation of the Red Army of Workers and Peasants. Trotsky, as Commissar of War, was appointed its leader.

The Red Armyy had to be established quickly as it was needed to fight the White Army during the Civil War. Trotsky was forced to recruit a large number of officers from the old army. He was criticized for this but he argued that it would be impossible to fight the war without the employment of experienced army officers.

Initially a volunteer army, losses during the Civil War forced the Soviet government to introduce conscription in June, 1918. Vladimir Lenin was impressed by Trotsky's achievements and in 1919 remarked to Maxim Gorky: "Show me another man who could have practically created a model army in a year and won respect of the military specialist as well."

An outstanding military commander, Trotsky led his five million man army to victory and in doing so ensured the survival of the Bolshevik government. Trotsky was also elected a member of Communist Party Central Committee. Much to the dismay of his former supporters, Trotsky advocated the idea of the State control of trade unions and their merging with government bodies. This lost him the support of former Mensheviks such as Alexandra Kollontai. """


///===== O . u . O ====== \\\ Peace....................

Answer 6

HA. You say you want a revolution, well you know, we're all doing what we can.

How about rampant Imperialism, extreme class differentials and the effect of WW1?

Otherwise FU and your homework assignment