The essence of the Civil War and its “culprits”

Leaders started a discussion on this issue political parties. The Bolsheviks believed that Civil War- this is a more acute form class struggle, was imposed on workers and peasants by former exploiters who tried to restore the monarchy. Opponents of the Bolsheviks argued that the Bolsheviks were the first to use violence and the opposition was forced to take part in the Civil War.

From a universal human point of view, the Civil War is a historical drama, a tragedy of the people. It brought suffering, sacrifices, destruction of the economy and culture. The culprits were both “red” and “white”. History justifies only those who made compromises without wanting to shed blood. This compromise position was occupied by the so-called “third force” - the parties of the Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, and anarchists.

The civil war, due to its vast expanse, resulted in different shapes: military operations of the fronts of regular armies, armed clashes of individual detachments, mutinies and uprisings behind enemy lines, partisan movement, banditry, terror, etc.

"White" movement

Heterogeneous in composition: Russian officers, the old bureaucracy, monarchist parties and groups, liberal cadet parties, Octobrists, a number of left-wing political movements that fluctuated between “whites” and “reds,” workers and peasants dissatisfied with surplus appropriation, the establishment of a dictatorship and the suppression of democracy .

Program white movement: restoration of a united and indivisible Russia, convening a national assembly on the basis of universal suffrage, civil liberties, land reform, progressive land legislation.

However, in practice, the solution to many issues caused discontent among the overwhelming majority of the population: agrarian question- decided in favor of the landowner, canceling the Decree on Land. The peasantry wavered between two evils - surplus appropriation carried out by the Bolsheviks, and the actual restoration of landownership; national question- the slogan of a single indivisible Russia was associated among the national bourgeoisie with the bureaucratic oppression of the monarchical center. He clearly conceded to the Bolshevik idea of ​​the right of nations to self-determination, even to the point of secession; work question~ trade unions and socialist parties were banned.

"Red" movement

The basis was the dictatorship of the Bolshevik Party, which relied on the most lumpen layers of the working class and the poorest peasantry. The Bolsheviks managed to create a strong Red Army, which in 1921 numbered 5.5 million people, of which 70 thousand were workers, more than 4 million peasants and 300 thousand members of the Bolshevik Party.

The Bolshevik leadership pursued sophisticated political tactics of attracting bourgeois specialists. Former officers and alliances with the middle peasants were attracted, relying on the poor peasants. However, for the Bolsheviks themselves it was not clear which of the peasants should be classified as the middle peasant, who as the poor peasant and the kulak - all this was a political situation.

Two dictatorships and petty-bourgeois democracy

The civil war resulted in a struggle between two dictatorships - “white” and “red”, between which, as between a rock and a hard place, petty-bourgeois democracy found itself. Petty-bourgeois democracy could not stand anywhere (in Siberia - Committee Constituent Assembly(Komuch) was overthrown by A.V. Kolchak; in the south - the Directory, liquidated by A.I., did not last long. Denikins; in the north - the Socialist Revolutionary-Menshevik government N.V. Tchaikovsky was overthrown by Soviet power).

Results and lessons of the Civil War

* the country lost more than 8 million people as a result of the Red and White Terror, famine and disease; about 2 million people emigrated, and this is the political, financial, industrial, scientific and artistic elite of pre-revolutionary Russia;

the war undermined the country's genetic fund and became a tragedy for the Russian intelligentsia, which was looking for truth and truth in the revolution, but found terror;

economic damage amounted to 50 billion gold rubles. Industrial production in 1920 compared to 1913 decreased by 7 times, agricultural production by 38%;

The task of political parties is to seek a peaceful path of transformation and preserve civil peace.

Reasons for the Bolshevik victory

o thanks to the policy of “war communism” they were able to mobilize resources and create a strong army;

o the “white” movement made a number of mistakes: they canceled the Bolshevik Decree on Land; the Bolsheviks pursued more flexible tactics of negotiations and temporary alliances with anarchists, socialists (Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks); on the national question, the white movement put forward the slogan “Russia is united and indivisible,” and the Bolsheviks were more flexible - “the right of nations to self-determination, even to the point of secession”;

o created a powerful propaganda network (political literacy courses, propaganda trains, posters, films, leaflets);

o proclaimed patriotism - the defense of the socialist Fatherland from the White Guards as proteges of interventionists and foreign states;

o career prospects for growth opened up for workers and peasants: promoted workers and peasants who joined the party occupy administrative positions in the city and countryside.

"White" and "Red" movements in the Civil War 27.10.2017 09:49

Every Russian knows that the Civil War of 1917-1922 was opposed by two movements - “red” and “white”. But among historians there is still no consensus on where it began. Some believe that the reason was Krasnov's March on the Russian capital (October 25); others believe that the war began when, in the near future, the commander of the Volunteer Army Alekseev arrived on the Don (November 2); There is also an opinion that the war began with Miliukov proclaiming the “Declaration of the Volunteer Army”, delivering a speech at the ceremony called the Don (December 27).

Another popular opinion, which is far from unfounded, is the opinion that the Civil War began immediately after the February Revolution, when the entire society was split into supporters and opponents of the Romanov monarchy.

"White" movement in Russia

Everyone knows that “whites” are adherents of the monarchy and the old order. Its beginnings were visible back in February 1917, when the monarchy was overthrown in Russia and a total restructuring of society began. The development of the “white” movement took place during the period when the Bolsheviks came to power and the formation of Soviet power. They represented a circle of people dissatisfied with the Soviet government, who disagreed with its policies and principles of its conduct.

“Whites” were fans of the old monarchical system, refused to accept the new socialist order, adhered to the principles traditional society. It is important to note that the “whites” were often radicals; they did not believe that it was possible to agree on anything with the “reds”; on the contrary, they had the opinion that no negotiations or concessions were acceptable.
The “Whites” chose the Romanov tricolor as their banner. The white movement was commanded by Admiral Denikin and Quiver, one in the South, the other in the harsh regions of Siberia.

A historical event that became the impetus for the activation of the “whites” and the transition to their side of the majority former army The Romanov Empire was the rebellion of General Kornilov, who, although suppressed, helped the “whites” strengthen their ranks, especially in the southern regions, where under the leadership of General Alekseev huge resources and a powerful, disciplined army began to accumulate. Every day the army was replenished with new arrivals, it grew rapidly, developed, hardened, and trained.

Separately, it is necessary to say about the commanders of the White Guards (that was the name of the army created by the “white” movement). They were unusually talented commanders, prudent politicians, strategists, tacticians, subtle psychologists, and skillful speakers. The most famous were Lavr Kornilov, Anton Denikin, Alexander Kolchak, Pyotr Krasnov, Pyotr Wrangel, Nikolai Yudenich, Mikhail Alekseev. We can talk about each of them for a long time; their talent and services to the “white” movement can hardly be overestimated.

White Guards in the war long time won, and even let down their troops in Moscow. But the Bolshevik army grew stronger, and they were supported by a significant part of the Russian population, especially the poorest and most numerous layers - workers and peasants. In the end, the forces of the White Guards were smashed to smithereens. For some time they continued to operate abroad, but without success, the “white” movement ceased.

"Red" movement

Like the “Whites,” the “Reds” had many talented commanders and politicians in their ranks. Among them, it is important to note the most famous, namely: Leon Trotsky, Brusilov, Novitsky, Frunze. These military leaders showed themselves excellently in battles against the White Guards. Trotsky was the main founder of the Red Army, which acted as the decisive force in the confrontation between the “whites” and the “reds” in the Civil War. The ideological leader of the “red” movement was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, known to every person. Lenin and his government were actively supported by the most massive sections of the population of the Russian State, namely the proletariat, the poor, land-poor and landless peasants, and the working intelligentsia. It was these classes that most quickly believed the tempting promises of the Bolsheviks, supported them and brought the “Reds” to power.

The main party in the country became the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party of the Bolsheviks, which was later transformed into communist party. In essence, it was an association of intelligentsia, adherents of the socialist revolution, whose social base was the working classes.

It was not easy for the Bolsheviks to win the Civil War - they had not yet completely strengthened their power throughout the country, the forces of their fans were dispersed throughout the vast country, plus the national outskirts began a national liberation struggle. A lot of effort went into the war with the Ukrainian People's Republic, so the Red Army soldiers had to fight on several fronts during the Civil War.

Attacks by the White Guards could come from any direction on the horizon, because the White Guards surrounded the Red Army from all sides with four separate military formations. And despite all the difficulties, it was the “Reds” who won the war, mainly thanks to the broad social base of the Communist Party.

All representatives of the national outskirts united against the White Guards, and therefore they became forced allies of the Red Army in the Civil War. To attract residents of the national outskirts to their side, the Bolsheviks used loud slogans, such as the idea of ​​​​a “united and indivisible Russia.”

The Bolshevik victory in the war was brought about by the support of the masses. The Soviet government played on the sense of duty and patriotism of Russian citizens. The White Guards themselves also added fuel to the fire, since their invasions were most often accompanied by mass robbery, looting, and violence in other forms, which could not in any way encourage people to support the “white” movement.

Results of the Civil War

As has already been said several times, victory in this fratricidal war went to the “reds”. The fratricidal civil war became a real tragedy for the Russian people. Material damage The damage caused to the country by the war was estimated to be about 50 billion rubles - unimaginable money at that time, several times greater than the amount of Russia's external debt. Because of this, the level of industry decreased by 14%, and Agriculture- by 50%. According to various sources, human losses ranged from 12 to 15 million.

Most of these people died from hunger, repression, and disease. During the hostilities, more than 800 thousand soldiers on both sides gave their lives. Also during the Civil War, the balance of migration fell sharply - about 2 million Russians left the country and went abroad.

>>History: Civil War: Reds

Civil War: Reds

1.Creation of the Red Army.

2. War communism.

3. "Red Terror". Execution of the royal family.

4. Decisive victories for the Reds.

5.War with Poland.

6. End of the civil war.

Creation of the Red Army.

On January 15, 1918, a decree of the Council of People's Commissars proclaimed the creation of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, and on January 29 - the Red Fleet. The army was built on the principles of voluntariness and a class approach, which excluded the penetration of “exploiting elements” into it.

But the first results of the creation of a new revolutionary army did not inspire optimism. The volunteer principle of recruitment inevitably led to organizational disunity and decentralization in command and control, which had the most detrimental effect on the combat effectiveness and discipline of the Red Army. Therefore, V.I. Lenin considered it possible to return to the traditional, “ bourgeois» principles of military development, i.e. universal conscription and unity of command.

In July 1918, a decree was published on universal military service for the male population aged 18 to 40 years. A network of military commissariats was created throughout the country to keep records of those liable for military service, organize and conduct military training, and mobilize those fit for duty. military service population, etc. During the summer - autumn of 1918, 300 thousand people were mobilized into the ranks of the Red Army. By the spring of 1919, the number of Red Army soldiers increased to 1.5 million people, and by October 1919 - to 3 million. In 1920, the number of Red Army soldiers approached 5 million. Much attention was given to command personnel. Short-term courses and schools were created to train mid-level commanders from the most distinguished Red Army soldiers. In 1917 - 1919 the highest military were opened educational establishments: Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army, Artillery, Military Medical, Military Economic, Naval, Military Engineering Academy. A notice was published in the Soviet press about the recruitment of military specialists from the old army to serve in the Red Army.

The widespread involvement of military experts was accompanied by strict “class” control over their activities. For this purpose, in April 1918, the institute of military commissars was introduced in the Red Army, who not only supervised the command cadres, but also carried out the political education of the Red Army soldiers.

In September 1918, a unified structure for command and control of troops of the fronts and armies was organized. At the head of each front (army) was the Revolutionary Military Council (Revolutionary Military Council, or RVS), which consisted of the commander of the front (army) and two political commissars. All front-line and military institutions were headed by the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, headed by L. D. Trotsky.

Measures were taken to tighten discipline. Representatives of the Revolutionary Military Council, endowed with emergency powers up to and including the execution of traitors and cowards without trial, went to the most tense areas of the front.

In November 1918, the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense was formed, headed by V.I. Lenin. He concentrated in his hands all the power of the state.

War communism.

Social-Soviet power also underwent significant changes.
The activities of the poor commanders heated the situation in the village to the limit. In many areas, the Pobedy Committees entered into conflicts with local Soviets, seeking to usurp power. In the village, “a dual power was created, which led to a fruitless waste of energy and confusion in relations,” which the congress of committees of the poor of the Petrograd province in November 1918 was forced to admit.

On December 2, 1918, a decree was promulgated on the dissolution of the committees. This was not only a political, but also an economic decision. The calculations that the poor committees would help increase the supply of grain did not materialize. The price of the bread that was obtained as a result of the “armed campaign in the village” turned out to be immeasurably high - the general indignation of the peasants, which resulted in a series of peasant uprisings against the Bolsheviks. Civil War this factor could be decisive in the overthrow of the Bolshevik government. It was necessary to regain the trust, first of all, of the middle peasantry, which, after the redistribution of the land, determined the face of the village. The dissolution of the committees of the village poor was the first step towards a policy of pacification of the middle peasantry.

On January 11, 1919, the decree “On the allocation of grain and fodder” was issued. According to this decree, the state communicated in advance the exact figure of its grain needs. Then this amount was distributed (developed) among provinces, districts, volosts and peasant households. Fulfillment of the grain procurement plan was mandatory. Moreover, surplus appropriation was based not on the capabilities of peasant farms, but on very conditional “state needs,” which in reality meant the confiscation of all surplus grain, and often necessary supplies. What was new compared to the policy of food dictatorship was that the peasants knew in advance the intentions of the state, and this was an important factor for peasant psychology. In 1920, surplus appropriation extended to potatoes, vegetables and other agricultural products.

In area industrial production a course was set for the accelerated nationalization of all industries, and not just the most important ones, as provided for by the decree of July 28, 1918.

The government introduced universal labor conscription and labor mobilization of the population to carry out work of national importance: logging, road, construction, etc. The introduction of labor conscription influenced the solution of the problem wages. Instead of money, workers were given food rations, food stamps in the canteen, and basic necessities. Payments for housing, transport, utilities and other services were canceled. The state, having mobilized the worker, almost completely took over his maintenance.

Commodity-money relations were virtually abolished. First, the free sale of food was prohibited, then other consumer goods, which were distributed by the state as naturalized wages. However, despite all the prohibitions, illegal market trade continued to exist. According to various estimates, the state distributed only 30 - 45% of real consumption. Everything else was purchased on black markets, from “baggers” - illegal food sellers.

Such a policy required the creation of special super-centralized economic bodies in charge of accounting and distribution of all available products. The central boards (or centers) created under the Supreme Economic Council controlled the activities of certain industries, were in charge of their financing, material and technical supplies, and distribution of manufactured products.

The entire set of these emergency measures was called the policy of “war communism.” Military because this policy was subordinated to the sole goal - to concentrate all forces for military victory over one’s political opponents, communism because the measures undertaken Bolsheviks the measures surprisingly coincided with the Marxist forecast of some socio-economic features of the future communist society. The new program of the RCP(b), adopted in March 1919 at the VIII Congress, already linked “military-communist” measures with theoretical ideas about communism.

"Red Terror". Execution of the royal family.

Along with economic and military measures, the Soviet government on a national scale began to pursue a policy of intimidation of the population, called “red terror.”

In the cities, the “red terror” took on widespread proportions from September 1918 - after the murder of the chairman of the Petrograd Cheka, M. S. Uritsky, and the attempt on the life of V. I. Lenin. On September 5, 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR adopted a resolution that “in this situation, ensuring the rear through terror is an immediate necessity”, that “it is necessary to liberate the Soviet Republic from class enemies by isolating them in concentration camps”, that “all persons related to White Guard organizations, conspiracies and rebellions.” The terror was widespread. Only in response to the assassination attempt on V.I. Lenin, the Petrograd Cheka shot, according to official reports, 500 hostages.

In the armored train on which L. D. Trotsky made his journeys along the fronts, there was a military revolutionary tribunal with unlimited powers. The first concentration camps. Between the front and the rear, special barrage detachments were formed to fight deserters.

One of the ominous pages of the “Red Terror” was the execution of the former royal family and other members of the imperial family.
Oktyabrskaya revolution caught my ex Russian Emperor and his family in Tobolsk, where he was sent into exile by order of A.F. Kerensky. Tobolsk imprisonment lasted until the end of April 1918. Then royal family was transferred to Yekaterinburg and placed in a house that previously belonged to the merchant Ipatiev.

On July 16, 1918, apparently in agreement with the Council of People's Commissars, the Ural Regional Council decided to shoot Nikolai Romanov and members of his family. 12 people were selected to carry out this secret “operation”. On the night of July 17, the awakened family was transferred to basement, where the bloody tragedy took place. Along with Nikolai, his wife, five children and servants were shot. There are 11 people in total.

Even earlier, on July 13, the Tsar’s brother Mikhail was killed in Perm. On July 18, 18 members of the imperial family were shot and thrown into a mine in Alapaevsk.

Decisive victories for the Reds.

On November 13, 1918, the Soviet government annulled the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty and began making every effort to expel German troops from the territories they occupied. At the end of November, Soviet power was proclaimed in Estonia, in December - in Lithuania, Latvia, in January 1919 - in Belarus, in February - March - in Ukraine.

In the summer of 1918, the main danger to the Bolsheviks was the Czechoslovak corps, and above all its units in the Middle Volga region. In September - early October, the Reds took Kazan, Simbirsk, Syzran and Samara. Czechoslovak troops retreated to the Urals. At the end of 1918 - beginning of 1919, large-scale fighting took place on the Southern Front. In November 1918, Krasnov's Don Army broke through the Southern Front of the Red Army, inflicted a serious defeat on it and began to advance north. At the cost of incredible efforts, in December 1918 it was possible to stop the advance of the White Cossack troops.

In January - February 1919, the Red Army launched a counteroffensive, and by March 1919, Krasnov's army was virtually defeated, and a significant part of the Don region returned to Soviet rule.

In the spring of 1919, the Eastern front again became the main front. Here the troops of Admiral Kolchak began their offensive. In March - April they captured Sarapul, Izhevsk, and Ufa. The advanced units of Kolchak’s army were located several tens of kilometers from Kazan, Samara and Simbirsk.

This success allowed the Whites to outline a new perspective - the possibility of Kolchak’s march on Moscow while the left flank of his army simultaneously reached the junction with Denikin’s forces.

The current situation seriously alarmed the Soviet leadership. Lenin demanded that emergency measures be taken to organize a rebuff to Kolchak. A group of troops under the command of M.V. Frunze in battles near Samara defeated selected Kolchak units and took Ufa on June 9, 1919. On July 14, Yekaterinburg was occupied. In November, Kolchak's capital, Omsk, fell. The remnants of his army rolled further east.

In the first half of May 1919, when the Reds were winning their first victories over Kolchak, General Yudenich’s attack on Petrograd began. At the same time, anti-Bolshevik protests took place among the Red Army soldiers in the forts near Petrograd. Having suppressed these protests, the troops of the Petrograd Front went on the offensive. Yudenich's units were driven back to Estonian territory. Yudenich’s second offensive against St. Petersburg in October 1919 also ended in failure.
In February 1920, the Red Army liberated Arkhangelsk, and in March - Murmansk. The "white" north became "red".

The real danger to the Bolsheviks was Denikin's Volunteer Army. By June 1919, it captured the Donbass, a significant part of Ukraine, Belgorod, and Tsaritsyn. In July, Denikin's attack on Moscow began. In September, the Whites entered Kursk and Orel and occupied Voronezh. Arrived critical moment for the Bolshevik power. The Bolsheviks organized the mobilization of forces and resources under the motto: “Everything to fight Denikin!” The First Cavalry Army of S. M. Budyonny played a major role in changing the situation at the front. Significant assistance to the Red Army was provided by rebel peasant detachments led by N. I. Makhno, who deployed a “second front” in the rear of Denikin’s army.

The rapid advance of the Reds in the fall of 1919 forced the Volunteer Army to retreat south. In February - March 1920, its main forces were defeated and the Volunteer Army itself ceased to exist. A significant group of whites led by General Wrangel took refuge in the Crimea.

War with Poland.

The main event of 1920 was the war with Poland. In April 1920, the head of Poland, J. Pilsudski, gave the order to attack Kyiv. It was officially announced that it was only about providing assistance to the Ukrainian people in eliminating the illegal Soviet power and restoring the independence of Ukraine. On the night of May 6–7, Kyiv was taken, but the intervention of the Poles was perceived by the population of Ukraine as an occupation. The Bolsheviks took advantage of these sentiments and managed to unite various layers of society in the face of external danger. Almost all the available forces of the Red Army, united as part of the Western and Southwestern Fronts, were thrown against Poland. Their commanders were former officers of the tsarist army M. N. Tukhachevsky and A. I. Egorov. On June 12, Kyiv was liberated. Soon the Red Army reached the border with Poland, which raised hopes among some Bolshevik leaders for the speedy implementation of the idea of ​​world revolution in Western Europe.

In the order for Western Front Tukhachevsky wrote: “With our bayonets we will bring happiness and peace to working humanity. To the west!"
However, the Red Army, which entered Polish territory, received rebuff from the enemy. The Polish “class brothers” did not support the idea of ​​a world revolution either; they preferred the state sovereignty of their country to the world proletarian revolution.

On October 12, 1920, a peace treaty with Poland was signed in Riga, according to which territories were transferred to it Western Ukraine and Western Belarus.

The end of the civil war.

Having made peace with Poland, the Soviet command concentrated all the power of the Red Army to fight the last major White Guard hotbed - the army of General Wrangel.

The troops of the Southern Front under the command of M. V. Frunze in early November 1920 stormed the seemingly impregnable fortifications of Perekop and Chongar and crossed the Sivash Bay.

The last battle between the Reds and Whites was especially fierce and cruel. The remnants of the once formidable Volunteer Army rushed to the ships of the Black Sea squadron concentrated in the Crimean ports. Almost 100 thousand people were forced to leave their homeland.
Thus, the civil war in Russia ended with the victory of the Bolsheviks. They managed to mobilize economic and human resources for the needs of the front, and most importantly, to convince huge masses of people that they were the only defenders of Russia’s national interests, and to captivate them with the prospects of a new life.

Documentation

A. I. Denikin about the Red Army

By the spring of 1918, the complete insolvency of the Red Guard was finally revealed. The organization of the workers' and peasants' Red Army began. It was built on old principles, swept aside by the revolution and the Bolsheviks in the first period of their rule, including normal organization, autocracy and discipline. “Universal compulsory training in the art of war” was introduced, instructor schools were founded for the training of command personnel, the old officer corps was registered, officers of the General Staff were brought into service without exception, etc. The Soviet government considered itself already strong enough to pour in without fear the ranks of their army are tens of thousands of “specialists”, obviously alien or hostile to the ruling party.

Order of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic to the troops and Soviet institutions of the southern front No. 65. November 24, 1918

1. Any scoundrel who incites retreat, desertion, or failure to carry out a combat order will be SHOOTED.
2. Any soldier of the Red Army who leaves his combat post without permission will be SHOOTED.
3. Any soldier who throws down his rifle or sells part of his uniform will be SHOOTED.
4. Barrage detachments are distributed in every front-line zone to catch deserters. Any soldier who tries to resist these detachments must be SHOOTED on the spot.
5. All local councils and committees undertake, for their part, to take all measures to catch deserters, organizing raids twice a day: at 8 o’clock in the morning and at 8 o’clock in the evening. Those caught should be taken to the headquarters of the nearest unit and to the nearest military commissariat.
6. For harboring deserters, the perpetrators are subject to SHOOTING.
7. Houses in which deserters are hidden will be burned.

Death to selfish people and traitors!

Death to deserters and Krasnov agents!

Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic

Questions and tasks:

1. Explain how and why the views of the Bolshevik leadership on the principles of organizing the armed forces in a proletarian state changed.

2. What is the essence of military policy?

"Red Movement"

The Red Movement relied on the support of the bulk of the working class and the poorest peasantry. Social basis The white movement included officers, bureaucrats, nobility, bourgeoisie, and individual representatives of workers and peasants. The party that expressed the position of the Reds were the Bolsheviks. The party composition of the white movement is heterogeneous: Black Hundred-monarchist, liberal, socialist parties. The program goals of the red movement: the preservation and establishment of Soviet power throughout Russia, the suppression of anti-Soviet forces, the strengthening of the dictatorship of the proletariat as a condition for building a socialist society.

The Bolsheviks won a military-political victory: the resistance of the White Army was suppressed, Soviet power was established throughout the country, including in most national regions, conditions were created for strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat and the implementation of socialist transformations. The price of this victory was huge human losses (more than 15 million people killed, died of hunger and disease), mass emigration (more than 2.5 million people), economic devastation, the tragedy of entire social groups (officers, Cossacks, intelligentsia, nobility, clergy and etc.), society’s addiction to violence and terror, the rupture of historical and spiritual traditions, the split into reds and whites.

"Green movement"

The “green” movement is the third force in the Civil War. In Russia there were many opponents, both white and red. These were participants in the rebel, so-called “green” movement.

The largest manifestation of the “green” movement was the work of the anarchist Nestor Makhno (1888-1934). The movement headed by Makhno (the total number is variable - from 500 to 35,000 people) came out under the slogans of a “powerless state”, “free councils”, and waged an armed struggle against everyone - the German interventionists, Petliura, Denikin, Wrangel, Soviet power. Makhno dreamed of creating independent state in steppe Ukraine with its capital in the village of Gulyai-Polye (now Gulyai-Polye, Zaporozhye region). Initially, Makhno collaborated with the Reds and helped defeat Wrangel’s army. Then his movement was liquidated by the Red Army. Makhno and a group of surviving associates managed to escape abroad in 1921 and died in France.

Peasant uprisings covered areas of Tambov, Bryansk, Samara, Simbirsk, Yaroslavl, Smolensk, Kostroma, Vyatka, Novgorod, Penza and Tver provinces. In 1919-1922 In the area of ​​the village of Ankuvo, Ivanovo Territory, the so-called “Ankovo ​​gang” operated - a detachment of “greens” led by E. Skorodumov (Yushku) and V. Stulov. The detachment consisted of peasant deserters who evaded conscription into the Red Army. The “Ankovskaya gang” destroyed food detachments, raided the city of Yuryev-Polsky, and robbed the treasury. The gang was defeated by regular units of the Red Army.

Assessment by domestic and foreign historians of the causes of the civil war

The outstanding philosopher of the 20th century, Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell (who was sober and critical of the Bolsheviks), having spent five weeks in 1920 at the height of the civil war in Russia, described and comprehended what he had to see: “The main thing that the Bolsheviks succeeded , is to ignite hope... Even under existing conditions in Russia one can still feel the influence of the life-giving spirit of communism, the spirit of creative hope, the search for means to destroy injustice, tyranny, greed, everything that hinders the growth of the human spirit, the desire to replace personal competition with joint action , the relationship between master and slave is free cooperation.”

“The spirit of creative hope” (B. Russell) helped the fighting workers and peasants, despite incredible hardships (including due to the regime of “war communism”), hunger, cold, epidemics, they found the strength to withstand the trials of those harsh years and victoriously end the civil war.

Russian Civil War(1917-1922/1923) - a series of armed conflicts between various political, ethnic, social groups and state entities on the territory of the former Russian Empire that followed the transfer of power to the Bolsheviks as a result of the October Revolution of 1917.

The Civil War was the result of the revolutionary crisis that struck Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, which began with the revolution of 1905-1907, aggravated during the World War and led to the fall of the monarchy, economic ruin, and a deep social, national, political and ideological split in Russian society. The apogee of this split was a fierce war throughout the country between the armed forces of the Soviet government and the anti-Bolshevik authorities.

White movement- a military-political movement of politically heterogeneous forces formed during the Civil War of 1917-1923 in Russia with the goal of overthrowing Soviet power. It included representatives of both moderate socialists and republicans, as well as monarchists, united against the Bolshevik ideology and acting on the basis of the principle of “Great, United and Indivisible Russia” (ideological movement of whites). The White movement was the largest anti-Bolshevik military-political force during the Russian Civil War and existed alongside other democratic anti-Bolshevik governments, nationalist separatist movements in Ukraine, the North Caucasus, Crimea, and the Basmachi movement in Central Asia.

A number of features distinguish the White movement from the rest of the anti-Bolshevik forces of the Civil War:

The White movement was an organized military-political movement against Soviet power and its allied political structures; its intransigence towards Soviet power excluded any peaceful, compromise outcome of the Civil War.

The White movement was distinguished by its priority in wartime of individual power over collegial power, and military power over civilian power. White governments were characterized by the absence of a clear separation of powers; representative bodies either did not play any role or had only advisory functions.

The White movement tried to legalize itself on a national scale, proclaiming its continuity from pre-February and pre-October Russia.

Recognition by all regional white governments of the all-Russian power of Admiral A.V. Kolchak led to the desire to achieve commonality of political programs and coordination of military actions. The solution to agrarian, labor, national and other basic issues was fundamentally similar.

The white movement had common symbols: a tricolor white-blue-red flag, the official anthem “How Glorious is Our Lord in Zion.”

Publicists and historians who sympathize with whites cite the following reasons for the defeat of the white cause:

The Reds controlled the densely populated central regions. In these territories there was more people than in areas controlled by whites.

Regions that began to support whites (for example, Don and Kuban), as a rule, suffered more than others from the Red Terror.

The inexperience of white leaders in politics and diplomacy.

Conflicts between whites and national separatist governments over the slogan “One and Indivisible.” Therefore, whites repeatedly had to fight on two fronts.

Workers' and Peasants' Red Army- official name of the species armed forces: ground forces and the Air Force, which, together with the Red Army MS, the NKVD troops of the USSR (Border Troops, Internal Security Troops of the Republic and the State Guard Convoy) constituted the Armed Forces of the RSFSR/USSR from February 15 (23), 1918 to February 25, 1946.

The day of the creation of the Red Army is considered to be February 23, 1918 (see Defender of the Fatherland Day). It was on this day that mass enrollment of volunteers began in the Red Army detachments, created in accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR “On the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army,” signed on January 15 (28).

L. D. Trotsky actively participated in the creation of the Red Army.

The supreme governing body of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR (since the formation of the USSR - the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR). The leadership and management of the army was concentrated in the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs, in the special All-Russian Collegium created under it, since 1923, the Labor and Defense Council of the USSR, and since 1937, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. In 1919-1934, direct leadership of the troops was carried out by the Revolutionary Military Council. In 1934, to replace it, the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR was formed.

Detachments and squads of the Red Guard - armed detachments and squads of sailors, soldiers and workers, in Russia in 1917 - supporters (not necessarily members) of left parties - Social Democrats (Bolsheviks, Mensheviks and “Mezhraiontsev”), Socialist Revolutionaries and anarchists, as well as detachments Red partisans became the basis of the Red Army units.

Initially, the main unit of formation of the Red Army, on a voluntary basis, was a separate detachment, which was a military unit with an independent economy. The detachment was headed by a Council consisting of a military leader and two military commissars. He had a small headquarters and an inspectorate.

With the accumulation of experience and after attracting military experts to the ranks of the Red Army, the formation of full-fledged units, units, formations (brigade, division, corps), institutions and establishments began.

The organization of the Red Army was in accordance with its class character and military requirements of the early 20th century. The combined arms formations of the Red Army were structured as follows:

The rifle corps consisted of two to four divisions;

The division consists of three rifle regiments, an artillery regiment (artillery regiment) and technical units;

The regiment consists of three battalions, an artillery division and technical units;

Cavalry Corps - two cavalry divisions;

Cavalry division - four to six regiments, artillery, armored units (armored units), technical units.

The technical equipment of the military formations of the Red Army with fire weapons) and military equipment was mainly at the level of modern advanced armed forces of that time

The USSR Law “On Compulsory Military Service”, adopted on September 18, 1925 by the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, determined the organizational structure of the Armed Forces, which included rifle troops, cavalry, artillery, armored forces, engineering troops, signal troops, air and naval forces, troops United State Political Administration and Convoy Guard of the USSR. Their number in 1927 was 586,000 personnel.