The Russian Civil War: A tale of two revolutions and a nation divided

By the time Russia entered the First World War in August 1914, the tsarist regime had already begun to suffer from long-standing problems.

The war exposed those failures on a national scale, as battlefield defeats and supply breakdowns produced widespread anger among soldiers and civilians.

Russia suffered about 1.3 million military deaths and nearly 5 million wounded by 1917 and, as a result, popular confidence in Tsar Nicholas II, who had taken personal command of the Russian army in 1915, collapsed entirely when it became clear that his leadership had worsened the military crisis. 

In February 1917, protests and mutinies erupted in Petrograd, driven by food shortages accompanied by strikes and a growing fatigue with the war.

The unrest forced Nicholas II to give up the throne on 15 March 1917 (Gregorian calendar), ending more than three hundred years of Romanov rule, and led to the creation of a Provisional Government, which was led by Prince Lvov and later by Alexander Kerensky.

Although the new government promised reforms, it refused to withdraw from the war and lacked authority outside the capital.

It had to share power with the Petrograd Soviet, which claimed to speak for workers and soldiers and exercised greater influence over garrisons and factories.

In early March, the Petrograd Soviet issued Order No. 1, which instructed soldiers to obey their officers only if their orders did not contradict Soviet resolutions, which further undermined military discipline. 

So, the Bolsheviks won support. As months passed, their leaders exploited dissatisfaction with the Provisional Government, which grew.

Through slogans like “Peace, Land, and Bread” and “All Power to the Soviets,” they won support among urban workers, soldiers, and peasants who had grown impatient with delays in land redistribution and peace negotiations.

The German government reportedly helped Lenin return from exile in April 1917, as they hoped he would weaken Russia’s war effort.

His arrival energised the revolutionary movement and intensified calls to overthrow the Provisional Government entirely. 

Then in late October, with government authority nearly vanished and Bolshevik influence, which had grown in the Soviets, Lenin ordered a coup, which occurred on 25 October 1917 (Julian calendar), or 7 November by the Gregorian calendar.

During this, Bolshevik forces stormed key government buildings in Petrograd, including the Winter Palace, the telegraph office, railway stations, and the state bank.

They had arrested ministers of the Provisional Government and had taken control of the capital.

Although the actual fighting in Petrograd was limited, the consequences of the Bolshevik seizure of power proved far more violent and long-lasting.

Opponents had condemned the coup as illegal and had begun to organise military resistance.

Then, with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918, in which the Bolsheviks surrendered large swathes of land to Germany, many Russians concluded that the new regime had betrayed the country. 

Lenin acted as the chief political thinker and leader of the Bolsheviks throughout the conflict, and he steered policy from Moscow and he endorsed ruthless strategies to hold power.

Through emergency decrees, he allowed mass arrests, ending private property, breaking up the old legal system, and ordering the execution of suspected counter-revolutionaries.

Under his leadership, the Red Terror began, targeting anyone accused of supporting the Whites or criticising the regime. 

Trotsky issued orders and organised counterattacks from an armoured train that travelled across the fronts.

Contemporary accounts credit him with enforcing strict discipline, though claims that he personally supervised executions were not proven.

Trotsky had been appointed Commissar for War in March 1918 and provided military leadership that allowed the Bolsheviks to recover from repeated crises and launch major campaigns against their enemies. 

On the other side, the White Armies relied on separate leaders across different regions.

Admiral Kolchak, a former naval commander and Arctic explorer, declared himself Supreme Ruler of Russia and led the eastern front from Omsk.

General Anton Denikin commanded forces in the south and launched major offensives into Ukraine and central Russia, while General Nikolai Yudenich led a smaller army in the northwest and attempted to capture Petrograd in late 1919, and came within ten miles of the city.

Rival leaders' pursuit of authority and clashing ideologies that produced a refusal to unite under a single command severely weakened their position.

Many White commanders also advocated reactionary policies, including the restoration of the monarchy, which alienated potential supporters among the population. 

Instead, Stalin used the war to build his authority in the south, and he oversaw brutal campaigns against Cossack populations and rebellious towns.

He clashed repeatedly with Trotsky and ignored orders from central command when they conflicted with his personal agenda.

Dzerzhinsky, who was head of the Cheka, created a nationwide network that watched people, arrested, tortured, or executed tens of thousands in the name of revolutionary justice.

The tsar and his family, whom many Whites hoped to rescue and restore, were executed in July 1918 on Lenin’s orders to prevent them from becoming symbols of counter-revolution. 

Several armed groups fought for causes that neither aligned with Bolshevism nor supported the White restorationist agenda.

Nestor Makhno’s Black Army in Ukraine, composed largely of anarchists and peasants, rejected central control and the traditional social order.

His forces relied on cavalry raids that drew on local support and relied on guerrilla tactics to resist incursions from both Reds and Whites.

For a brief period, Makhno made a short-term alliance with the Bolsheviks against Denikin’s advance in 1919 and contributed to the Red victory at the Battle of Perekop in 1920, but the Red Army turned on him soon after and destroyed his movement. 

The Czech Legion, which was formed of former Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war, fought its way east along the Trans-Siberian Railway in an effort to reach Allied forces in Vladivostok.

They numbered around 60,000 men at their peak, and they clashed with Bolshevik units, seized control of key towns, and supported Kolchak’s administration in Siberia.

Their presence had helped start more fighting and had allowed anti-Bolshevik forces to control parts of the east for a limited time. 

Peasant bands, which were later known collectively as the Greens, formed across the countryside in response to requisitioning squads, grain seizures, and conscription efforts.

These groups acted independently and often attacked both Reds and Whites, and they fought to defend local interests and refused to pledge loyalty to distant authorities.

In many rural areas, especially in Tambov and southern Russia, their activities prevented either side from gaining lasting control.

Some Bolshevik reports described the use of chemical weapons, including chloropicrin, against rebel villages during counter-insurgency operations. 

By contrast, ethnic separatist movements in Finland, the Baltics, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Central Asia attempted to secure independence or self-rule.

Some received support from foreign governments, but the Bolsheviks crushed most of these efforts, although a few, such as those in Estonia and Finland, succeeded in becoming independent states.

Nationalist leaders often found themselves trapped between Soviet offensives and White opposition, neither of which supported their goals. 

By early 1918, armed clashes between Bolsheviks and anti-Bolshevik forces had escalated into open warfare.

The Whites had launched major offensives from three main directions. In the south, Denikin’s forces advanced northward and threatened Moscow.

In the east, Kolchak’s army captured large stretches of Siberia. In the northwest, Yudenich assembled forces to attack Petrograd.

Each campaign experienced early successes, as Red forces struggled with mutinies, supply shortages, and what was left of the disbanded Imperial Army. 

However, the failure of the White commanders to coordinate meant their victories never combined into a coherent national threat.

Each leader prioritised personal authority over cooperation, and their mistreatment of local populations, including pogroms and land seizures, turned many peasants and workers against them.

Therefore, Bolshevik propaganda that painted them as imperialist traitors won support. 

Trotsky’s forces soon took the advantage, as his Red Army repelled Yudenich’s assault on Petrograd, recaptured Siberia from Kolchak, and forced Denikin into a retreat that became a disorderly rout.

The defeat of Kolchak’s forces led to his capture and execution in early 1920, while Denikin resigned and fled abroad.

In the south, General Wrangel briefly reconstituted a White army in Crimea, but by November 1920, his position had become untenable.

The final evacuation of Crimea included around 125,000 soldiers and civilians who fled into exile by sea, which brought an end to major White resistance. 

Foreign involvement remained limited and poorly coordinated, as British, French, American, and Japanese troops landed in various ports to protect supplies and support local anti-Bolshevik elements.

American forces operated primarily in Arkhangelsk and Vladivostok, while Japanese troops remained in Siberia until 1922.

Their operations lacked coordination and soon withdrew. So the Bolsheviks used their presence to accuse the Whites of working with foreign powers. 

The Bolsheviks introduced War Communism during the height of the conflict, with the aim of directing all resources toward military victory.

Under this policy, the government nationalised banks, factories, mines, and transport.

What is more, it banned private trade, imposed forced grain seizures, and rationed food through state channels.

In practice, the policy caused the collapse of normal markets and drove many into black-market trade or farming just to survive.

Urban workers faced shortages and mass unemployment as industrial production fell to about 20 percent of 1913 levels, and grain harvests dropped by about 40 percent. 

Peasants suffered most under grain requisitioning, which often involved armed units that confiscated harvests with little or no compensation, and resistance flared across the countryside.

For example, in the Tambov region, armed uprisings against Bolshevik food detachments forced the regime to deploy military force.

Red troops burned villages, executed community leaders, deported survivors, and reportedly used chemical agents such as chloropicrin during the campaign.

The policy ensured that soldiers and urban workers received supplies, but it created bitterness that lasted long after the war. 

In 1921, famine swept through the Volga and Ural regions, while drought and requisitioning left millions without food.

The Bolsheviks were under pressure from both domestic discontent and international protests, so accepted help from the American Relief Administration and other foreign charities.

Lenin, recognising the failure of War Communism, launched the New Economic Policy (NEP) in March 1921 at the 10th Party Congress, which allowed private trade again, allowed peasants to sell surplus grain, and permitted small businesses to operate under state regulation. 

The Cheka was established in late 1917 and expanded rapidly during the war and became the main tool of repression.

Checka secret agents arrested political opponents, conducted mass executions, and operated early forced labour camps that later became part of the Gulag system.

By 1920, its reach extended across the Soviet republics. Under the Red Terror in particular, which began after assassination attempts against Bolshevik leaders, tens of thousands of people were killed without trial.

As a result, Cheka headquarters, such as the Lubyanka prison in Moscow, became infamous for torture and execution. 

In March 1921, the Kronstadt sailors, previously loyal to the revolution, revolted against Bolshevik rule, as they demanded free speech, new elections to the soviets, and an end to repressive policies.

Trotsky ordered a military assault that killed hundreds and led to mass arrests.

The rebellion shocked the regime and prompted Lenin to accelerate the NEP as a way to ease tensions. 

By 1923, the major fronts of the Russian Civil War had closed. The Bolsheviks had suppressed rival political parties, defeated the White Armies, broken the power of the anarchists and Greens, and recaptured most of the former imperial territory, except for the Baltic states, Poland, and Finland, which had secured independence.

The USSR officially formed on 30 December 1922, which brought several republics together under the Communist Party's control. 

The war had devastated Russia. Civilian casualties reached into the millions, many urban areas faced severe disruption and decay, and agricultural production collapsed.

The population declined by an estimated 8 to 10 million people due to war, famine, and disease between 1917 and 1923.

So the Bolsheviks, after they had won the war, focused on tightening control inside the country.

Lenin’s declining health gave way to a struggle over who would succeed him that eventually placed Stalin, who became General Secretary in 1922, in command. 

As a result, the Russian Civil War also entrenched one-party rule enforced through centralised violence and a demand for ideological conformity as permanent features of Soviet power rather than only destroying political opposition.

The consequences affected the Soviet Union for decades.