Looking Back at History: The Russian Civil War

I remember I was already quite aware of the Russian Revolution when I first saw the film Doctor Zhivago, directed by David Lean and starring Omar Shariff. The three hour epic is based off of Boris Pasternak's novel, about a good-hearted doctor, caught in a love triangle in the midst of the Russian Revolution. However after a second viewing I have come to realize that this film captures more of the Civil War than the actual Revolution. Therefore I thought it would be fitting to tie David Lean's incredible film into this entry regarding the Russian Civil War...


The History

• The Start of the Civil War (October 1917): Once the Bolsheviks had control of the government, they withdrew the Russian army from World War I and signed an armistice with the Central Powers. The Civil War began in October with uprisings in Petrograd to regain power from the Bolsheviks. Realizing that their revolution was still at threat, Leon Trotsky created the Red Army to squash the counter-revolution.

• The Volunteer Army (December 1917): There were still many people who declared their loyalty to the Provisional Government, as well people who still supported the Tsar's old regime. Both groups were against the Bolsheviks and therefore created the Volunteer Army to bring down the Bolsheviks. With support from the western governments of Britain, France, and USA the Volunteer Army were able to capture several cities, such as Rostov. The Volunteer Army later grew to become the White Army.

• The Czechoslovak Legion (June 1918) Things got worse for the Bolsheviks, when an unexpected intervention of the Czechoslovak Legion grew to prominence in the Western Front and began disarming Bolsheviks... The Legion consisted of nearly 30,000 prisoners of WWI, who wanted to continue the fight against Germany. By June of 1918 they had controlled most of the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Realizing that their new government was at risk, the Bolsheviks decided to execute Czar Nicholas II and his family, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the White Army...

• The Russian Provisional Government of Omsk (September 1918): The Conservative and anti-Soviet organizations managed to meet and organize a new Russian Provisional Government in the city of Omsk. However this government quickly proved to be ineffective due to inner-struggles for power as well as opposition to the Czechoslovak Legion...

• The Black Army (July 1919) The Red Army had managed to capture the city of Kiev, Ukraine in February 1919, however quickly withdrew their forces from the city... This angered many Red Army soldiers, and in July of 1919 nearly 40,000 of them broke away from the Red Army and joined Nestor Makhno's Black Army of anarchy.... The anarchists were then able to control much of Southern Ukraine... With a force of nearly 100,000 soldiers the Black anarchist Army faced off with the White Army, in what became an ideal deterrent for the Red Army...

• The White Army's Final Offensive (October 1919) A new threat arose from Estonia in October of 1919, when a force of over 20,000 White-Army soldiers, with British support, marched on the city of Petrograd. Leon Trotsky refused to allow the city of Petrograd to fall and personally organized it's defenses. All able bodies of Petrograd, both men and women, were armed to defend their streets against the White Army. After a few weeks of battle the White Army was forced to call off their seige and retreat. This marked the turning point of the White Army.

• The Red Army takes the Advantage (January 1920) In hopes that the Black Army and the White Army would destroy one another, the Red Army averted its attention to winning back cities in the West. Leon Trotsky sent a massive army against the Russian Provisional Government, and successfully re-captured the city of Omsk as well as the Trans-Siberian Railroad.

• The White Movement goes into Exile (1920-1921) Following their defeat in Petrograd, the White Army began to realize the entire civil war was a loss cause, and also realized it was in their best interests to escape the country while they had the chance. Therefore, with the help of British ships, many counter-revolutionaries began to evacuate from Russia.

• The defeat of the Black Army (1921-1923) With the White Army out of the picture, the Red-Army turned it's attention to Japan on the east, and the anarchist Black Army in Ukraine. After a series of invasions and mass executions, Leon Trotsky was able to drive Nestor Makhno's anarchist movement out of Russia and into exile... Shortly after Japanese forces on the Eastern front also began to withdraw... By the end of 1922 the Civil War was finally over, however guerrilla resistance continued until 1925. The Bolsheviks had successfully retained their newly established Communist government, and would soon usher in an entire new era of Stalinism...