Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) began immediately after the collapse of the Russian provisional government and the Bolshevik takeover of Petrograd. Although the war was multi-sided and included foreign forces from several countries, the main hostilities took place between Bolshevik forces, known as the Red Army, and loosely-allied anti-Bolshevik forces, known as the White Army. Other forces included the Ukrainian nationalist Green Army and the anarchist Black Army, as well as various other nationalist and regional movements. These forces sometimes fought against both Reds and Whites, sometimes sided with one of the two, and some even switched sides. In Soviet historiography the end of the Civil War is dated to October 25, 1922 when the Red Army occupied Vladivostok, previously held by the Provisional Priamur Government.

The most intense fighting took place from 1918 to 1920. Following the abdication of Nicholas II of Russia and the turbulent Russian Revolution throughout 1917, the Russian Provisional Government was established. In October another revolution occurred in which the Red Guard, armed groups of workers and deserting soldiers directed by the Bolshevik Party, seized control of Saint Petersburg and began an immediate armed takeover of cities and villages throughout the former Russian Empire. In January 1918, Lenin had the Constituent Assembly violently dissolved, proclaiming the Soviets as the new government of Russia.

The Bolsheviks decided to immediately make peace with the German Empire and the Central Powers, as they had promised the Russian people prior to the Revolution. His political enemies attributed this decision to Vladimir Lenin's sponsorship by the foreign office of William II, German Emperor, offered by the latter in hopes that with a revolution, Russia would withdraw from World War I, although no concrete evidence was ever found. A cease fire was immediately announced and peace talks began. As a condition for peace, the proposed treaty by the Central Powers conceded huge portions of the former Russian Empire to Imperial Germany and the Ottoman Empire, greatly upsetting nationalists and conservatives.

In view of this, the Germans began an all out advance on the Eastern Front, encountering no resistance. Signing a formal peace treaty was the only option in the eyes of the Bolsheviks, because the Russian army was demobilized and the newly formed Red Guard were incapable of stopping the advance. They also understood that the impending counterrevolutionary resistance was more dangerous than the concessions of the treaty, which Lenin viewed as temporary in the light of aspirations for a world revolution.

A loose confederation of anti-Bolshevik forces aligned against the Communist government, including land-owners, republicans, conservatives, middle-class citizens, reactionaries, pro-monarchists, liberals, army generals, non-Bolshevik socialists who still had grievances and democratic reformists, voluntarily united only in their opposition to Bolshevik rule. Their military forces, bolstered by foreign influence and led by General Yudenich, Admiral Kolchak and General Denikin, became known as the White movement (sometimes referred to as the "White Army"), and they controlled significant parts of the former Russian empire for most of the war.

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