To a large extent, the Red victory in the Russian Civil War was due to the White’s weaknesses. However, a combination of these weaknesses together with the Bolsheviks own strengths were responsible for the defeat of the Whites, in terms of resources and geographical location, political support, leadership and foreign help.
In terms of geography and resources, the Reds had control over the more densely populated areas in western Russia. That area was populated by some 70 million people, in comparison to the 20 million in the Whites controlled areas, which meant they could recruit more people. This gave the Reds a huge numerical advantage, White generals only had between 250,000 men at their disposal whereas the Red army counted with 400,000 men in 1919 and over 5 million by the end if the Civil War. It was a central area that was easier to defend and in which to keep internal lines of communication. In contrast, the White armies were physically separated, which made the coordination of their military actions more difficult. For example, in 1919 General Denikin’s forces were defeated in the south-east region of Russia due to his inability to organize a strategic plan with Kolchak, which would have proved a great danger for the Bolsheviks. Another key advantage was that the areas under Red control included the industrial centres of the country, Petrograd and Moscow, which meant they had the capacity to manufacture armaments and not be dependent on foreign assistance, as the Whites were. Also, they were in possession of the old Tsarist army’s arsenal. Bolsheviks also controlled the Russian railway networks, which meant they were able to keep themselves supplied and facilitated the transportation of troops and reinforcements to the fronts quickly and effectively. Geographically and in terms of resources, the Red’s had a strengthened position which would result instrumental in winning the war.
In terms of political support, the Whites failed to attract a large number of supporters. They were a divided group and disagreed in terms of their objectives. For example, some were monarchists who wanted the restoration of Tsarism, some were revolutionaries who wanted a Constituent Assembly back and some wanted some sort of a military dictatorship. They didn’t have the support from the peasants, because if the Whites came into power, they had the intention of upholding property rights; this would lead to the restoration of the property of the land seized in 1917 by the peasants back to its previous owners. It was this fear that the Bolsheviks exploited to gain the peasants support. Likewise, even though the factory workers weren’t in complete agreement with the Reds, especially over matters such as War Communism, they believed supporting the Bolsheviks was their best chance at maintaining the progress achieved a year prior in the Russian Revolution. Also, Whites viewed Russia as ‘Great, United and Indivisible’ and sought the re-establishment of Russia with the borders it had prior to 1917, which meant they lacked the support of nationalists in regions such as Ukraine. The Reds were more prepared to make concessions to separatists. Furthermore, foreign forces such as Britain, France and the USA, who had initially sent troops and supplies to the Whites in an attempt to stop the emergence of a communist regime in Russia (Churchill, for example, had sent £100 million worth of supplies to help the Whites), had left Russia by the end of 1919, deeming the Russian Civil War as a lost cause. From this, Kolchak lost the support of 30,000 foreign troops. All of these weaknesses worked in the Reds favour, who had also used foreign support for the Whites to portray themselves as more patriotic, thus ensuring more support for their cause. All in all, the balance of support was in the Reds’ favour, which contributed to the final outcome of the war.
From a practical point of view, the man instrumental in the Red victory was Leon Trotsky. With full support from Lenin, he built the Red Army and made it into a disciplined and effective fighting force. To ensure their effectiveness, Trotsky recruited old Tsarist officers who were experienced in the matters of war; in contrast, there were no remarkable leaders within the Whites. Trotsky was successful in terms of keeping morale high, and practiced a strict and old-fashioned discipline with his soldiers; for example, desertions and disloyalty were met with the death sentence. Trotsky’s efforts were supported by Lenin’s strong leadership. He introduced War Communism, which guaranteed the industrial production of munitions through the nationalisation of the industry; he also introduced grain requisitioning and food rationing, with the biggest portions going to Red Army soldiers, which clearly showed that his priorities were the war effort. He was not reluctant to use fear through the Cheka to fulfil his objective of eradicating any of his opponents. It carried out 50,000 executions in 1918 alone, which shows his determination to win the Russian Civil War.
On the face of it, one would conclude that it was a combination of both the weaknesses of the Whites and the strengths of the Reds that resulted in the Bolshevik victory. The role of Trotsky can’t be underestimated together with the geographical and strategic advantages. However, had the Whites not presented a divided front, the outcome could have been different. The Red Army defeat against Poland when the Civil War was effectively over proved that they could be defeated when the opponents were determined and well organised. Therefore, it was to a large extent that the weaknesses of the Whites lead to the victory of the Red Army in the Russian Civil War in 1921.