‘How far do you agree that the Bolsheviks won the civil war because they controlled more people and had access to more weapons?’ Despite the diverse forces massed against the red army, the experience of the white leaders and the precarious position of Lenin, the communists still managed to gain victory in the Civil War of 1918-1921. The fact that the Bolsheviks had control of the heartland and therefore factories and supplies was an advantage to them. But on the other hand there were other factors such as good leadership, weak opposition and terror that helped just as much. I believe that the Bolsheviks controlling more people and having access to more weapons was a key factor in them winning the war. They controlled the industrial heart of Russia, which included Petrograd and Moscow, this also meant they had control of all the factories, and the railway lines.
Furthermore the Trotsky permitted the assassination of the Tsar; this was a good tactic as it immediately killed the cause of a large proportion of the White army. The discipline of the Red army was also much better; this is because there were much more severe punishments for disobedience than with the Whites. The main body of the Red Army were workers and army conscripts, therefore they were more experienced that the Whites when it came to tactics and combat. Trotsky also made sure that his men were well fed by rationing the supplies and taking food away from peasants, they also took over arms factories so that they always had equipment and ammunition which the White Army did not always have. In addition the Reds had a territorial advantage as their enemies were spread around edge of Russia whilst the Bolsheviks had the main communication lines.
Despite the strong forces pushed upon the red army, the experience of the white leaders and position of Lenin, the communists still managed to achieve a victory in the Russian Civil War. Two main reasons that led to their success were because they had control over more people and because they had access to more weapons. However, there were many other contributing factors leading to the Bolshevik victory questioning the importance of these specific two. Bolshevik control over highly populated parts of Russia lead to communist success in the Civil War. The Bolsheviks had a huge strategic advantage due to their geographical position within Russia, in that they had control over major cities such as Moscow and Petrograd, which had many people within them.
The Reds controlled high industry areas which allowed them to stop the enemy receiving supplies as well as supplying the Bolshevik army with plenty of munitions. Another key point as to why the Reds won is that the army was controlled by Trotsky who organised it in a very strict, but effective way. The Whites however, were inefficient, lacked unity within their army and therefore fought as separate detachments; they lacked a true leader and were too dependent on supplies from abroad, which rarely arrived with sufficient quantities or in the right location. In short, the Whites were unlikely to ever destroy the Reds exceptional army due to their many weaknesses in comparison to the Reds strengths. Source A would agree with the idea that the Whites were weak, which is why the Reds won the civil war.
This is a massive key factor to why the Bolsheviks had won the war because without the people that they controlled they would of not of been able to make all the weapons and the most essential things that they needed to win the war against the whites. So even though the whites had a bigger army, the Bolsheviks were able to win the war, because of all the support of the people they had control over and all the work they had done and the support they gave to the red army to lead them to victory. However the amount of arms they had and the amount of people they had control over may not be the leading factor to why they won the war. There are other factors such as the Bolsheviks had complete control over the trans-Siberian railway. This railway was the main line where all the supplies and goods came in and out of Russia so having control over this was a great advantage.
The Reds Won the Civil War Because They Were More Disciplined Than the Whites. Throughout the War, the contrast in discipline of the two sides stood out, and certainly helped the Reds to win the war; however, there were many other factors that also contributed to the success. The leadership of the Red Army and Government was where the discipline stemmed from, particularly from Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. In the Army, Trotsky had a strict policy on shooting deserters. Source B supports this, saying that if any unit ‘retreats without orders’ they would be shot’.
This high density of people living in towns and cities made it easier for revolutionary parties easier to rally and less easy to crush than when most people lived in more rural areas. This is because revolts in rural areas could be easily stopped by a massacre of the people by the armed forces without any outcry from the people as no other people would know how it had happened; this was the problem with Bloody Sunday. My overall judgement is that economic factors played a key role in the set-up of the
In this aspect the changes brought about by this policy were successful as it resulted in a Bolshevik victory in the war as it ‘...did the job of supplying towns and armies with just enough food and supplies to keep providing war material and to keep fighting. In this way it was successful.’ (David Christian, Power and Privilege) When focusing on its second goal, ‘to build a socialist society’ (David Christian) then the changes it brought about where highly ineffective. Although War Communism was successful in moving the country closer to Communistic ideology with the idea that everything is communal and each is given according to his needs, the socialist aim to have unity and peace amongst the
In their eyes introducing prohibition could decrease the levels of prostitution, gambling and crime in the cities .The war provided prohibitionists with more ammunition to support their cause. They argued that as the government was calling for maximum agriculture production, so how could they justify the wasteful use of grains for beer and spirits? The prohibition lobby was also able to harness anti-German wartime hostility as the majority of brewers were of German origin, and that their trade organisation helped finance the National German-American Alliance which was a potent source for the Kaiser. Alcohol was also said to undermine military discipline and the virtue of young soldiers. Although world war one played a significant factor in giving ammunition to prohibitionists such as the patriotic feeling, and the fact that the government had begun to interfere
For them to be effective they needed to be used in large quantities, and that’s what they did. In 1917 at the Battle of Cambrai ‘where tanks achieved great success’ because were in large numbers and they helped get an advantage on the Germans. For they could travel across the trenches without getting mangled in the barbed wire it pushed the Germans further back into their trenches, resulting in much gained land and a ‘significant boost to morale’. The allies learnt much from the Battle of the Somme, for instance the officers couldn’t just send out men regardless of the situation. They need to not let men die needlessly there were over ’57,470 casualties’ on the first day and the land gained only came to 25 metres.