Russian Civil War

Red Terror

A campaign involving torture, mass killings, as well as systematic oppression carried out by the Bolsheviks after the commencement of the Russian Civil War in 1918. It was significant because it cause widespread terror and oppression throughout the Russian nation. Additionally, the total estimated number of people killed in the Red Terror range from 10,000 to over one and a half million, the Cheka conducting the mass repressions.

Kolchak

Alexander Kolchak created a Provisional government in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. He was known as ruler and commander of all Russian land and sea forces by white leaders. He was the leader of Russia and tried to bring together the anti-Bolshevik, but failed. He is significant due to his prominent leadership in Russia.

Denikin

Anton Denikin is significant because he was a leading general in the White movement in Russia, during the Civil War. He and Kornilov established the anti-Bolshevik volunteer army. He wanted power of his army. Known as the Ice March, he withdrew his forces towards the Don area. In an effort to capture Moscow in 1919, Denikin led an assault of the southern White forces. The whites retreated from Black army pressure and Denikin's army was defeated at Orel in October of 1919.

Bukharin

Bukharin's importance in the Russian Civil War was his leadership role in the Bolshevik Party. He joined this party in 1906, and became the main Bolshevik party leader in Moscow. Bukharian was considered Lenin's second hand man and Trokesty's opponent. wrote several books that established him as a major Bolshevik theorist. One in particular, Imperialism and World Economy influenced Lenin, who borrowed from it freely.Becoming the editor of Pravda, enabled BUkharian to be influential in the main newspapers in Moscow. He published several theoretical economic works, including the popular primer The ABC of Communism and the more academic Economics of the Transitional Period (1920) and Historical Materialism (1921). He supported Lenin's New Economic Policy.

Cheka

Established in December of 1917 after a decree by Lenin, the Cheka was the first succession of Soviet State Security organizations. This group was led by by Felix Dzerzhinsky. Over time, Cheka organizations grew in multiple cities. A member was referred to "chekist" or secret police.

Wrangel

He was a German was a general in the anti-Bolshevik White army in Russia during the Civil War. He had relations with Bolshevik independent republic of Ukraine and Georgia. His side was declining and losing the war, with losing half of his army.

Kamenev

Kamenev was an old Bolshevik and prominent member of the Communist Party and Soviet government during the decade after the October Revolution in Russia. He was significant because during his time by Lenin's side, he spent his time organising strikes and fighting in support of Lenin. He was arrested and spent time in prison. On his release, Kamenev toured Russia and made speeches on behalf of the party. During the 1905 Russian Revolution, he organised rail strikes in St. Petersburg. He became an opponent of Joseph Stalin and was executed during the Great Purge.

Kulak

Kulaks were typically the wealthier Russian peasants. Born from the emancipation of serfs in 1861, they had enough resources or wealth to own their own land and even hire labor. However, after 1918 that title "Kulak" changed from an affluent peasant to a farmer or landowner (still usually of the peasant class) who resisted against giving up their resources- primarily grain. Kulaks were one of the groups that most opposed Stalin's ideas of collectivization. Kulaks were significant because they played a great role in the prevention of the success of collectivization and the follow through of Marxist theories. They stood against the industrialization and class struggle outline that Marx had predicted.

Lenin

Lenin was the founder of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), inspirer and leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), and the architect, builder, and first head of the Soviet state. He was the founder of the organization known as Comintern (Communist International) and the source of "Leninism," the doctrine conjoined with Marx's works by Lenin's successors to form Marxism-Leninism, which became the Communist worldview. He was significant because a lot of people feared the assent of communism in Russia would bring revolution to them, and this had a major impact on Hitler's decision to expand east to fight the Russians, as well as the American's ever eastward presence to contain the Communist influence from spreading to their major allies in the west.

Trotsky

Leon Trotsky was a communist theorist and agitator, a leader in Russia's October Revolution in 1917, and later commissar of foreign affairs and of war in the Soviet Union in 1917-24. After the Bolsheviks took control of the Soviet government, Lenin ordered the formation of the Red Army and appointed Leon Trotsky its leader. He was significant because he proved to be an outstanding military leader, as he led the army of 3 million to victory and neutralized the White Army during the Russian Civil War. In the struggle for power following Lenin's death, however, Stalin emerged as victor, while Trotsky was removed from all positions of power and laterite exiled in 1929. He remained the leader of an anti-Stalinist opposition abroad until his assassination by a Stalinist agent.

Reds

Made up of peasants and workers, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Established after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, was created oppose the military confederations during the Russian Civil War. They were made mostly of Soviets, given the name "Soviet Army".

Stalin

Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign. Born into poverty, Stalin became involved in revolutionary politics, as well as criminal activities, as a young man. After Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin died, Stalin outmaneuvered his rivals for control of the party. Once in power, he collectivized farming and had potential enemies executed or sent to forced labor camps. He was significant because he aligned with the United States and Britain in World War II but afterward engaged in an increasingly tense relationship with the West known as the Cold War (1946-1991). After his death, the Soviets initiated a de-Stalinization process.

Cossacks

The Cossacks were an eastern-slavic people in Ukraine and Russia. They were typically members of self-governing, democratic, and self-military communities. They were some of the first groups to declare open war on the Bolsheviks. The Cossacks were important because they made up the core of the armed forces representing the Whites in the Russian civil war.

Kronstadt Revolt

The Kronstadt Rebellion was a major uprising against the Bolsheviks taking place in 1921. This consisted of sailors, workers, and civilians. The major cause of this uprising was the Bolshevik government's decision to seize land in order to feed those affected by economic turmoil and devastation following WW1. Due to this economic crisis as a whole and the government's inability to resolve these issues, the public was unsettled, primarily the peasants or lower class workers. This follows the pattern that when food rations are decreased, people get angry and revolution follows.

NEP

The New Economic Policy was put in place by Lenin in attempts to progress towards state capitalism. It involved the coexistence of private and public sectors in a term known as "mixed economy". Lenin believed the NEP was a strategic move away from socialism, and justified it by declaring it a different type of capitalism, state-capitalism. War communism was partially revoked and individuals were allowed to own private enterprises. The state, however, still had control over banks, foreign trade, and large industries. The NEP is significant because it abolished grain requisition and allowed farmers to sell their produce for profit. This created incentive for farmers to grow more food, but led to the scissors crisis- a result of an imbalanced economy in which the agricultural sector advances more rapidly than heavy industry and prices of goods increase dramatically to where the value of grain decreases immensely.

Whites

The whites were military forces that participated in the Russian Civil War. It began as a volunteer army in January 1918 under Lavr Kornilov. Led by conservative generals, they fought against the Bolshevik Red Army for control of Russia. The Whites became an umbrella term for anyone against Lenin and his government. Aside from their hatred for Lenin, the whites didn't have much in common and worked independently from each other. The Whites are important because they failed to offer a political alternative to the Bolsheviks.

Allied Intervention

This consisted of allied support of the Czech legion to re-establish an Eastern Front transformed into the support of anti-bolshevik factions post WW1. Allied Intervention was used as propaganda to galvanize support for the Bolsheviks. As a whole, after the Ally forces won the first world war, they were unhappy with the Bolsheviks and their role in Russia's leaving the war. In addition, the allies were against the spread of communism and therefore the Bolsheviks/Reds. In order to support these ideals, they joined into the Russian civil war by sending resources and supplies to the Whites' troops. However, this backfired due to the lack of organization of the Whites. As they were not effectively located and sides were constantly shifting, the supplies were often intercepted by the Bolsheviks, strengthening the Red Army even more.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

This was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918 between the Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia and the Central Powers that ended Russia's participation in WWI. Both German and Austrian forces threatened to make further advancements had the Bolshevik government not signed the treaty. The treaty included Bolshevik Russia ceding the Baltic States Germany as well as its province of Kars Oblast to the Ottoman Empire, and recognizing Ukraine as being independent. The treaty was significant because it drastically decreased the territory controlled by the Bolsheviks, as well as created, according to the Bolsheviks, "dangerous bases of anti-war Bolshevik Military activity in the subsequent Russian Civil War".

Czech Legion

This was an armed force made up of majorly volunteer Czech and Slovak soldiers. They fought along the Entente powers during World War I. They were also very involved in fighting in Russia in WW1 as well as the Russian civil war. Their goal in this was to win ally support in the independence of various territories including Bohemia and Moravia rather than being under Austrian rule. They played a significant role in the outcome of the Russian civil war and a relatively effective role in the first world war.

War Communism

War Communism was a policy put in effect in June, 1918 by the Bolsheviks. The goal of this policy was to keep both towns and the army stocked with food and weapons. Some of the policies included food rationing, and strict control over workers, railways and trade as well as obligatory labor duty for the non-working class. War Communism is important because it aided in the advancements of the Red Army

Fanny Kaplan

Was a Russian Revolutionist and member of the Socialist Revolutionaries. She viewed Lenin as a "traitor to the revolution" when he dissolved the Constituent Assembly. She is important because on August 30, 1918, She attempted to assassinate Lenin, shooting 3 shots at him, but only injuring him.

Zinoviev

Zinoviev was a member of the politburo (executive committee for a communist party). He was also a longtime head of the Communist International as well as a member of the Bolsheviks. In 1918 he was put in charge of the Petrograd city and regional government. He was the supposed author of the Zinoviev Letter, a letter calling British communists to prepare for Revolution. He is significant because he, along with Stalin and Kamenev, formed the Triumvirate that planned to take over after Lenin died while preventing Leon Trotsky from taking power.

Council of People's Commisar

a government institution created just after the October Revolution in 1917. It became the highest governmental authority of executive power under the Soviet system. It was significant because the council laid foundations in restructuring the country to form the Soviet Union.

Greens

​The greens consisted of mostly peasant groups and farmers who were against the Russian civil war. With the Russian civil war came war communism, a practice where the Bolshevik or communist government would send officials to collect supplies from farms and peasants. Though they were large in population, they were not the most effective group participating in the Russian civil war due the their unwillingness to actively engage in working together to form one cohesive force. During the war, their primary goal or want was to be left alone and have no part in the war, its vast turmoil, and the resources needed to support it.