by: Katherine E. Ruiz-Díaz Show За единую Россию! (For a united Russia!) The Russian Civil War tore Russia apart during a three-year period, from 1918 and 1921. The Civil War was a result of the emergence of opposition against the Bolsheviks after November 1917. These groups included monarchists, militarists, and, for a short time, foreign nations. Collectively, they were known as the Whites while the Bolsheviks were known as the Reds. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk had shown a certain weakness on behalf of the Bolsheviks. Lenin had called for peace at any price and the Germans had exacted very severe terms. At the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks only effectively controlled Petrograd, Moscow, and the territory between both cities. With the fall of Nicholas II, many parts of the Russian empire took the opportunity to declare their independence. Finland did so in March 1918, having its own civil war right after. Within Russia, those who opposed the Bolsheviks looked for the West for help. In fact, there is scholarship that discusses the influence of the West in the Civil War. For their own benefit, the western powers wanted to re-establish an Eastern Front so that the German Army would be split once again, thus relieving the problems being experienced on the Western Front. In the south of Russia, the resistance to the Bolsheviks was led by Kornilov, and joined by soldiers that had survived World War I. The Socialist Revolutionaries, who had been members of the dispersed Constituent Assembly, grouped in the Lower Volga under the leadership of Viktor Chernov. In addition, a Socialist Revolutionary group had established an autonomous regime just east of Omsk which claimed to govern the whole of Siberia. They also seized the eastern city of Vladivostok. Colonel Semenov, a monarchist, also established his own government in Trans-Baikalia. In Manchuria, General Horvat, who had been the tsar’s military-governor of the region, established another conservative government. While the royal family was alive, they were source of inspiration and encouragement to the Whites. Therefore, Lenin ordered their execution on July 16th, 1918. An upturn for the Bolsheviks came after World War I, when due to strategic reasons and the closing of one fighting front, the Whites lost the upper hand. Consequently, the Red Army had enough sequential victories to bring security for a Bolshevik government. The purpose of this research guide is to explore the different aspects of the Russian Civil War, under the context of World War I and the multi-culturality that they inherited from the Russian Empire. Besides the politics of war, this page intends to show other factors, like economics and society that affected the outcome of the Civil War and –on a larger scale–the outcome of this newly form government. Furthermore, this guide aspires to show beyond a clash between two forces –one Bolshevik, one monarchist–, and to show the dimensionality and complexities of the period. As you go through this guide, you will find a collection of primary and secondary sources that may either agree, contradict each other, or just offer a different perspective on a historical event. The Civil War: BackgroundIn this segment, the intent is to provide background reading on the Civil War, as well as explore the origins of the conflict. Not only one must see alliances, but analyze the reason behind the different formations of different factions. This section includes books and articles, as well as compilations of primary sources. While most of the background information focuses on the achievements and final victory of the Red Army, other sections will focus on other players and other more specific aspects of the war. The Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War: Documents from the Soviet Archives (Book)
The Russian Civil War: Primary Sources (Book)
La guerre civile et l’économie de guerre origines du système soviétique (Article, Source in French)
Rostov in the Russian Civil War, 1917-1920: The Key to Victory (Book)
Communists and the Red Cavalry: The Political Education of the Konarmiia in the Russian Civil War, 1918-20 (Article)Civil War in South Russia, 1918 (Book) // Civil War in South Russia, 1919-1920 (Book)
The White Armed ForcesThe White Army (Book/Memoir)
The White Russian Army in Exile, 1920-1941 (Book)
White Siberia: The Politics of Civil War (Book)
Greens and OthersWho Were the “Greens”? Rumor and Collective Identity in the Russian Civil War? (Article)
Foreign Influences and ExpansionThe Civil War ExtendsThe Russian Civil War in Chinese Turkestan (Xinjiang), 1918-1921: A Little Known and Explored Front (Article)
Vanguard of “Socialist Colonization”? The Krasnyi Vostok Expedition of 1920 (Article)
Society Throughout the Civil WarParty, State, and Society in the Russian Civil War: Exploration in Social History (Book)
Arkhangel’sk, 1918: Regionalism and Populism in the Russian Civil War (Article)
Urbanization and Deurbanization in the Russian Revolution and the Civil War (Article)Le travail d’enquête des organisations juives sur les pogroms d’Ukraine, de Biélorussie et de Russie soviétique pendant la guerre civile (1918-1922) (Article, Source in French)
Woman and Violence in Artistic Discourse of the Russian Revolution and Civil War (1917–1922) (Article)
Hungry Moscow: Scarcity and Urban Society in the Russian Civil War, 1917-1921 (Book)
Peasant Russia, Civil War: The Volga Countryside in Revolution (1917-1921) (Book)
Chapayev and Company: Films of the Russian Civil War (Article)
Caffeinated Avant-Garde: Futurism During the Russian Civil War 1917-1921 (Article)
The Great War, the Russian Civil War, and the Invention of Big Science (Article)
Propaganda of the Civil WarUnlike other forms of art and expression, propaganda tends to be more directed by a specific groups that is or yearns to be in power. This section mostly contains the primary source itself: posters. The two articles point out how Reds and Whites used propaganda and mass mobilization as weapons of war. White Propaganda Efforts in the South during the Russian Civil War, 1918-19 (The Alekseev-Denikin Period) (Article)The Red Army and Mass Mobilization during the Russian Civil War 1918-1920 (Article)Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons (Website)Плакаты Давно.Ру (Website, Source in Russian)Bolsheviks – Russian Civil War – Propaganda Posters and Military Art (Website)
|