Stalin

From a Russian television series, Name of Russia in 2008. Who was the greatest Russian of all time?

Medieval warrior overcomes Stalin in poll to name greatest Russian

Rise of Lenin and the Bolsheviks

Victory in the Russian Civil War

A. The Reds won because:

  • Trotsky was an excellent organiser. He helped the Bolsheviks produce a professional army by: introducing harsh discipline (including the death penalty), appointing former Tsarist officers as leaders (sometimes holding their families hostage to ensure loyalty) and political commissars to report on any anti-Bolshevik activities, and finally he disbanded the soldier committees. He was no great military leader but realised that these were ineffective so, despite opposition from many soldiers, opted to put officers back in charge.
  • Trotsky was also a superb orator and was able to inspire the Bolshevik soldiers. He travelled across the country by train, even to precarious battles, to take charge of operations and talk to the armies involved.
  • The Reds had huge issues with desertion but Trotsky’s harsh discipline was able to limit this for a time (although not at the end of the war, in 1921, four million deserted!).
  • The Bolsheviks held the economic centres (Petrograd and Moscow) so they were able to supply their forces. Moreover, geographically, the Reds were

The Whites lost because:

  • They fought each other. For example, Admiral Kolchak executed former Social Revolutionary allies.
  • They had different agendas. For example, Denikin wanted to continue with a united Russia after the Bolsheviks were defeated. But the Don Cossacks only wanted their independence so stopped fighting when their region of Russia was cleared of Bolsheviks.
  • Some White elements were brutal, especially towards the peasants. As many of their soldiers were from this social group, it caused tension and desertion.
  • The foreign powers who helped them (Britain, France, the US and Japan) did not have the political capital to fight in the war.

Cult of Personality

The Purges

The Great Terror

Watch from 58:07 – 1:13:19.