{{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

and the

aftermath of World War I The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...

, image = Russian Civil War montage

, caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers of the

Don Army The Don Army (russian: Донская армия, ) was the military of the short lived Don Republic and a part of the White movement in the Russian Civil War. It operated from 1918 to 1920, in the Don region and centered in the town of Novocher ...

*Soldiers of the

Siberian Army The Siberian Army (russian: Сибирская армия, Sibirskaya Armiya) was an anti-Bolshevik army during the Russian Civil War, which fought from June 1918 – July 1919 in Siberia – Ural Region. Background After the Bolsheviks' sei ...

*Suppression of the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Locat ...

*American troop in Vladivostok during the intervention *Victims of the

Red Terror The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

*Hanging of workers in

Yekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

by the

Austrians , pop = 8–8.5 million , regions = 7,427,759 , region1 = , pop1 = 684,184 , ref1 = , region2 = , pop2 = 345,620 , ref2 = , region3 = , pop3 = 197,990 , ref3 ...

*A review of Red Army troops in Moscow. , date = 7 November 1917 – 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued in Central Asia and

the Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

through the 1920s and 1930s.{{cite book, last=Mawdsley, first=Evan, title=The Russian Civil War, location=New York, publisher=Pegasus Books, year=2007, isbn=9781681770093, url=https://archive.org/details/russiancivilwar00evan, url-access=registration{{rp, 3,230
(5 years, 7 months and 9 days) {{Collapsible list , bullets = yes , title = Peace treaties ,

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace, separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russian SFSR, Russia and the Central Powers (German Empire, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of ...

Signed 3 March 1918
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=3, day2=3, year2=1918) ,

Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian) Treaty of Tartu may refer to: * Treaty of Tartu (Estonia–Russia) * Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia) , image = Treaty-of-Tartu.png , image_width = 150px , caption = The Finland–Russia border as decided in ...

Signed 2 February 1920
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=2, day2=2, year2=1920) ,

Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to move its troops in the territory that was reco ...

Signed 12 July 1920
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=7, day2=12, year2=1920) ,

Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Finnish) Treaty of Tartu may refer to: * Treaty of Tartu (Estonia–Russia) * Treaty of Tartu (Finland–Russia) , image = Treaty-of-Tartu.png , image_width = 150px , caption = The Finland–Russia border as decided in ...

Signed 14 October 1920
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=10, day2=14, year2=1920) ,

Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty The Latvian–Soviet Peace Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Riga, was signed on 11 August 1920 by representatives of the Republic of Latvia and Soviet Russia. It officially ended the Latvian War of Independence. In Article II of the treat ...

Signed 11 August 1920
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=8, day2=11, year2=1920) ,

Peace of Riga The Peace of Riga, also known as the Treaty of Riga ( pl, Traktat Ryski), was signed in Riga on 18 March 1921, among Poland, Soviet Russia (acting also on behalf of Soviet Belarus) and Soviet Ukraine. The treaty ended the Polish–Soviet War. ...

Signed 17 September 1921
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=9, day2=17, year2=1921) ,

Treaty of Kars The Treaty of Kars ( tr, Kars Antlaşması, rus, Карсский договор, Karskii dogovor, ka, ყარსის ხელშეკრულება, hy, Կարսի պայմանագիր, az, Qars müqaviləsi) was a treaty that est ...

Signed 13 October 1921
({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=11, day1=7, year1=1917, month2=9, day2=13, year2=1921) , place = Former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

West Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austrian ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

Tuva Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, result =

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

victory: * Collapse of the

Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the Decree on the system of government of Russia (1918), 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state (polity), state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territ ...

and

Russian State Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

of the

Russian Imperial family The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to th ...

* Defeat of the White movement and its exodus * Creation of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in most of the former Empire * Creation of Bolshevist Mongolian and Tuvan states *

Expulsion Expulsion or expelled may refer to: General * Deportation * Ejection (sports) * Eviction * Exile * Expeller pressing * Expulsion (education) * Expulsion from the United States Congress * Extradition * Forced migration * Ostracism * Persona non ...

of many prominent Russian intellectuals and activists * Beginning of anti-Bolshevik resistance {{Ubl , Partial victory by

independence movements Presented below is a list of lists of active separatist movements: *List of active separatist movements in Africa *List of active separatist movements in Asia *List of active separatist movements in Europe *List of active separatist movements i ...

:{{cite book, last=Bullock, first=David, title=The Russian Civil War 1918–22., publisher=

Osprey Publishing Osprey Publishing is a British, Oxford-based, publishing company specializing in military history. Predominantly an illustrated publisher, many of their books contain full-colour artwork plates, maps and photographs, and the company produces ov ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

gain independence *

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

Moldavia Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...

and many other nations of the former Russian Empire are either annexed by the Bolsheviks or by other nations * Socialist movements or Bolshevist puppet states in

and

defeated , territory = {{Collapsible list , bullets = yes , title = Cessions to

Bolshevist The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

states , Establishment of the

, Establishment of Mongolian and Tuvan republics , Cession of Russia proper,

Kuban Kuban (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Pontic–Caspian steppe, ...

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

Eastern Karelia East Karelia ( fi, Itä-Karjala, Karelian: ''Idä-Karjala''), also rendered as Eastern Karelia or Russian Karelia, is a name for the part of Karelia that since the Treaty of Stolbova in 1617 has remained Eastern Orthodox under Russian supremacy. ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

;

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

, and

Eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...

; Eastern Belarus,

Northern Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

to the Soviet Union , Joint Sino-Soviet administration of the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

until 1952 , Cession of

Uryankhay Krai Uryankhai Krai; , ; mn, Урянхайн хязгаар, Urianhain hiazgaar, ; was the name of what is today Tuva and was a short-lived protectorate of the Russian Empire that was proclaimed on 17 April 1914, created from the Uryankhay Republic ...

to Tuva , Cession of Bogd Khanate to Mongolia {{Collapsible list , bullets = yes , title = Cessions to national separatists , Independence of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland , Cession of

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

Western Belarus Western Belorussia or Western Belarus ( be, Заходняя Беларусь, translit=Zachodniaja Bielaruś; pl, Zachodnia Białoruś; russian: Западная Белоруссия, translit=Zapadnaya Belorussiya) is a historical region of mod ...

and

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austria ...

to Poland , Cession of

Grand Duchy A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was oft ...

and

Petsamo Petsamo may refer to: * Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922 * Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland * Pechengsky District, Russia, formerly known as Petsamo * Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Russi ...

to Finland , Cession of Autonomous Governorate to Estonia , Cession of Southern Livonia and

Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...

to Latvia , Cession of Northern Vilna and

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was formed ...

to Lithuania {{Collapsible list , bullets = yes , title = Cessions to other nations , Cession of

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, Cession of

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, Cession of concessions in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

and

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers wher ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, combatant1 = {{Ubl ,

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

: , {{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

{{small, (1917–22) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1929).svg

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

{{small, ({{flagicon image, Flag of Ukrainian People's Republic of the Soviets.svg, size=15px 1917–18;

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

; 1919–22) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1927).svg

Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

{{small, ({{flagicon image, Flag_of_Byelorussian_SSR_(1919-1927).png, size=15px

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

; {{flagicon image, Flag of the Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR.svg, size=15px 1919–20;
1920–22) , {{flagicon image, Ru transcaucasia1922.png

Transcaucasian SFSR , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

{{small, (1922) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

{{small, (after 1922) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = Also{{nobold, : , {{flagicon image, Socialist red flag.svg Bessarabian SSR
({{small, 1919) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg Finnish SWR
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg D-KRSR
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg Odessa SR
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg Taurida SSR
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg

Baku Commune Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Commune of the Working People of Estonia.svg Estonian Commune
{{small, (1918–19) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic (1918–1920).svg

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

{{small, (1918–20) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR.svg

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...

{{small, (1918–19) , {{flagdeco, Far Eastern Republic

Far Eastern Republic The Far Eastern Republic ( rus, Дальневосто́чная Респу́блика, ДВР, r=Dalnevostochnaya Respublika, DVR, p=dəlʲnʲɪvɐˈstotɕnəjə rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə), sometimes called the Chita Republic, was a nominally indep ...

{{small, (1920–22) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Galician SSR.svg

Galician SSR The Galician Soviet Socialist Republic was a short-lived, self-declared Bolshevik political entity that existed from 15 July to formally 21 September 1920 with the capital in the city of Tarnopol. The communist state was established during a suc ...

{{small, (1920) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg Polrewkom
{{small, (1920) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Persian Socialist Soviet Republic.svg Persian SSR
{{small, (1920–21) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (1922).svg

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

{{small, (1920–22) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (1920).svg

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

{{small, (1920–22) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1922).svg

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

{{small, (1921–22) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Khiva 1920-1923.svg Khorezm PSR
{{small, (after 1920) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic.svg Bukharan PSR
{{small, (after 1920) ---- {{ubl , Supported by: , {{Flagicon image, Flag of the Chinese Communist Party (Pre-1996).svg

Chinese communists The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...

{{small, (1917–23) , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg Red Latvian Riflemen
{{small, (1917–20) , {{flag, Lithuania{{Efn, Soviet-Polish War.
{{small, (1919–20) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the People's Republic of Mongolia (1921-1924).svg

MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilion ...

{{small, (1920–23) , combatant2 = {{Ubl , {{nowrap, {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

{{Efn, ''De facto'' deposed after the

Bolshevik Coup The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

of November 1917; formally abolished in January 1918 after the dissolution of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

.
{{small, (1917–18) ---- {{Ubl , White Guards{{nobold, : , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

South Russia South Russia may refer: * Southern Russia * South Russia (1919–1920), a territory that existed during the Russian Civil War ** South Russian Government ** Government of South Russia See also

* South Russian Ovcharka, a breed of sheepdog * Sou ...

{{small, (1917–19; Mar–Apr,
Apr–Nov 1920) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

{{small, (1918–20) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Eastern Okraina The Eastern Okraina (russian: Российская Восточная Окраина) was a local government that existed in the Russian Far East region in 1920 during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1923. In 1919 White forces in Western Siber ...

{{small, (1920) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Provisional Priamurye Government The Provisional Priamurye Government or Provisional Priamur Government (russian: Приамурский земский край) existed in the region of Priamurye of the Russian Far East between May 27, 1921 and June 16, 1923. It was the last ...

{{small, (after 1921) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = {{nowrap, Also{{nobold, : , {{flagicon image, Flag_of_the_Ural_government_(1918).svg Provisional Regional Government of the Urals
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Provisional Siberian Government.svg Omsk Siberian Government
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Provisional Siberian Government.svg Vladivostok Siberian Government
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Ural government (1918).svg

Komuch The Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly was an anti-Bolshevik government that operated in Samara, Russia, during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It formed on June 8, 1918, after the Czechoslovak Legion had occupied the city. ...

{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

North Russia Russian North (russian: Русский Север) is an ethnocultural region situated in the northwestern part of Russia. It spans the regions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic, Vologda Oblast and Nenets Autonomous ...

{{small, (1918, 1918–20) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Northwest Russia Northwest Russia, or the Russian North is the northern part of western Russia. It is bounded by Norway, Finland, the Arctic Ocean, the Ural Mountains and the east-flowing part of the Volga. The area is roughly coterminous with the Northwestern Fe ...

{{small, (1918–19) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Crimean Regional_Government.svg

{{small, (1918–19) , {{flagicon, Don Republic

Don Republic __NOTOC__ The Don Republic (russian: Донская Республика, later known as the Almighty Don Host, or russian: Всевеликое Войско Донское, ''Vsevelikoye Voysko Donskoye'') was an independent self-proclaimed anti- ...

{{small, (1918–20) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Kuban People's Republic.svg Kuban Republic
{{small, (1918–20) ---- {{ubl , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , Supported by: , {{flagicon image, Flag of Alash Autonomy.svg Alash-Orda
{{small, (1917–18) , Flag of Bogd Khaanate Mongolia

{{small, (1921) , {{flagicon image, State flag of Persia (1907–1933).svg, 23px

{{small, (1919–20) , combatant3 = {{ubl , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; ,

Separatists Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

: , {{flagdeco, Poland, 1919

{{small, (1918–21) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Finland (1918–1920).svg

{{small, (1917–18) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Ukrainian People's Republic 1917.svg

{{small, (1917–18; 1918–20) , {{flag, Estonia
{{small, (1918–20) , {{flag, Latvia
{{small, (1918–20) , {{flag, Lithuania
{{small, (1918–20) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = Also{{nobold, : , 5={{flagicon image, Flag of Ukrainian People's Republic 1917.svg

{{small, (1918–19) , 6={{flagicon image, Flaga Litwy Środkowej.svg, 23px Central Lithuania
{{small, (1920–22) , 7={{flagicon image, Flag of the Moldavian Democratic Republic.svg, 23px

{{small, (1917–18) , 8=

{{small, (1918) , 9={{flagicon, Democratic Republic of Georgia

{{small, (1918–21) , 10={{flagicon image, Flag of the First Republic of Armenia.svg

{{small, (1918–20;

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

) , 11={{flagicon image, Flag of the Turkestan (Kokand) Autonomy.svg

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

{{small, (1917–18) , 12={{flagicon image, Flag of the Centrocaspian Dictatorship.svg Centrocaspia
{{small, (1918) , 13={{flagicon image, Flag of the Republic of Aras.svg Aras
{{small, (1918–19) , 14={{flagicon image, Flag of North Caucasian Emirate.svg

Caucasian Emirate The Caucasus Emirate ( ce, Имарат Кавказ, Imarat Kavkaz, IK; russian: Кавказский эмират, Kavkazskiy emirat), also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a Jihadist ...

{{small, (1919–20) , 15={{flagicon image, Flag of Azerbaijan 1918.svg

{{small, (1918–20) , 16={{flagicon image, Flag of the Mountain Republic.svg

{{small, (1917–21) , 17={{flagicon image, Flag of Green Ukraine.svg

Green Ukraine Green Ukraine, also known as Zelenyi Klyn ( uk, Зелений клин, Zelenyi Klyn, russian: Зелёный Клин, Zelyonyy Klin, literally: 'the green gore/wedge') or Zakytaishchyna (Ukrainian and Russian: , literally: 'Trans China'), is ...

{{small, (1918–22) , 18= Buryat-Mongolia
{{small, (1917–21) , 19={{flagicon image, flag of the German Empire.svg

Yakutia Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far Eas ...

{{small, (1918) , 20={{flagicon image, Confederated Republic of Altai Flag.svg Altai
{{small, (1917–20; 1921–22) , 23={{flagicon image, Karelian National Flag.svg

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

{{small, (1918–20;

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

; 1920–23) , 24={{flagicon image, Ingrian people.svg

North Ingria The Republic of North Ingria ( fi, Pohjois-Inkerin tasavalta), Ingrian language, Ingrian: ''Pohja-inkeriläin respublikka)'' or Republic of Kirjasalo ( fi, Kirjasalon tasavalta, Ingrian language, Ingrian: ''Kirjsalon respublikka'') was a short-liv ...

{{small, (1919–20) , 27= Bandera del Turquestan

Basmachi
{{small, (1918–22) , 28= Flag of the Emirate of Bukhara

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

{{small, (1920) , 29={{flagicon image, Flag of the Khanate of Khiva.svg

Khiva Khiva ( uz, Xiva/, خىۋا; fa, خیوه, ; alternative or historical names include ''Kheeva'', ''Khorasam'', ''Khoresm'', ''Khwarezm'', ''Khwarizm'', ''Khwarazm'', ''Chorezm'', ar, خوارزم and fa, خوارزم) is a district-level city ...

{{small, (1918–20) ---- {{Ubl , Supported by: , {{flagicon image, Flag of Sweden.svg

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

{{efn,

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Hungary (1918-1919).svg

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

{{efn, Polish-Soviet War
{{small, (1919–20) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Afghanistan (1919–1921).svg

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

{{efn,

Basmachi movement The Basmachi movement (russian: Басмачество, ''Basmachestvo'', derived from Uzbek: "Basmachi" meaning "bandits") was an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. The movement's roots l ...

{{small, (until 1922) , combatant1a = {{Ubl , Anti-Bolshevik Left: , {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg

Left SRs The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...

{{Efn, Aligned with the Bolsheviks until March 1918, when they fell out over the

. Most Left SRs opposed the Bolsheviks afterward, but a minority of Left SRs remained allied to the Bolsheviks for years after.
{{small, (1917–21) , {{flagicon image, Darker green and Black flag.svg Green Army{{Efn, Aligned with the Bolsheviks until 1919; opposed after.
{{small, (1918–21) , {{flagicon image, Махновское знамя.svg

Makhnovshchina The Makhnovshchina () was an attempt to form a stateless anarchist society in parts of Ukraine during the Russian Revolution of 1917–1923. It existed from 1918 to 1921, during which time free soviets and libertarian communes operated under t ...

{{Efn, Aligned with the Bolsheviks until 1920; opposed after.
{{small, (1918–21) , {{flagicon image, Petropavlovsk-Krondstadt flag.svg Kronstadt sailors
{{small, (1921) , combatant2a = {{Ubl , Allied Powers: , {{flagcountry, Empire of Japan{{Efn, Japan also stayed in North

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

until 1925.
{{small, (1918–22) , {{flagcountry, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
{{small, (1918–20) , {{flag, United States, 1912
{{small, (1918–20) , {{flagcountry, French Third Republic
{{small, (1918–20) {{Collapsible list , title = Also{{nobold, : , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , {{flagcountry, First Czechoslovak Republic, 1918
{{small, (1918–20) , {{flagcountry, Kingdom of Greece, state , {{flagicon, Kingdom of Serbia

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

{{small, ({{flagicon, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, size=15px after 1918) , {{flagcountry, Kingdom of Romania , {{flagcountry, Kingdom of Italy , {{flagdeco, Republic of China (1912–1949), 1912

, {{flag, Canada, 1868
{{small, (1918–19) , {{flag, Australia
{{small, (1918–19) , {{flag, British Raj, name=India , {{flag, Union of South Africa, name=South Africa, 1912 , combatant3a = {{Ubl , {{nowrap,

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

: , {{nowrap, {{flagcountry, German Empire, name=Germany
{{small, (1917–18; {{flagicon, Weimar Republic, size=15px

) , {{nowrap, {{flagcountry, Austria-Hungary
{{small, (1917–18) , {{nowrap, {{flagcountry, Ottoman Empire
{{small, (1917–18; {{flagicon, Turkey, size=15px 1920–21) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Iron Division Freikorps.svg

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...

{{small, (1918–19) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = Collaborators{{nobold, : , {{flagicon image, Flag of Poland.svg

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...

{{small, (1917–18) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Finland (1918–1920).svg Kingdom of Finland
{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Lithuania (1918–1940).svg

Kingdom of Lithuania The Kingdom of Lithuania was a Lithuanian state, which existed roughly from 1251 to 1263. King Mindaugas was the first and only Lithuanian monarch crowned King of Lithuania with the assent of the Pope. The formation of the Kingdom of Lithuania ...

{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991–1995).svg

{{small, (1918–19) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Ukranian State.svg

Ukrainian State The Ukrainian State ( uk, Українська Держава, translit=Ukrainska Derzhava), sometimes also called the Second Hetmanate ( uk, Другий Гетьманат, translit=Druhyi Hetmanat, link=no), was an anti-Bolshevik government ...

{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon, Democratic Republic of Georgia

{{small, (1918) , {{flagicon image, Baltic German.svg Landeswehr
{{small, (1918–20) , {{flagicon image, WestRussianVolunteerArmy.svg, size=23px

Bermontians The West Russian Volunteer Army or Bermontians was a pro-German military formation in Latvia and Lithuania during the Russian Civil War in 1918–20. History The Western Russian Volunteer Army, unlike the pro- Entente Volunteer Army, was supp ...

{{small, (1918–20){{efn, Official allegiance to the

Unofficial allegiance to the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, commander1 = {{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

{{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

{{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

Jukums Vācietis Jukums Vācietis (russian: Иоаким Иоакимович Вацетис, link=no, ''Ioakim Ioakimovich Vatsetis''; 11 November 1873 – 28 July 1938) was a Latvian Soviet military commander. He was a rare example of a notable Soviet leader w ...

{{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

Yakov Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (russian: Яков Михайлович Свердлов; 3 June Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._22_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S ...

{{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg S. Kamenev
{{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg N. Podvoisky
{{flagdeco, Russian SFSR, 1918{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919-1929).svg{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg Y. Medvedev
{{flagicon image, Flag_of_the_Byelorussian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic_(1919-1927).svg{{flagicon image, Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg

Vilhelm Knorin Vilgelm Georgiyevich Knorin (russian: Вильге́льм Гео́ргиевич Кно́рин, Latvian: ''Vilhelms "Vilis" Knoriņš''; (29 August 1890 – 29 July 1939) was a Latvian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, publicist and hi ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of Far Eastern Republic.svg A. Krasnoshchyokov , commander2 = {{nowrap, {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg A. Kerensky{{Surrendered
{{nowrap, {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Alexander Kolchak Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (russian: link=no, Александр Васильевич Колчак; – 7 February 1920) was an Imperial Russian admiral, military leader and polar explorer who served in the Imperial Russian Navy and fought ...

{{Executed
{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Lavr Kornilov Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov (russian: Лавр Гео́ргиевич Корни́лов, ; – 13 April 1918) was a Russian military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and the ensuing Russ ...

{{KIA
{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Anton Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Pyotr Wrangel Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War. Biography Early life Yuden ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg Grigory Semyonov
{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg

Yevgeny Miller Eugen Ludwig Müller (russian: Евге́ний-Лю́двиг Ка́рлович Ми́ллер, tr. ; 25 September 1867 – 11 May 1939), better known as Yevgeny Miller, was a Russian general of Baltic German origin and one of the leaders of th ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg{{flagicon, Don Republic

Pyotr Krasnov Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov ( rus, Пётр Николаевич Краснов; 22 September (old style: 10 September) 1869 – 17 January 1947), sometimes referred to in English as Peter Krasnov, was a Don Cossack historian and officer, promot ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg Flag of Bogd Khaanate Mongolia

R. von Ungern{{KIA , commander3 = {{nowrap, {{flagicon, Poland, 1919

Józef Piłsudski ), Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) , death_date = , death_place = Warsaw, Poland , constituency = , party = None (formerly PPS) , spouse = , children = Wan ...

{{nowrap, {{flagicon image, Flag of Finland (1918–1920).svg C.G.E. Mannerheim
{{flagicon image, Flag of Ukrainian People's Republic 1917.svg

Symon Petliura Symon Vasylyovych Petliura ( uk, Си́мон Васи́льович Петлю́ра; – May 25, 1926) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He became the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Army and the President of the Ukrainian People' ...

{{flagdeco, Estonia

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades pri ...

{{flagdeco, Latvia

Jānis Čakste Jānis Kristaps Čakste (14 September 1859 – 14 March 1927) was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of an independent Latvian state as the Chairman of the People's Council (1918–1920), the Speaker of the Constitutio ...

{{nowrap, {{flagdeco, Lithuania

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the m ...

{{flagicon image, Karelian National Flag.svg S. Tikhonov
{{flagicon, Democratic Republic of Georgia

Noe Zhordania Noe Zhordania ( ka, ნოე ჟორდანია /nɔɛ ʒɔrdɑniɑ/; russian: Ной Никола́евич Жорда́ния; born (or ) — January 11, 1953) was a Georgian journalist and Menshevik politician. He played an eminent role ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of the First Republic of Armenia.svg A. Khatisian
{{flagicon image, Flag of Azerbaijan 1918.svg

Nasib Yusifbeyli Nasib bey Yusif bey oghlu Yusifbeyli ( az, Nəsib bəy Yusif bəy oğlu Yusifbəyli) or Usubbeyov ( az, Usubbəyov ; 5 July 1881, Ganja - 31 May 1920) - Azerbaijani publicist, statesman and major political figure in Azerbaijan Democratic Republi ...

, commander1a = {{flagicon image, Red flag.svg Vladimir Volsky
{{flagicon image, Red flag.svg

Maria Spiridonova Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova (russian: Мари́я Алекса́ндровна Спиридо́нова; 16 October 1884 – 11 September 1941) was a Narodnik-inspired Russian revolutionary. In 1906, as a novice member of a local combat group ...

{{flagicon image, Red flag.svg

Nykyfor Hryhoriv Nykyfor Oleksandrovych Hryhoriv (né Nychypir Servetnyk, 1884 – 27 July 1919) was a Ukrainian paramilitary leader noted for repeatedly switching sides during the Ukrainian Civil War. He was commonly known as "Otaman Hryhoriv." In some historic ...

{{KIA, Killed in Action
{{flagicon image, Махновское знамя.svg

Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno, The surname "Makhno" ( uk, Махно́) was itself a corruption of Nestor's father's surname "Mikhnenko" ( uk, Міхненко). ( 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ("Father Makhno"),; According to ...

{{flagicon image, Petropavlovsk-Krondstadt flag.svg

Stepan Petrichenko Stepan Maximovich Petrichenko (russian: link=no, Степа́н Макси́мович Петриче́нко; 1892 – June 2, 1947) was a Russian revolutionary, an anarcho-syndicalist politician, the head of the Soviet Republic of Soldiers a ...

{{small, …''and others'' , commander2a = {{flagdeco, Empire of Japan

Otani Kikuzo Baron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. Otani participated in the First Sino-Japanese War, Russo-Japanese War, World War I and the Russian Civil War. During the course of the latter he commanded the Vladivostok Expeditionary Force an ...

{{flagdeco, United Kingdom

Edmund Ironside Edmund Ironside (30 November 1016; , ; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marred by ...

{{flagdeco, United States, 1912

William S. Graves Major General William Sidney Graves (27 March 1865 – 27 February 1940) was a United States Army officer who commanded American forces in Siberia during the Siberian Expedition, part of the Allied Intervention in Russia, towards the end of Worl ...

{{flagicon, Czechoslovakia, 1918

Radola Gajda Radola Gajda, born as Rudolf Geidl (14 February 1892, Kotor, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary – 15 April 1948, Prague, Czechoslovakia), was a Czech military commander and politician. Early years Geidl's father was an officer in the Aust ...

{{flagdeco, France, 1830

Maurice Janin Pierre-Thiébaut-Charles-Maurice Janin (October 19, 1862, Paris – April 28, 1946) was a French general (from April 20, 1916) and military commander who was the chief of the Allied military mission in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. As s ...

{{small, …''and others'' , commander3a = {{flagicon, German Empire H. von Eichhorn{{KIA
{{flagicon, Ottoman Empire

Nuri Pasha Nuri Killigil, also known as Nuri Pasha (1889–1949) was an Ottoman general in the Ottoman Army (1861–1922), Ottoman Army. He was the half-brother of Ottoman Minister of War, Enver Pasha. Military career Libya Infantry Machine-Gun Ca ...

{{flagdeco, Belarus, 1991, link=no

Jan Sierada Ivan Mikitavič Sierada ( — after 19 November 1943), better known by the pseudonyms of Jan or Janka was a Belarusian statesman, pedagogist and writer who served as the first president of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Bi ...

{{flagicon image, Flag of the Ukranian State.svg

Pavlo Skoropadskyi Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army ...

{{nowrap, {{flagicon image, WestRussianVolunteerArmy.svg, size=23px P. Bermondt-Avalov
{{small, …''and others'' , strength1 = {{Ubl , Soviet Red Army Hammer and Plough

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

:
5,498,000 {{small, (peak){{sfn, Erickson, 1984, p=763{{efn, The Red Army peaked in October 1920 with 5,498,000: 2,587,000 in reserves, 391,000 in labor armies, 159,000 on the front and 1,780,000 drawing rations ---- {{Ubl , {{flagicon image, Death to oppressors of workers.svg

Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine The Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine ( uk, Революційна Повстанська Армія України), also known as the Black Army or as Makhnovtsi ( uk, Махновці), named after their leader Nestor Makhno, was a ...

:
103,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Darker_green_and_Black_flag.svg Green Army:
70,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Petropavlovsk-Krondstadt flag.svg Kronstadt Mutineers:
17,961 , strength2 = {{Ubl , Volunteer Army Insignia

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

:
1,023,000 {{small, (peak){{efn, 683,000 active
340,000 reserve {{Collapsible list , bullets = no , title = Local forces{{nobold, : , Volunteer Army Insignia

AFSR: 270,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Siberia.svg

: 60,000 {{small, (peak) , Flag of the Ural government (1918)

Komuch Army: 30,000 {{small, (peak) , СЗА нарукавный знак

Northwestern Army: 18,500 {{small, (peak) , Volunteer Army Insignia

Northern Army: 54,700 {{small, (peak) , Volunteer Army Insignia

Western Army: 48,000 {{small, (peak) , Volunteer Army Insignia

Orenburg Army: 25,000 {{small, (peak) , Volunteer Army Insignia

Ural Army The Ural Separate Army was a military formation of the White Army during the Russian Civil War, which operated in the Volga region and the Southern Urals and was formed on December 28, 1918 from units of the Ural Cossack Army and other military ...

: 17,200 {{small, (peak) ---- {{Ubl , {{flagicon image, War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army (1868–1945).svg

Japanese Army The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

: 70,000 {{small, (peak) ,

Czechoslovak Legion , image = Coat of arms of the Czechoslovak Legion.svg , image_size = 200px , alt = , caption = Czechoslovak Legion coat of arms , start_date ...

: 50,000 {{small, (peak) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = Also{{nobold, : , {{flagicon, United States, 1912 AEF, Siberia:
7,950 , {{flagicon, United Kingdom, 1801

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

:
57,636 , {{flagicon, Kingdom of Romania

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

:
50,000 , {{flagicon, France, 1830

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

:
15,600 , {{army, Greece:
23,000 , {{flagicon, Canada, 1868 CSEF:
~5,000 , {{flagicon, United States, 1912 AEF, North Russia:
5,000 , {{flagicon image, Flag_of_Italy_(1860).svg

Legione Redenta The Legione Redenta ("Redeemed Legion") was an Italian military formation that participated in the Siberian intervention during the Russian Civil War. It was formed from 2500 prisoners of war who had been captured by the Russians from the Austro-Hu ...

:
2,500 ,

Beiyang Army The Beiyang Army (), named after the Beiyang region,Hong Zhang (2019)"Yuan Shikai and the Significance of his Troop Training at Xiaozhan, Tianjin, 1895–1899" ''The Chinese Historical Review'' 26(1) was a large, Western-style Imperial Chinese Ar ...

:
2,300 , {{flagicon, Kingdom of Serbia

Serbian Army The Serbian Army ( sr-cyr, Копнена војска Србије, Kopnena vojska Srbije, lit=Serbian Land Army) is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. History Originally established in 1830 as the Army of Pr ...

:
2,000 , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Royal Indian Army.svg

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

:
950 , {{flagicon image, Flag of Australia (converted).svg

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

:
150 , strength3 = {{Ubl , Orzełek II RP

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

: ~1,000,000 {{small, (peak) , Coat of arms of Finland

Finnish Army The Finnish Army (Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft ...

:
90,000 {{small, (peak) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = Also{{nobold, : , Coat of Arms of UNR

Ukrainian Army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They we ...

: 100,000 {{small, (peak) ---- Supported by: ,

Hungarian Army The Hungarian Ground Forces ( hu, Magyar Szárazföldi Haderő) is the land branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces, and is responsible for ground activities and troops including artillery, tanks, APCs, IFVs and ground support. Hungary's ground f ...

:
30,000 {{small, (peak) ---- ,

Latvian Army The Latvian Land Forces ( lv, Sauszemes spēki, SzS) together with the Latvian National Guard form the land warfare branch of the Latvian National Armed Forces. Since 2007, land forces are organized as a fully professional standing army. Mission ...

:
69,232 {{small, (peak) , Maavagi_crest

Estonian Army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

:
86,000 {{small, (peak) , Insignia_of_the_Lithuanian_Armed_Forces

Lithuanian Army The Lithuanian Armed Forces () are the military of Lithuania. The Lithuanian Armed Forces consist of the Lithuanian Land Forces, the Lithuanian Naval Force and the Lithuanian Air Force. In wartime, the Lithuanian State Border Guard Service (wh ...

:
20,000 {{small, (peak) ---- , {{flagicon image, Flag of Finland (1918–1920).svg Finnish Volunteers:
8,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Karel.svg

Forest Guerrillas Forest Guerrillas ( fi, Metsäsissit) was a Finnic resistance movement formed by some of the inhabitants of the parishes of Repola and Porajärvi, in addition to several White Guard volunteers after their territory was ceded to Bolshevist Russ ...

:
2,000 {{small, (peak) ---- , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Swedish Brigade (Ruotsalainen prikaati).svg Swedish Brigade:
1,000 {{small, (peak) ---- {{Ubl , {{flagicon image, Kaiserstandarte.svg

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

:
~547,000 {{small, (peak) {{Collapsible list , framestyle=border:none; padding:0; , title = Also{{nobold, : , {{flagicon image, Flag_of_Germany_(3-2_aspect_ratio).svg Saxon Volunteers:
10,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Ottoman Empire.svg Caucasus Army:
20,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Flag of Turkey.svg

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...

:
20,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Flag of the Iron Division Freikorps.svg Iron Division:
14,000 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, Baltic German.svg Landeswehr:
10,500 {{small, (peak) , {{flagicon image, WestRussianVolunteerArmy.svg

:
50,000 {{small, (peak) , casualties1 = {{Ubl , {{flagicon image, Red Army flag.svg ~1,500,000
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 259,213 killed
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 60,059 missing
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 616,605 died of disease/wounds
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 3,878 died in accidents/suicides
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 548,857 wounded/frostbitten{{sfn, Krivosheev, 1997, p=7-38{{efn, There were an additional 6,242,926 hospitalizations from sickness. , casualties2 = {{ubl , {{flagicon image, Flag of Russia.svg ~1,500,000
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 127,000 killed
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 784,000 executed/dead
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 * 450,000 wounded/sick
{{citation needed , date=October 2020 ---- {{Ubl , {{flagicon, Czechoslovakia, 1918 13,000 killed , {{flagdeco, Empire of Japan 6,500 killed , {{flagicon, United Kingdom 938+ killed , {{flagicon, United States, 1912 596 killed , {{flagicon, Romania 350 killed , {{flagicon, Kingdom of Greece, state 179 killed , casualties3 = {{Ubl , {{flagicon, Poland, 1919 ~250,000 * 57,000 killed * 113,000 wounded * 50,000 POWs {{Ubl , {{flagicon, Ukraine ~125,000 * 15,000 killed {{Ubl , {{flagicon image, Flag of Finland (1918–1920).svg ~5,000 * 3,500 killed * 1,650 executed/dead {{Ubl , {{flagicon, Estonia 3,888 killed , {{flagicon, Latvia 3,046 killed , {{flagicon, Lithuania 1,444 killed , {{flagicon, Sweden 55 killed ---- {{Ubl , {{flagicon, German Empire 500 killed , casualties4 = 7,000,000–12,000,000 total casualties, including
civilians and non-combatants
1–2 million

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

outside Russia , campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War ( rus, links=no, Гражданская война в России, Grazhdanskaya voyna v Rossii; 7 November 1917 — 16 June 1923) was a multi-party

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in the former

sparked by the overthrowing of the monarchy and the new republican government's failure to maintain stability, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. It resulted in the formation of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

and later the

in most of its territory. Its finale marked the end of the

, which was one of the key events of the 20th century. The

Russian monarchy This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. It includes the princes of medieval Rus′ state (both centralised, known as Kievan Rus′ and feudal, when the political center moved northeast to Vladimir and finally to Mosco ...

had been overthrown by the 1917

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

, and Russia was in a state of political flux. A tense summer culminated in the

-led

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, overthrowing the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

of the

. Bolshevik rule was not universally accepted, and the country descended into civil war. The two largest combatants were the

, fighting for the Bolshevik form of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

led by

, and the loosely allied forces known as the

, which included diverse interests favouring political

monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

, each with democratic and anti-democratic variants. In addition, rival militant socialists, notably the

Ukrainian anarchists Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

of the

and

Left Socialist-Revolutionaries The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...

, as well as non-ideological

green armies The Green armies (russian: Зеленоармейцы), also known as the Green Army (Зелёная Армия) or Greens (Зелёные), were armed peasant groups which fought against all governments in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922 ...

, opposed the Reds, the Whites and foreign interventionists.Russian Civil War
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090826234907/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513737/Russian-Civil-War , date=26 August 2009

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

Online 2012 Thirteen foreign nations intervened against the Red Army, notably the former

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

military forces from the

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

with the goal of re-establishing the Eastern Front. Three foreign nations of the

also intervened, rivaling the Allied intervention with the main goal of retaining the territory they had received in the

. The Bolsheviks initially consolidated control over most of the country. They made an emergency peace with the

, who had captured vast swathes of Russia in the chaos of the revolution and the context of World War I. In May 1918, the Czechoslovak Legion in Russia revolted in Siberia. In reaction, the Allies began an intervention in

Northern Russia Russian North (russian: Русский Север) is an ethnocultural region situated in the northwestern part of Russia. It spans the regions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic, Vologda Oblast and Nenets Autonomous ...

and

. That, combined with the creation of the

Provisional All-Russian Government The Provisional All-Russian Government (PA-RG), informally known as The Directory, The Ufa Directory, or The Omsk Directory, was a short-lived government during the Russian Civil War, formed on 23 September 1918 at the State Conference in Ufa as ...

, saw the reduction of the Bolsheviks to most of

European Russia European Russia (russian: Европейская Россия, russian: европейская часть России, label=none) is the western and most populated part of Russia. It is geographically situated in Europe, as opposed to the cou ...

and parts of

. In November,

launched a coup to take control of the

, establishing a ''de facto''

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

. The White Army launched several attacks from the east in March, the south in July, and

west West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

in October 1919. The advances were later checked by the Eastern Front counteroffensive, the

Southern Front counteroffensive The August counter-offensive of the Southern Front (14 August – 12 September 1919) was an offensive during the Russian Civil War by the troops of the Southern Front of the Red Army against the White Guard troops of Anton Denikin. Combat o ...

, and the defeat of the Northwestern Army. The White Movement also suffered greater loss as the Allies pulled back from northern and southern Russia. With the main base of the

secured, the Soviets could now strike back, with a solid defensive position. The armies under Kolchak were eventually forced on a mass retreat eastward. Soviet forces advanced east, despite encountering resistance in Chita, Yakut and

. Soon the Red Army split the

and Volunteer armies, forcing evacuations in

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk ( rus, Новоросси́йск, p=nəvərɐˈsʲijsk; ady, ЦIэмэз, translit=Chəməz, p=t͡sʼɜmɜz) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities hono ...

in March and the Crimea in November 1920. After that, anti-Bolshevik resistance was sporadic for several years until the collapse of the White Army in

in June 1923, but continued on in

central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

and

Khabarovsk Krai Khabarovsk Krai ( rus, Хабаровский край, r=Khabarovsky kray, p=xɐˈbarəfskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the Russian Far East and is a part of the Far Eastern Federal District ...

until 1934. There were an estimated 7 to 12 million casualties during the war, mostly civilians.{{rp, 287 Many pro-independence movements emerged after the break-up of the Russian Empire and fought in the war.{{rp, 7 Several parts of the former Russian Empire—

, and

—were established as

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a polity, political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defin ...

s, with their own civil wars and wars of independence. The rest of the former Russian Empire was consolidated into the Soviet Union shortly afterwards.

Background

World War I

{{Main, World War I The

fought in World War I from 1914 alongside

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

(

Triple Entente The Triple Entente (from French '' entente'' meaning "friendship, understanding, agreement") describes the informal understanding between the Russian Empire, the French Third Republic, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as well a ...

) against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and later the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(

February Revolution

{{Main, February Revolution The February Revolution of 1917 resulted in the abdication of

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

. As a result, the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

was established, and

soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

, elected councils of workers, soldiers, and peasants, were organized throughout the country, leading to a situation of dual power. Russia was proclaimed a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

in September of the same year.

October Revolution

{{Main, October Revolution The Provisional Government, led by

Socialist Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

politician

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...

, was unable to solve the most pressing issues of the country, most importantly to end the war with the Central Powers. A failed military coup by General

in September 1917 led to a surge in support for the

Bolshevik party " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

, who gained majorities in the soviets, which until then had been controlled by the Socialist Revolutionaries. Promising an end to the war and "all power to the Soviets", the Bolsheviks then ended dual power by suppressing the Provisional Government in late October, on the eve of the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, in what would be the second Revolution of 1917. Despite the Bolsheviks' seizure of power, they lost to the Socialist Revolutionary Party in the

1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election Elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly were held on 25 November 1917, although some districts had polling on alternate days, around two months after they were originally meant to occur, having been organized as a result of events in the Feb ...

, and the Constituent Assembly was dissolved by the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks soon lost the support of other

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...

allies such as the

after their acceptance of the terms of the

presented by Germany.{{Cite encyclopedia, author1-link=David R. Stone, last=Stone, first=David R., title=Russian Civil War (1917–1920), year=2011, encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of War, pages=wbeow533, editor-last=Martel, editor-first=Gordon, publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd, language=en, doi=10.1002/9781444338232.wbeow533, isbn=978-1-4051-9037-4, s2cid=153317860

Formation of the Red Army

{{Main, Red Army From mid-1917 onwards, the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

, the successor-organisation of the old

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

, started to disintegrate; the Bolsheviks used the volunteer-based

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

as their main military force, augmented by an armed military component of the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...

(the Bolshevik state security apparatus). In January 1918, after significant Bolshevik reverses in combat, the future

People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs The Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union refers to the head of the Ministry of Defence who was responsible for defence of the socialist Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1917 to 1922 and the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1992. Pe ...

headed the reorganization of the Red Guards into a ''Workers' and Peasants' Red Army'' in order to create a more effective fighting force. The Bolsheviks appointed political commissars to each unit of the Red Army to maintain morale and to ensure loyalty. In June 1918, when it had become apparent that a revolutionary army composed solely of workers would not suffice, Trotsky instituted mandatory

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

of the rural peasantry into the Red Army. The Bolsheviks overcame opposition of rural Russians to Red Army conscription units by taking hostages and shooting them when necessary in order to force compliance. The forced conscription drive had mixed results, successfully creating a larger army than the Whites, but with members indifferent towards

Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...

ideology. The Red Army also utilized former Tsarist officers as "military specialists" (''voenspetsy'');{{harvnb, Overy, 2004, p=446 By the end of the civil war, one-third of all Red Army officers were ex-Tsarist ''voenspetsy''" sometimes their families were taken hostage in order to ensure their loyalty.Williams, Beryl, ''The Russian Revolution 1917–1921'', Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (1987), {{ISBN, 978-0-631-15083-1 At the start of the civil war, former Tsarist officers formed three-quarters of the Red Army officer-corps. By its end, 83% of all Red Army divisional and corps commanders were ex-Tsarist soldiers.

Anti-Bolshevik movement

{{Main, White movement, Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, Pro-independence movements in the Russian Civil War, Left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks While resistance to the Red Guards began on the very day after the Bolshevik uprising, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and the instinct of one-party rule became a catalyst{{sfn, Thompson, 1996, p=159 for the formation of anti-Bolshevik groups both inside and outside Russia, pushing them into action against the new Soviet government. A loose confederation of anti-Bolshevik forces aligned against the Communist government, including landowners,

republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, conservatives, middle-class citizens,

reactionaries In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the ''status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abse ...

, pro-monarchists, liberals, army generals, non-Bolshevik socialists who still had grievances and democratic reformists voluntarily united only in their opposition to Bolshevik rule. Their military forces, bolstered by forced conscriptions and terror as well as foreign influence, under the leadership of General

, Admiral

and General

, became known as the White movement (sometimes referred to as the "White Army") and controlled significant parts of the former Russian Empire for most of the war. A Ukrainian nationalist movement was active in Ukraine during the war. More significant was the emergence of an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

political and military movement known as the

, led by

. The

, which counted numerous Jews and Ukrainian peasants in its ranks, played a key part in halting Denikin's White Army offensive towards Moscow during 1919, later ejecting White forces from Crimea. The remoteness of the

Volga Region The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...

, the

Ural Region Ural (russian: Урал) is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It is considered a part of Eurasian Steppe, extending approximately from the North to the South; from the A ...

and the

was favorable for the anti-Bolshevik forces, and the Whites set up a number of organizations in the cities of those regions. Some of the military forces were set up on the basis of clandestine officers organizations in the cities. The

Czechoslovak Legion , image = Coat of arms of the Czechoslovak Legion.svg , image_size = 200px , alt = , caption = Czechoslovak Legion coat of arms , start_date ...

s had been part of the Russian Army and numbered around 30,000 troops by October 1917. They had an agreement with the new Bolshevik government to be evacuated from the Eastern Front via the port of

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

to France. The transport from the Eastern Front to Vladivostok slowed down in the chaos, and the troops became dispersed all along the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

. Under pressure from the Central Powers, Trotsky ordered the disarming and arrest of the legionaries, which created tensions with the Bolsheviks. Government of South Russia 1920 cropped

The Western Allies armed and supported opponents of the Bolsheviks. They were worried about a possible Russo-German alliance, the prospect of the Bolsheviks making good on their threats to default on Imperial Russia's massive foreign loans and the possibility that Communist revolutionary ideas would spread (a concern shared by many Central Powers). Hence, many of the countries expressed their support for the Whites, including the provision of troops and supplies.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

declared that Bolshevism must be "strangled in its cradle". The British and French had supported Russia during World War I on a massive scale with war materials.

Allied intervention

{{Main, Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War After the treaty, it looked like much of that material would fall into the hands of the Germans. To meet that danger, the Allies intervened with Great Britain and France sending troops into Russian ports. There were violent clashes with the Bolsheviks. Britain intervened in support of the White forces to defeat the Bolsheviks and prevent the spread of communism across Europe.

Buffer states

The German Empire created several short-lived

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between t ...

s within its sphere of influence after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: the

United Baltic Duchy The United Baltic Duchy (german: Vereinigtes Baltisches Herzogtum, lv, Apvienotā Baltijas hercogiste, et, Balti Hertsogiriik), or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name proposed during World War I by leaders of the local B ...

Duchy of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...

, the

Belarusian People's Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; be, Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, ), or Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic R ...

, and the

. Following Germany's Armistice in World War I in November 1918, the states were abolished.

was the first republic that declared its independence from Russia in December 1917 and established itself in the ensuing

from January–May 1918. The

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

and

formed their own armies immediately after the abolition of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and the start of the Soviet westward offensive in November 1918.

Geography and chronology

{{Main, Southern Front of the Russian Civil War, North Russia Campaign, Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War, Yakut Revolt, Finnish Civil War In the European part of Russia the war was fought across three main fronts: the eastern, the southern and the northwestern. It can also be roughly split into the following periods. Volunteer Army infantry company

The first period lasted from the Revolution until the Armistice. Already on the date of the Revolution,

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

General

Alexey Kaledin Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (russian: Алексе́й Макси́мович Каледи́н; 24 October 1861 – 11 February 1918) was a Don Cossack Cavalry General who led the Don Cossack White movement in the opening stages of the Russian Ci ...

refused to recognize it and assumed full governmental authority in the

region, where the

Volunteer Army The Volunteer Army (russian: Добровольческая армия, translit=Dobrovolcheskaya armiya, abbreviated to russian: Добрармия, translit=Dobrarmiya) was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from ...

began amassing support. The signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk also resulted in direct Allied intervention in Russia and the arming of military forces opposed to the Bolshevik government. There were also many German commanders who offered support against the Bolsheviks, fearing a confrontation with them was impending as well. During the first period, the Bolsheviks took control of

out of the hands of the Provisional Government and White Army, setting up a base for the Communist Party in the

Steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

and

, where nearly two million Russian settlers were located.{{sfn, Wheeler, 1964, p=103 Uniformes (koltchak) 001

Most of the fighting in the first period was sporadic, involved only small groups and had a fluid and rapidly-shifting strategic situation. Among the antagonists were the Czechoslovak Legion, the Poles of the 4th and 5th Rifle Divisions and the pro-Bolshevik Red Latvian riflemen. The second period of the war lasted from January to November 1919. At first the White armies' advances from the south (under Denikin), the east (under Kolchak) and the northwest (under Yudenich) were successful, forcing the Red Army and its allies back on all three fronts. In July 1919 the Red Army suffered another reverse after a mass defection of units in the Crimea to the anarchist Insurgent Army under Nestor Makhno, enabling anarchist forces to consolidate power in Ukraine. Leon Trotsky soon reformed the Red Army, concluding the first of two military alliances with the anarchists. In June the Red Army first checked Kolchak's advance. After a series of engagements, assisted by an Insurgent Army offensive against White supply lines, the Red Army defeated Denikin's and Yudenich's armies in October and November. The third period of the war was the extended siege of the last White forces in the

. General Wrangel had gathered the remnants of Denikin's armies, occupying much of the Crimea. An attempted invasion of southern Ukraine was rebuffed by the Insurgent Army under Makhno's command. Pursued into Crimea by Makhno's troops, Wrangel went over to the defensive in the Crimea. After an abortive move north against the Red Army, Wrangel's troops were forced south by Red Army and Insurgent Army forces; Wrangel and the remains of his army were evacuated to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

in November 1920.

Warfare

October Revolution

{{Main, October Revolution Russian civil war in the west

In the October Revolution, the Bolshevik Party directed the Red Guard (armed groups of workers and Imperial army deserters) to seize control of

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(Saint Petersburg) and immediately began the armed takeover of cities and villages throughout the former Russian Empire. In January 1918 the Bolsheviks dissolved the

Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly (Всероссийское Учредительное собрание, Vserossiyskoye Uchreditelnoye sobraniye) was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It met fo ...

and proclaimed the Soviets (workers' councils) as the new government of Russia.

Initial anti-Bolshevik uprisings

{{Main, Kerensky-Krasnov uprising, Junker mutiny, Volunteer Army The first attempt to regain power from the Bolsheviks was made by the Kerensky-Krasnov uprising in October 1917. It was supported by the Junker Mutiny in Petrograd but was quickly put down by the Red Guard, notably including the Latvian Rifle Division. The initial groups that fought against the Communists were local Cossack armies that had declared their loyalty to the Provisional Government. Kaledin of the

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (russian: Донские казаки, Donskie kazaki) or Donians (russian: донцы, dontsy) are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (russian: До� ...

and General

Grigory Semenov Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, or Semenov (russian: Григо́рий Миха́йлович Семёнов; September 25, 1890 – August 30, 1946), was a Japanese-supported leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and beyond from December 19 ...

of the

Siberian Cossacks Siberian Cossacks were Cossacks who settled in the Siberian region of Russia from the end of the 16th century, following Yermak Timofeyevich's Russian conquest of Siberia, conquest of Siberia. In early periods, practically the whole Russian popula ...

were prominent among them. The leading Tsarist officers of the Imperial Russian Army also started to resist. In November, General

Mikhail Alekseev Mikhail Vasilyevich Alekseyev (russian: Михаил Васильевич Алексеев) ( – ) was an Imperial Russian Army general during World War I and the Russian Civil War. Between 1915 and 1917 he served as Tsar Nicholas II's Chi ...

, the Tsar's Chief of Staff during the First World War, began to organize the Volunteer Army in

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk (russian: Новочерка́сск, lit. ''New Cherkassk'') is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as t ...

. Volunteers of the small army were mostly officers of the old Russian army, military cadets and students. In December 1917, Alekseev was joined by General Lavr Kornilov, Denikin and other Tsarist officers who had escaped from the jail, where they had been imprisoned following the abortive Kornilov affair just before the Revolution.{{rp, 27 On 9 December, the

Military Revolutionary Committee The Military Revolutionary Committee (russian: Военно-революционный комитет, ) was the name for military organs created by the Bolsheviks under the soviets in preparation for the October Revolution (October 1917 – Marc ...

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

rebelled, with the Bolsheviks controlling the city for five days until the Alekseev Organization supported Kaledin in recapturing the city. According to

Peter Kenez Peter Kenez (born as Péter Kenéz in 1937) is a historian specializing in Russian and Eastern European history and politics. Life Peter Kenez was born and grew up in Pesterzsébet, Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary . His father was arrested in March ...

, "The operation, begun on December 9, can be regarded as the beginning of the Civil War."{{cite book , last1=Kenez , first1=Peter , title=Red Attack, White Resistance; Civil War in South Russia 1918 , date=2004 , publisher=New Academia Publishing , location=Washington, DC , isbn=9780974493442 , pages=64–67 Having stated in the November 1917 " Declaration of Rights of Nations of Russia" that any nation under imperial Russian rule should be immediately given the power of self-determination, the Bolsheviks had begun to usurp the power of the Provisional Government in the territories of Central Asia soon after the establishment of the Turkestan Committee in Tashkent.{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, p=72 In April 1917 the Provisional Government set up the committee, which was mostly made up of former Tsarist officials.{{sfn, Wheeler, 1964, p=104 The Bolsheviks attempted to take control of the Committee in Tashkent on 12 September 1917 but it was unsuccessful, and many leaders were arrested. However, because the Committee lacked representation of the native population and poor Russian settlers, they had to release the Bolshevik prisoners almost immediately because of a public outcry, and a successful takeover of that government body took place two months later in November.{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, p=70 The Leagues of Mohammedam Working People, which Russian settlers and natives who had been sent to work behind the lines for the Tsarist government in 1916 formed in March 1917, had led numerous strikes in the industrial centers throughout September 1917.{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, pp=68–69 However, after the Bolshevik destruction of the Provisional Government in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, Muslim elites formed an autonomous government in Turkestan, commonly called the "Kokand autonomy" (or simply

Kokand Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...

).{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, p=74 The White Russians supported that government body, which lasted several months because of Bolshevik troop isolation from Moscow.{{sfn, Allworth, 1967, p=226 In January 1918 the Soviet forces, under Lt. Col.

Muravyov Muravyov (russian: Муравьёв, from meaning "ant"), or Muravyova (feminine form; ), also transliterated as Muraviev, Muravyev or Murav'ev, is a Russian-language surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexey Muravyov (1900–194 ...

, invaded Ukraine and invested

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, where the

Central Council Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

of the Ukrainian People's Republic held power. With the help of the Kiev Arsenal Uprising, the Bolsheviks captured the city on 26 January.{{rp, 35

Peace with the Central Powers

{{Main, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Trotzki Deutsche Brest-Litowsk1917

The Bolsheviks decided to immediately make peace with the Central Powers, as they had promised the Russian people before the Revolution.

's political enemies attributed that decision to his sponsorship by the Foreign Office of

Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, offered to Lenin in hope that, with a revolution, Russia would withdraw from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. That suspicion was bolstered by the German Foreign Ministry's sponsorship of Lenin's return to Petrograd. However, after the military fiasco of the summer offensive (June 1917) by the Russian Provisional Government had devastated the structure of the Russian Army, it became crucial that Lenin realize the promised peace. Even before the failed summer offensive the Russian population was very skeptical about the continuation of the war. Western socialists had promptly arrived from France and from the UK to convince the Russians to continue the fight, but could not change the new pacifist mood of Russia. On 16 December 1917 an armistice was signed between Russia and the Central Powers in

Brest-Litovsk Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

and peace talks began.{{rp, 42 As a condition for peace, the proposed treaty by the Central Powers conceded huge portions of the former Russian Empire to the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire, greatly upsetting

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

s and

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. Leon Trotsky, representing the Bolsheviks, refused at first to sign the treaty while continuing to observe a unilateral cease-fire, following the policy of "No war, no peace".{{sfn, Smith, Tucker, 2014, pp=554–555 Therefore, on 18 February 1918, the Germans began

Operation Faustschlag The Operation Faustschlag ("Operation Fist Punch"), also known as the Eleven Days' War, Mawdsley (2007), p. 35 was a Central Powers offensive in World War I. It was the last major action on the Eastern Front. Russian forces were unable to put ...

on the Eastern Front, encountering virtually no resistance in a campaign that lasted 11 days.{{sfn, Smith, Tucker, 2014, pp=554–555 Signing a formal peace treaty was the only option in the eyes of the Bolsheviks because the Russian Army was demobilized, and the newly formed Red Guard could not stop the advance. They also understood that the impending counterrevolutionary resistance was more dangerous than the concessions of the treaty, which Lenin viewed as temporary in the light of aspirations for a

world revolution World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. For theorists, these revolutions will not necessarily occur simultaneously, but whe ...

. The Soviets acceded to a peace treaty, and the formal agreement, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, was ratified on 3 March. The Soviets viewed the treaty as merely a necessary and expedient means to end the war.

Ukraine, South Russia, and Caucasus (1918)

{{Main, Ukrainian People's Republic, Kiev Arsenal January Uprising, Ice March, 26 Baku Commissars, German Caucasus Expedition, Battle of Baku, Central Caspian Dictatorship, Romanian military intervention in Bessarabia Dismembered Russia — Some Fragments (NYT article, Feb

Dismembered Russia — Some Fragments (NYT article, Feb

the German-

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

Operation Faustschlag had by April 1918 removed the Bolsheviks from Ukraine.{{cite encyclopedia , url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30076/Ukraine , title=Ukraine – World War I and the struggle for independence , access-date=2008-01-30 , encyclopedia=

, archive-date=15 June 2008 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080615144832/http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30076/Ukraine , url-status=live {{in lang, uk}
100 years ago Bakhmut and the rest of Donbas liberated
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501115243/http://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2018/04/18/152320/ , date=1 May 2019 ,

Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukraini ...

(18 April 2018){{citation , last = Tynchenko , first = Yaros , title = The Ukrainian Navy and the Crimean Issue in 1917–18 , url = http://ukrainianweek.com/History/105648 , work =

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' ( uk, Український Тиждень, translit=Ukrainskyi Tyzhden) is an illustrated weekly magazine covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides ...

, date = 23 March 2018 , access-date = October 14, 2018 , archive-date = 11 November 2019 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191111180649/https://ukrainianweek.com/History/105648 , url-status = live Germany Takes Control of Crimea
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930205920/https://iht-retrospective.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/1918-germany-takes-control-of-crimea/ , date=30 September 2019 ,

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

(18 May 1918)War Without Fronts: Atamans and Commissars in Ukraine, 1917–1919
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403174842/https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/11181181 , date=3 April 2019 by Mikhail Akulov,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, August 2013 (page 102 and 103) The German and Austro-Hungarian victories in Ukraine were caused by the apathy of the locals and the inferior fighting skills of Bolsheviks troops to their Austro-Hungarian and German counterparts. Under Soviet pressure, the Volunteer Army embarked on the epic Ice March from

Yekaterinodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

on 22 February 1918, where they joined with the Kuban Cossacks to mount an abortive assault on Yekaterinodar.{{rp, 29 The Soviets recaptured Rostov on the next day.{{rp, 29 Kornilov was killed in the fighting on 13 April, and Denikin took over command. Fighting off its pursuers without respite, the army succeeded in breaking its way through back towards the Don by May, where the Cossack uprising against Bolsheviks had started.{{rp, 115-118 The Baku Soviet Commune was established on 13 April. Germany landed its Caucasus Expedition troops in

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near t ...

on 8 June. The Ottoman Army of Islam (in coalition with

) drove them out of Baku on 26 July 1918. Subsequently, the Dashanaks, Right SRs and

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

s started negotiations with Gen. Dunsterville, the commander of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

troops in

. The Bolsheviks and their

Left SR The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revo ...

allies were opposed to it, but on 25 July the majority of the Soviets voted to call in the British and the Bolsheviks resigned. The Baku Soviet Commune ended its existence and was replaced by the Central Caspian Dictatorship. In June 1918 the Volunteer Army, numbering some 9,000 men, started its

Second Kuban campaign The Kuban Offensive, also called the Second Kuban Campaign, was fought between the White and Red Armies during the Russian Civil War. The White Army achieved an important victory despite being numerically inferior in manpower and artillery. It r ...

, capturing Yekaterinodar on 16 August, followed by Armavir and

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

. By early 1919, they controlled the

.{{rp, 166-174,182,189-190 On 8 October, Alekseev died. On 8 January 1919, Denikin became the Supreme Commander of the

Armed Forces of South Russia The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920. On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...

, uniting the Volunteer Army with

became Denikin's Chief of Staff.{{rp, 195,204,267-270 In December, three-fourths of the army was in the Northern Caucasus. That included three thousand of

Vladimir Liakhov Polkovnik (Colonel) Vladimir Platonovitch Liakhov (also spelled Liakhoff, russian: Влади́мир Плато́нович Ля́хов) (c. 20 June 1869 – June 1919) was the commander of the Persian Cossack Brigade during the rule of Mohammad ...

's soldiers around

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Ru ...

, thirteen thousand soldiers under Wrangel and Kazanovich in the center of the front, Stankevich's almost three thousand men with the Don Cossacks, while

Vladimir May-Mayevsky Vladimir Zenonovich May-Mayevsky KCMG (; – 30 November 1920) was a general in the Imperial Russian Army and one of the leaders of the counterrevolutionary White movement during the Russian Civil War. Biography According to Peter Kenez, V. ...

's three thousand were sent to the

Donets basin The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Don ...

, and de Bode commanded two thousand in the

.{{cite book , last1=Kenez , first1=Peter , title=Red Advance, White Defeat: Civil War in South Russia 1919-1920 , date=2004 , publisher=New Academia Publishing , location=Washington, DC , isbn=9780974493459 , pages=28–29

Eastern Russia, Siberia and Far East of Russia (1918)

{{Main, Revolt of the Czechoslovak Legion, Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly, Provisional All-Russian Government The revolt of the Czechoslovak Legion broke out in May 1918, and proceeded to occupy the

from

Ufa Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

. Uprisings overthrew other Bolshevik towns. On 7 July, the western portion of the legion declared itself to be a new eastern front, anticipating allied intervention. According to

William Henry Chamberlin William Henry Chamberlin (February 17, 1897 – September 12, 1969) was an American historian and journalist. He was the author of several books about the Cold War, communism, and foreign policy, including ''The Russian Revolution 1917-1921'' (19 ...

, "Two governments emerged as a result of the first successes of the Czechs: the West Siberian Commissariat and the Government of the

Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly The Committee of Members of the Constituent Assembly was an Anti-communism, anti-Bolshevik government that operated in Samara, Russia, during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. It formed on June 8, 1918, after the Czechoslovak Legion had occu ...

in Samara." On 17 July, shortly before the fall of

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

, the former Tsar

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

, and his family were

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

.{{rp, 6-12,91 Bolshveki killed at Vladivostok

The Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries supported

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s fighting against Soviet control of food supplies. In May 1918, with the support of the Czechoslovak Legion, they took

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

and

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

, establishing the

—known as the "Komuch". By July the authority of the Komuch extended over much of the area controlled by the Czechoslovak Legion. The Komuch pursued an ambivalent social policy, combining democratic and socialist measures, such as the institution of an

eight-hour working day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 1 ...

, with "restorative" actions, such as returning both factories and land to their former owners. After the fall of

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

, Vladimir Lenin called for the dispatch of

workers to the Kazan Front: "We must send down the ''maximum'' number of Petrograd workers: (1) a few dozen 'leaders' like Kayurov; (2) a few thousand militants 'from the ranks'". After a series of reverses at the front, the Bolsheviks' War Commissar, Trotsky, instituted increasingly harsh measures in order to prevent unauthorised withdrawals, desertions and mutinies in the Red Army. In the field the Cheka special investigations forces, termed the ''Special Punitive Department of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combat of Counter-Revolution and Sabotage'' or ''Special Punitive Brigades'', followed the Red Army, conducting field tribunals and summary executions of soldiers and officers who deserted, retreated from their positions or failed to display sufficient offensive zeal. The Cheka special investigations forces were also charged with the detection of sabotage and counter-revolutionary activity by Red Army soldiers and commanders. Trotsky extended the use of the death penalty to the occasional political commissar whose detachment retreated or broke in the face of the enemy.{{sfn, Volkogonov, 1996, p=175 In August, frustrated at continued reports of Red Army troops breaking under fire, Trotsky authorised the formation of

barrier troops Barrier troops, blocking units, or anti-retreat forces are military units that are located in the rear or on the front line (behind the main forces) to maintain military discipline, prevent the flight of servicemen from the battlefield, capture spi ...

– stationed behind unreliable Red Army units and given orders to shoot anyone withdrawing from the battle line without authorisation.{{sfn, Volkogonov, 1996, p=180, ps=: By December 1918 Trotsky had ordered the formation of special detachments to serve as blocking units throughout the Red Army. Kolchak1919troops

In September 1918, the Komuch, the Siberian Provisional Government, and other anti-Bolshevik Russians agreed during the

State Meeting in Ufa The State Conference in Ufa (also known as the Ufa State Conference, the Ufa Conference) which took place on September 8–23, 1918, in the city of Ufa in Soutern Russia (now the capital city of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia) was the most ...

to form a new

in Omsk, headed by a Directory of five: two

Socialist-Revolutionaries The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

Nikolai Avksentiev Nikolai Dimitrovich Avksentyev (russian: Николай Дмитриевич Авксентьев; 28 November 1878, Penza – 24 March 1943, New York City) was a leading member of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (PSR). He was one of the 'Heid ...

and

Vladimir Zenzinov Vladimir Mikhailovich Zenzinov (russian: Владимир Михайлович Зензинов; historically, his surname was also transcribed as Sensinoff: 29 November 1880 — 20 October 1953) was a member of Russia's Socialist-Revolutionary P ...

, the

Kadet ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...

lawyer V. A. Vinogradov, Siberian Premier Vologodskii, and General

Vasily Boldyrev Vasily Georgievich Boldyrev (russian: Василий Георгиевич Болдырев; – 20 August 1933) was an Imperial Russian army commander. He was born in Samara Governorate and fought in the war against the Empire of Japan. He part ...

.{{cite book , last1=Chamberlin , first1=William , title=The Russian Revolution, 1917-1921, Volume Two , date=1935 , publisher=The Macmillan Company , location=New York , pages=20–21 By the fall of 1918 anti-Bolshevik White forces in the east included the People's Army (

), the Siberian Army (of the Siberian Provisional Government) and insurgent Cossack units of Orenburg, Ural, Siberia, Semirechye, Baikal, Amur and Ussuri Cossacks, nominally under the orders of Gen. V.G. Boldyrev, Commander-in-Chief, appointed by the Ufa Directorate. On the Volga, Col. Kappel's White detachment captured Kazan on 7 August, but the Reds re-captured the city on 8 September 1918 following a counteroffensive. On the 11th

Simbirsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), w ...

fell, and on 8 October

. The Whites fell back eastwards to Ufa and Orenburg. In Omsk the Russian Provisional Government quickly came under the influence and later the dominance of its new War Minister,

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

Kolchak Kolchak, Kolçak or Kolčák is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Iliash Kolchak ("Kolchak-Pasha") ( fl. before 1710–1743), Moldavian mercenary and military commander * Alexander Kolchak (1873–1920), Russian naval commande ...

. On 18 November a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

established Kolchak as dictator. Two members of the Directory were arrested, and subsequently deported, while Kolchak was proclaimed "Supreme Ruler", and "Commander-in-chief of all land and naval forces of Russia."{{rp, 177-178 By mid-December 1918 White armies had to leave Ufa, but they balanced that failure with a successful drive towards

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia ** Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administra ...

, which they took on 24 December.

Central Asia (1918)

In February 1918 the Red Army overthrew the White Russian-supported Kokand autonomy of Turkestan.{{sfn, Rakowska-Harmstone, 1970, p=19 Although that move seemed to solidify Bolshevik power in Central Asia, more troubles soon arose for the Red Army as the Allied Forces began to intervene. British support of the White Army provided the greatest threat to the Red Army in Central Asia during 1918. Britain sent three prominent military leaders to the area. One was Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Marshman Baile, who recorded a mission to Tashkent, from where the Bolsheviks forced him to flee. Another was General

Wilfrid Malleson Major-General Sir Wilfrid Malleson (8 September 1866 – 24 January 1946) was a major-general in the British Indian Army who led a mission to Turkestan during the Russian Civil War. Life Malleson born in Baldersby, Yorkshire. was commission ...

, leading the

Malleson Mission The Malleson mission was a military action by a small autonomous force of British troops, led by General Wilfrid Malleson, operating against Bolshevik forces over large distances in Transcaspia (modern Turkmenistan) between 1918 and 1919. Backg ...

, who assisted the Mensheviks in Ashkhabad (now the capital of Turkmenistan) with a small Anglo-Indian force. However, he failed to gain control of Tashkent, Bukhara and Khiva. The third was Major General Dunsterville, who was driven out by the Bolsheviks of Central Asia only a month after his arrival in August 1918.{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, p=75 Despite setbacks because of British invasions during 1918, the Bolsheviks continued to make progress in bringing the Central Asian population under their influence. The first regional congress of the Russian Communist Party convened in the city of Tashkent in June 1918 in order to build support for a local Bolshevik Party.{{sfn, Allworth, 1967, p=232

Left SR uprising

{{Main, Left SR uprising, Yaroslavl Uprising On 6 July 1918, two

and

employees,

Yakov Blumkin Yakov Grigoryevich Blumkin (russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич Блю́мкин; 12 March 1900 – 3 November 1929) was a Left Socialist-Revolutionary, a Bolshevik, and an agent of the Cheka and the Joint State Political Directorat ...

and NikolaiAndreyev, assassinated the German ambassador, Count

Mirbach Wilhelm Maria Theodor Ernst Richard Graf von Mirbach-Harff (2 July 1871 – 6 July 1918) was a German diplomat, and was assassinated while ambassador to Moscow. Biography Born in Bad Ischl in Upper Austria into a Catholic Rhenan aristocratic ...

. In Moscow a

Left SR uprising The Left SR uprising, or Left SR revolt, was an uprising against the Bolsheviks by the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. The uprising started on 6 July 1918 and was claimed to be intended to restart the war against Germany.Boniece, Sally A. li ...

was put down by the Bolsheviks, mass arrests of Socialist-Revolutionaries followed, and executions became more frequent. Chamberlin noted, "The time of relative leniency toward former fellow-revolutionists was over. The Left Socialists Revolutionaries, of course, were no longer tolerated as members of the Soviets; from this time the Soviet regime became a pure and undiluted dictatorship of the Communist Party." Similarly,

Boris Savinkov Boris Viktorovich Savinkov (Russian: Бори́с Ви́кторович Са́винков; 31 January 1879 – 7 May 1925) was a Russian writer and revolutionary. As one of the leaders of the Fighting Organisation, the paramilitary win ...

's surprise attacks were suppressed, with many of the conspirators being executed, as "Mass Red Terror" became a reality.{{rp, 50-59

Estonia, Latvia and Petrograd

{{Main, Estonian War of Independence, Latvian War of Independence, Battle of Petrograd Estonia cleared its territory of the Red Army by January 1919. Baltic German volunteers captured

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

from the Red Latvian Riflemen on 22 May, but the Estonian 3rd Division

defeated Defeated may refer to: *Defeated (Breaking Benjamin song), "Defeated" (Breaking Benjamin song) *Defeated (Anastacia song), "Defeated" (Anastacia song) *"Defeated", a song by Snoop Dogg from the album ''Bible of Love'' *Defeated, Tennessee, an unin ...

the Baltic Germans a month later, aiding the establishment of the

Republic of Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

.{{cite web, url=http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6953, title=Generalkommando VI Reservekorps, publisher=Axis History, access-date=11 April 2012, archive-date=4 March 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090953/http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6953, url-status=live NikolaiYudenich1916

That rendered possible another threat to the Red Army, from General Yudenich, who had spent the summer organizing the Northwestern Army in Estonia with local and British support. In October 1919, he tried to capture Petrograd in a sudden assault with a force of around 20,000 men. The attack was well-executed, using night attacks and lightning cavalry maneuvers to turn the flanks of the defending Red Army. Yudenich also had six British tanks, which caused panic whenever they appeared. The Allies gave large quantities of aid to Yudenich, but he complained of receiving insufficient support. By 19 October, Yudenich's troops had reached the outskirts of the city. Some members of the Bolshevik central committee in Moscow were willing to give up Petrograd, but Trotsky refused to accept the loss of the city and personally organized its defenses. Trotsky himself declared, "It is impossible for a little army of 15,000 ex-officers to master a working-class capital of 700,000 inhabitants." He settled on a strategy of urban defense, proclaiming that the city would "defend itself on its own ground" and that the White Army would be lost in a labyrinth of fortified streets and there "meet its grave". Trotsky armed all available workers, men and women, ordering the transfer of military forces from Moscow. Within a few weeks, the Red Army defending Petrograd had tripled in size and outnumbered Yudenich three to one. Yudenich, short of supplies, then decided to call off the siege of the city and withdrew. He repeatedly asked permission to withdraw his army across the border to Estonia. However, units retreating across the border were disarmed and interned by orders of the Estonian government, which had entered into peace negotiations with the Soviet Government on 16 September and had been informed by the Soviet authorities of their 6 November decision that if the White Army was allowed to retreat into Estonia, it would be pursued across the border by the Reds.{{sfn, Rosenthal, 2006, p=516 In fact, the Reds attacked Estonian army positions and fighting continued until a ceasefire went into effect on 3 January 1920. After the Treaty of Tartu (Russian–Estonian), Treaty of Tartu. most of Yudenich's soldiers went into exile. Former Imperial Russian and then Finnish General Mannerheim planned an intervention to help the Whites in Russia capture Petrograd. However, he did not gain the necessary support for the endeavour. Lenin considered it "completely certain, that the slightest aid from Finland would have determined the fate of [the city]".

Northern Russia (1919)

{{Main, North Russia intervention The British occupied Murmansk and, alongside the United States, Americans, seized Arkhangelsk. With the retreat of Kolchak in Siberia, they pulled their troops out of the cities before the winter trapped them in the port. The remaining White forces under

evacuated the region in February 1920.

Siberia (1919)

At the beginning of March 1919, the general offensive of the Whites on the eastern front began. Ufa was retaken on 13 March; by mid-April, the White Army stopped at the Glazov–Chistopol–Bugulma–Buguruslan–Sharlyk line. Reds started their Eastern Front counteroffensive, counteroffensive against Kolchak's forces at the end of April. The Red 5th Army, led by the capable commander Tukhachevsky, captured Elabuga on 26 May, Sarapul on 2 June and Izevsk on the 7th and continued to push forward. Both sides had victories and losses, but by the middle of summer the Red Army was larger than the White Army and had managed to recapture territory previously lost. Following the abortive offensive at Chelyabinsk, the White armies withdrew beyond the Tobol. In September 1919 a White offensive was launched against the Tobol front, the last attempt to change the course of events. However, on 14 October the Reds counterattacked, and thus began the uninterrupted Great Siberian Ice March, retreat of the Whites to the east. On 14 November 1919 the Red Army captured Omsk. Adm. Kolchak lost control of his government shortly after the defeat; White Army forces in Siberia essentially had ceased to exist by December. Retreat of the eastern front by White armies lasted three months, until mid-February 1920, when the survivors, after crossing Lake Baikal, reached Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, Chita area and joined Ataman Semenov's forces.

South Russia (1919)

The Cossacks had been unable to organise and capitalise on their successes at the end of 1918. By 1919 they had begun to run short of supplies. Consequently, when the RSFSR, Soviet counteroffensive began in January 1919 under the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko, Antonov-Ovseenko, the Cossack forces rapidly fell apart. The Red Army captured Kiev on 3 February 1919. Denikin's military strength continued to grow in 1919, with significant munitions supplied by the British. In January, Denikin's Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR) completed the elimination of Red forces in the northern Caucasus and moved north, in an effort to Battle for the Donbas (1919), protect the Don district.{{rp, 20-35 On 18 December 1918, French forces landed in Odessa and then the Crimea, but evacuated Odessa on 6 April 1919, and the Crimea by the end of the month. According to Chamberlin, "But France gave far less practical aid to the Whites than did England; its sole independent venture in intervention, at Odessa, ended in a complete fiasco."{{rp, 151,165-167 Denikin then reorganized the Armed Forces of South Russia under the leadership of

, Vladimir Sidorin, and

. On 22 May, Wrangel's Caucasian army defeated the 10th Army (RSFSR) in the battle for Velikoknyazheskaya, and then captured Tsaritsyn on 1 July. Sidorin advanced north toward Voronezh, increasing his army's strength in the process. On 25 June, May-Mayevsky captured Kharkov, and then Ekaterinoslav on 30 June, which forced the Reds to abandon

. On 3 July, Denikin issued his Advance on Moscow (1919), Moscow directive, in which his armies would converge on Moscow.{{rp, 37-41 Although Britain had withdrawn its own troops from the theatre, it continued to give significant military aid (money, weapons, food, ammunition and some military advisers) to the White Armies during 1919. Major Ewen Cameron Bruce of the British Army had volunteered to command a British tank mission assisting the White Army. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his bravery during the June 1919 Battle of Tsaritsyn for single-handedly storming and capturing the fortified city of Tsaritsyn, under heavy shell fire in a single tank, which led to the capture of over 40,000 prisoners.{{sfn, Kinvig, 2006, p=225 The fall of Tsaritsyn is viewed "as one of the key battles of the Russian Civil War" and greatly helped the White Russian cause.{{sfn, Kinvig, 2006, p=225 The notable historian Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart comments that Bruce's tank action during the battle is to be seen as "one of the most remarkable feats in the whole history of the Tank Corps".Liddell Hart, Basil. "The Tanks: The History Of The Royal Tank Regiment And Its Predecessors, Heavy Branch Machine-Gun Corps, Tank Corps And Royal Tank Corps, 1914–1945. Vol I". Cassell: 1959, p. 211. On 14 August, the Bolsheviks launched their

. After six weeks of heavy fighting the counteroffensive failed, and Denikin was able to capture more territory. By November, White Forces had reached the Zbruch, the Ukrainian-Polish border.{{rp, 43,154 Wrangel after worship Tsaritsyn 1919

Denikin's forces constituted a real threat and for a time threatened to reach Moscow. The Red Army, stretched thin by fighting on all fronts, was forced out of Kiev on 30 August. Kursk and Oryol, Orel were taken, on 20 September and 14 October, respectively. The latter, only {{Convert, 205, mi, km from Moscow, was the closest the AFSR would come to its target.{{Sfn, Kenez, 1977, p=44 The Cossack

under the command of General Vladimir Sidorin continued north towards Voronezh, but Semyon Budyonny's cavalrymen defeated them there on 24 October. That allowed the Red Army to cross the Don River (Russia), Don River, threatening to split the Don and Volunteer Armies. Fierce fighting took place at the key rail junction of Kastornoye, which was taken on 15 November. Kursk was retaken two days later.{{Sfn, Kenez, 1977, p=218 Klinom Krasnim by El Lisitskiy (1920)

Kenez states, "In October Denikin ruled more than forty million people and controlled the economically most valuable parts of the Russian Empire." Yet, "The White armies, which had fought victoriously during the summer and early fall, fell back in disorder in November and December." Denikin's front line was overstretched, while his reserves dealt with Makhno's anarchists in the rear. Between September and October, the Reds mobilized one hundred thousand new soldiers and adopted the Trotsky-Jukums_Vācietis, Vatsetis strategy with the Ninth and Tenth armies forming V. I. Shorin's Southeastern Front between Tsaritsyn and Bobrov, while the Eighth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth armies formed Alexander_Yegorov_(soldier), A.I. Egorov's Southern Front between Zhitomir and Bobrov. Sergey Kamenev was in overall command of the two fronts. On Denikin's left was Abram Dragomirov, while in his center was

's Volunteer Army, Vladimir Sidorin's Don Cossacks were further east, with

's Caucasian army at Tsaritsyn, and an additional was in the Northern Caucasus attempting to capture Astrakhan. On 20 October, Mai-Maevskii was forced to evacuate Orel during the Orel-Kursk operation. On 24 October, Semyon Budyonny captured Voronezh, and Kursk on 15 November, during the Voronezh-Kastornoye operation (1919). On 6 January, the Reds reached the Black Sea at Mariupol and Taganrog, and On 9 January, they reached Rostov. According to Kenez, "The Whites had now lost all the territories which they had conquered in 1919, and held approximately the same area in which they had started two years before."{{rp, 213-223

Central Asia (1919)

By February 1919 the British government had pulled its military forces out of Central Asia.{{sfn, Allworth, 1967, p=231 Despite the success for the Red Army, the White Army's assaults in European Russia and other areas broke communication between Moscow and Tashkent. For a time Central Asia was completely cut off from Red Army forces in Siberia.{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, p=76 Although the communication failure weakened the Red Army, the Bolsheviks continued their efforts to gain support for the Bolshevik Party in Central Asia by holding a second regional conference in March. During the conference, a regional bureau of Muslim organisations of the Russian Bolshevik Party was formed. The Bolshevik Party continued to try to gain support among the native population by giving it the impression of better representation for the Central Asian population and throughout the end of the year could maintain harmony with the Central Asian people.{{sfn, Allworth, 1967, pp=232–233 Communication difficulties with Red Army forces in Siberia and European Russia ceased to be a problem by mid-November 1919. Red Army successes north of Central Asia caused communication with Moscow to be re-established and the Bolsheviks to claim victory over the White Army in Turkestan.{{sfn, Coates, Coates, 1951, p=76 In the Ural-Guryev operation of 1919–1920, the Red Turkestan Front defeated the

. During winter 1920, Ural Cossacks and their families, totaling about 15,000 people, headed south along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea towards Fort-Shevchenko, Fort Alexandrovsk. Only a few hundred of them reached Persia in June 1920. The Orenburg Independent Army was formed from Orenburg Cossacks and others troops who rebelled against the Bolsheviks. During the winter 1919–20, the Orenburg Army retreated to Semirechye in what is known as the Starving March, as half of the participants perished. In March 1920 her remnants crossed the border into the Northwestern region of China.

South Russia, Ukraine and Kronstadt (1920–21)

At the beginning of 1920, Denikin was reduced to defending Novorossia, the Crimean peninsula, and the Northern Caucasus. On 26 January, the Caucasian army retreated beyond the Manych. On 7 February, the Reds occupied Odessa, but then Makhno started fighting the Fourteenth Red Army. On 20 February, Denikin succeeded in recapturing Rostov, his last victory, before giving it up soon after.{{rp, 236-239 By the beginning of 1920, the main body of the Armed Forces of South Russia was rapidly retreating towards the Don, to Rostov. Denikin hoped to hold the crossings of the Don, then rest and reform his troops, but the White Army was not able to hold the Don area, and at the end of February 1920 started a retreat across Kuban towards Novorossiysk. Slipshod Evacuation of Novorossiysk (1920), evacuation of Novorossiysk proved to be a dark event for the White Army. Russian and Allied ships evacuated about 40,000 of Denikin's men from Novorossiysk to the Crimea, without horses or any heavy equipment, while about 20,000 men were left behind and either dispersed or captured by the Red Army. Following the disastrous Novorossiysk evacuation, Denikin stepped down and the military council elected Wrangel as the new Commander-in-Chief of the White Army. He was able to restore order to the dispirited troops and reshape an army that could fight as a regular force again. It remained an organized force in the Crimea throughout 1920. Tambov Rebellion

After Moscow's Bolshevik government signed a military and political alliance with Nestor Makhno and the Ukrainian anarchists, the Insurgent Army attacked and defeated several regiments of Wrangel's troops in southern Ukraine, forcing him to retreat before he could capture that year's grain harvest. Stymied in his efforts to consolidate his hold, Wrangel then attacked north in an attempt to take advantage of recent Red Army defeats at the close of the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920. The Red Army eventually halted the offensive, and Wrangel's troops had to retreat to Siege of Perekop (1920), Crimea in November 1920, pursued by both the Red and Black cavalry and infantry. Wrangel's fleet Evacuation of the Crimea (1920), evacuated him and his army to Constantinople on 14 November 1920, ending the struggle of Reds and Whites in Southern Russia. After the defeat of Wrangel, the Red Army immediately repudiated its 1920 treaty of alliance with Nestor Makhno and attacked the anarchist Insurgent Army; the campaign to liquidate Makhno and the Ukrainian anarchists began with an attempted assassination of Makhno by Cheka agents. Anger at continued repression by the Bolshevik Communist government and at its liberal use of the Cheka to put down anarchist elements led to a naval mutiny at Kronstadt rebellion, Kronstadt in March 1921, followed by peasant revolts. Red Army attacks on the anarchist forces and their sympathisers increased in ferocity throughout 1921.

Siberia and the Far East (1920–22)

{{Main, Far Eastern Front in the Russian Civil War In Siberia, Admiral Kolchak's army had disintegrated. He himself gave up command after the loss of Omsk and designated Gen. Grigory Semyonov as the new leader of the White Army in Siberia. Not long afterward, Kolchak was arrested by the disaffected Czechoslovak Corps as he traveled towards Irkutsk without the protection of the army and was turned over to the socialist Political Centre (Russia), Political Centre in Irkutsk. Six days later, the regime was replaced by a Bolshevik-dominated Military-Revolutionary Committee. On 6–7 February Kolchak and his prime minister Victor Pepelyaev were shot and their bodies were thrown through the ice of the frozen Angara River, just before the arrival of the White Army in the area.{{rp, 319–21 Remnants of Kolchak's army reached Transbaikalia and joined Semyonov's troops, forming the Far Eastern army. With the support of the Japanese army it was able to hold Chita, but after the withdrawal of Japanese soldiers from Transbaikalia, Semenov's position became untenable, and in November 1920 he was driven by the Red Army from Transbaikalia and took refuge in China. The Japanese, who had plans to annex the Amur Krai, finally pulled their troops out as Bolshevik forces gradually asserted control over the Russian Far East. On 25 October 1922 Vladivostok fell to the Red Army, and the Provisional Priamur Government was extinguished.

Aftermath

Ensuing rebellion

In Central Asia, Red Army troops continued to face resistance into 1923, where ''Basmachi Revolt, basmachi'' (armed bands of Islamic guerrillas) had formed to fight the Bolshevik takeover. The Soviets engaged non-Russian peoples in Central Asia, like Magaza Masanchi, commander of the Dungan Cavalry Regiment, to fight against the Basmachis. The Communist Party did not completely dismantle the group until 1934.{{sfn, Wheeler, 1964, p=107 General Anatoly Pepelyayev Yakut Revolt, continued armed resistance in the Ayano-Maysky District until June 1923. The regions of Kamchatka and Northern

remained under Japanese occupation until their Soviet–Japanese Basic Convention, treaty with the Soviet Union in 1925, when their forces were finally withdrawn.

Casualties

{{See also, Red Terror (Russia), White Terror (Russia) The results of the civil war were momentous. Soviet demographer Boris Urlanis estimated the total number of men killed in action in the Civil War and Polish–Soviet War as 300,000 (125,000 in the Red Army, 175,500 White armies and Poles) and the total number of military personnel dead from disease (on both sides) as 450,000. Boris Sennikov estimated the total losses among the population of Tambov Oblast, Tambov region in 1920 to 1922 resulting from the war, executions, and imprisonment in concentration camps as approximately 240,000. Refugees on flatcars

During the

, estimates of Cheka executions range from 12,733 to 1.7 million.

suspected that there were about 50,000.{{sfn, Chamberlin, 1987, p=75 Evan Mawdsley suspected that there were more than 12,733, and less than 200,000.{{rp, 286 Some sources claimed at least 250,000 summary executions of "enemies of the people" with estimates reaching above a million.Rummel, Rudolph
"Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1917"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924045813/http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/USSR.TAB2A.GIF , date=24 September 2015 (1990).{{sfn, Andrew, Mitrokhin, 1999, p=28{{sfn, Overy, 2004, p=180 More modest estimates put the numbers executed by the Bolsheviks between December 1917 and February 1922 at around 28,000 per year, with roughly 10,000 executions during the Red Terror.{{sfn, Ryan, 2012, pp=2, 114 Some 300,000–500,000 Cossacks were killed or deported during Decossackization, out of a population of around three million.{{sfn, Gellately, 2007, pp=70–71 An estimated 100,000 Jews were killed in Ukraine. Punitive organs of the All Great Don Cossack Host sentenced 25,000 people to death between May 1918 and January 1919.{{sfn, Holquist, 2002, p=164 Kolchak's government shot 25,000 people in Ekaterinburg province alone. The White Terror, as it would become known, killed about 300,000 people in total. At the end of the Civil War the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR was exhausted and near ruin. The droughts of 1920 and 1921, as well as the Russian famine of 1921, 1921 famine, worsened the disaster still further, killing roughly 5 million people. Disease had reached pandemic proportions, with 3,000,000 dying of typhus throughout the war. Millions more also died of widespread starvation, wholesale massacres by both sides and Pogroms of the Russian Civil War, pogroms against Jews in Ukraine and southern Russia. By 1922 there were at least 7,000,000 street children in Russia as a result of nearly ten years of devastation from World War I and the civil war. Another one to two million people, known as the White émigrés, fled Russia, many with General Wrangel, some through the Far East and others west into the newly independent Baltic countries. The émigrés included a large percentage of the educated and skilled population of Russia. The Russian economy was devastated by the war, with factories and bridges destroyed, cattle and raw materials pillaged, mines flooded and machines damaged. The industrial production value descended to one seventh of the value of 1913 and agriculture to one third. According to ''Pravda'', "The workers of the towns and some of the villages choke in the throes of hunger. The railways barely crawl. The houses are crumbling. The towns are full of refuse. Epidemics spread and death strikes—industry is ruined."{{citation needed, date=September 2009 It is estimated that the total output of mines and factories in 1921 had fallen to 20% of the pre-World War level, and many crucial items experienced an even more drastic decline. For example, cotton production fell to 5%, and iron to 2%, of pre-war levels. War Communism saved the Soviet government during the Civil War, but much of the Russian economy had ground to a standstill. Some peasants responded to Prodrazvyorstka, requisitions by refusing to till the land. By 1921 cultivated land had shrunk to 62% of the pre-war area, and the harvest yield was only about 37% of normal. The number of horses declined from 35 million in 1916 to 24 million in 1920 and cattle from 58 to 37 million. The exchange rate with the US dollar declined from two roubles in 1914 to 1,200 Rbls in 1920. With the end of the war, the Communist Party no longer faced an acute military threat to its existence and power. However, the perceived threat of another intervention, combined with the failure of socialist revolutions in other countries—most notably the German Revolution—contributed to the continued militarisation of Soviet society. Although Russia experienced extremely rapid economic growth{{Cite web, url=https://nintil.com/the-soviet-union-gdp-growth/, title=The Soviet Union: GDP growth, date=2016-03-26, url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517053259/https://nintil.com/the-soviet-union-gdp-growth/, archive-date=2020-05-17 in the 1930s, the combined effect of World War I and the Civil War left a lasting scar on Russian society and had permanent effects on the development of the

In fiction

Literature

* ''The Road to Calvary'' (1922–41) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy * ''Chapaev'' (1923) by Dmitri Furmanov * ''The Iron Flood'' (1924) by Alexander Serafimovich * ''Red Cavalry'' (1926) by Isaac Babel * ''The Rout'' (1927) by Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeyev, Alexander Fadeyev * ''Conquered City'' (1932) by Victor Serge * ''Futility'' (1922) by William Gerhardie * ''How the Steel Was Tempered'' (1934) by Nikolai Ostrovsky * ''Optimistic Tragedy'' (1934) by Vsevolod Vishnevsky * ''And Quiet Flows the Don'' (1928–1940) by Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Mikhail Sholokhov * ''The Don Flows Home to the Sea'' (1940) by Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Mikhail Sholokhov * ''Doctor Zhivago (novel), Doctor Zhivago'' (1957) by Boris Pasternak * ''The White Guard'' (1966) by Mikhail Bulgakov * ''Byzantium Endures'' (1981) by Michael Moorcock * ''Chevengur'' (written in 1927, first published in 1988 in the USSR) by Andrei Platonov. * ''Fall of Giants'' (2010) by Ken Follett * ''A Splendid Little War'' (2012) by Derek Robinson (novelist)

Film

* ''Arsenal (1929 film), Arsenal'' (1928) * ''Storm Over Asia (1928 film), Storm Over Asia'' (1928) * ''Chapaev (film), Chapaev'' (1934) * ''Thirteen'' (1936), directed by Mikhail Romm * ''We Are from Kronstadt'' (1936), directed by Efim Dzigan, Yefim Dzigan * ''Knight Without Armour'' (1937) * ''The Year 1919'' (1938), directed by Ilya Trauberg * ''The Baltic Marines'' (1939), directed by A. Faintsimmer * ''Shchors (film), Shchors'' (1939), directed by Dovzhenko * ''How the Steel Was Tempered, Pavel Korchagin'' (1956), directed by A. Alov and V. Naumov * ''The Forty-First (1956 film), The Forty-First'' (1956), directed by Grigori Chukhrai * ''The Communist (film)'' (1957), directed by Yuli Raizman * ''And Quiet Flows the Don (film), And Quiet Flows the Don'' (1958), directed by Sergei Gerasimov (film director), Sergei Gerasimov * ''Doctor Zhivago (film), Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), directed by David Lean * ''The Elusive Avengers'' (1966) * ''The Red and the White (film), The Red and the White'' (1967) * ''White Sun of the Desert'' (1970) * ''The Flight (1970 film), The Flight'' (1970), directed by A. Alov and V. Naumov * ''Reds (film), Reds'' (1981), directed by Warren Beatty * ''Corto Maltese, Corto Maltese in Siberia'' (2002) * ''Nine Lives of Nestor Makhno'' (2005/2007) * ''The Admiral (2008 film), Admiral'' (2008) * ''Sunstroke (2014 film), Sunstroke'' (2014), directed by Nikita Mikhalkov

Notes

{{notelist

References

Citations

{{Reflist

Bibliography

{{See also, Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War {{refbegin * {{cite book, first=Edward, last=Allworth, title=Central Asia: A Century of Russian Rule, url=https://archive.org/details/centralasiacentu0000allw, url-access=registration, location=New York, publisher=Columbia University Press, year=1967, oclc=396652 * {{cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/swordshieldmitro00andr, url-access=registration, pag
28
quote=kgb cheka executions probably numbered as many as 250,000., last1=Andrew, first1=Christopher, last2=Mitrokhin, first2=Vasili, title=The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, publisher=Basic Books, year=1999, location=New York, isbn=978-0465003129 * {{cite book, last=Bullock, first=David, title=The Russian Civil War 1918–22, publisher=

, year=2008, isbn=978-1-84603-271-4, location=Oxford, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk61CwAAQBAJ, access-date=26 December 2017, archive-date=28 July 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728140213/https://books.google.com/books?id=Mk61CwAAQBAJ, url-status=live * {{cite book, last1 = Calder, first1 = Kenneth J., title = Britain and the Origins of the New Europe 1914–1918, url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nME8AAAAIAAJ, series = International Studies, location = Cambridge, publisher = Cambridge University Press, date = 1976, isbn = 978-0521208970, access-date = 2017-10-06 * {{Cite book, url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/34982, title=The Russian Revolution, Volume II: 1918–1921: From the Civil War to the Consolidation of Power, last=Chamberlin, first=William Henry, publisher=Princeton University Press, year=1987, isbn=978-1400858705, location=Princeton, NJ, url-access=subscription, via=Project MUSE, access-date=27 December 2017, archive-date=27 December 2017, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227180409/https://muse.jhu.edu/book/34982, url-status=live * {{cite book, last1=Coates, first1=W. P., last2=Coates, first2=Zelda K., author-link=W. P. Coates, author-link2=Zelda Kahan, title=Soviets in Central Asia, location=New York, publisher=Philosophical Library, year=1951, oclc=1533874, url=https://archive.org/details/SovietsInCentralAsiaCoates * {{cite book, last=Daniels, first=Robert V., title=A Documentary History of Communism in Russia: From Lenin to Gorbachev, publisher=University Press of New England, year= 1993, location=Hanover, NH, isbn=978-0-87451-616-6 * {{citation , first1=Alfonsas , last1=Eidintas , first2=Vytautas , last2=Žalys , first3=Alfred Erich , last3=Senn , title=Lithuania in European Politics: The Years of the First Republic, 1918–1940 , edition=Paperback , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_i8yez8udgC&pg=PA33 , year=1999 , publisher=St. Martin's Press , location=New York , isbn=0-312-22458-3 * {{cite book, last=Erickson, first=John., title=The Soviet High Command: A Military-Political History, 1918–1941: A Military Political History, 1918–1941 , publisher=Westview Press, Inc., year= 1984, isbn=978-0-367-29600-1 * {{Cite book, title=A People's Tragedy: A History of the Russian Revolution, last=Figes, first=Orlando, publisher=Viking, year=1997, isbn=978-0670859160, location=New York, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/peoplestragedyhi00fige * {{cite book, author-link=Robert Gellately, last=Gellately, first=Robert, title=Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe, location=New York, publisher=Knopf, year=2007, isbn=978-1-4000-4005-6 * Grebenkin, I.N. "The Disintegration of the Russian Army in 1917: Factors and Actors in the Process." ''Russian Studies in History'' 56.3 (2017): 172–187. * {{cite book, last1= Haupt, first1= Georges, last2= Marie, first2= Jean-Jacques, name-list-style= amp, title= Makers of the Russian revolution, publisher= George Allen & Unwin, place= London, year= 1974, isbn= 978-0801408090, url-access= registration, url= https://archive.org/details/makersofrussianr0000haup * {{cite book, first=Peter, last=Holquist, title=Making War, Forging Revolution: Russia's Continuum of Crisis, 1914–1921, location=Cambridge, publisher=Harvard University Press, year=2002, isbn=0-674-00907-X * {{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vREGB60UPWMC, title=Civil War in South Russia, 1919–1920: The Defeat of the Whites, last=Kenez, first=Peter, publisher=University of California Press, year=1977, isbn=978-0520033467, location=Berkeley, author-link=Peter Kenez * {{cite book, last=Kinvig, first=Clifford, title=Churchill's Crusade: The British Invasion of Russia, 1918–1920, publisher=Hambledon Continuum, year=2006, isbn=978-1847250216, location=London * {{cite book, first=G. F. , last=Krivosheev, title=Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century, url={{google books , plainurl=y , id=CTTfAAAAMAAJ, year=1997, location=London, publisher=Greenhill Books, isbn=978-1-85367-280-4 * {{cite book, last=Mawdsley, first=Evan, title=The Russian Civil War, location=New York, publisher=Pegasus Books, year=2007, isbn=978-1681770093, url=https://archive.org/details/russiancivilwar00evan, url-access=registration * {{cite book, last=Overy, first=Richard, title=The Dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia, location=New York, publisher=W.W. Norton & Company, year=2004, isbn=978-0-393-02030-4, url=https://archive.org/details/dictators00rich, url-access=registration * {{cite book, first=Teresa, last=Rakowska-Harmstone, author-link=Teresa Rakowska-Harmstone, title=Russia and Nationalism in Central Asia: The Case of Tadzhikistan, url=https://archive.org/details/russianationalis0000rako, url-access=registration, location=Baltimore, publisher=Johns Hopkins Press, year=1970, isbn=978-0801810213 * {{cite book, last=Read, first=Christopher, title=From Tsar to Soviets, location=Oxford, publisher=Oxford University Press, year=1996, isbn=978-0195212419 * {{cite book, last=Rosenthal, first=Reigo, title=Loodearmee, language=et , trans-title=Northwestern Army, year=2006, publisher=Argo, location=Tallinn, isbn=9949-415-45-4 * {{cite book, last=Ryan, first=James, year=2012, url=https://www.routledge.com/Lenins-Terror-The-Ideological-Origins-of-Early-Soviet-State-Violence/Ryan/p/book/9781138815681, title=Lenin's Terror: The Ideological Origins of Early Soviet State Violence, location=London, publisher=Routledge, isbn=978-1-138-81568-1, access-date=15 May 2017, archive-date=11 November 2020, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111070149/https://www.routledge.com/Lenins-Terror-The-Ideological-Origins-of-Early-Soviet-State-Violence/Ryan/p/book/9781138815681, url-status=live * {{cite book, first=George, last=Stewart, title=The White Armies of Russia A Chronicle of Counter-Revolution and Allied Intervention, year=2009, isbn= 978-1847349767 * {{Cite encyclopedia, title=Faustschlag, Operation, encyclopedia=World War I: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection, publisher=ABC-CLIO, location=Santa Barbara, CA, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DBwTBQAAQBAJ, last1=Smith, first1=David A., date=2014, pages=554–555, isbn=978-1851099658, first2=Spencer C., last2=Tucker, access-date=27 December 2017, archive-date=15 February 2017, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215195340/https://books.google.com/books?id=DBwTBQAAQBAJ, url-status=live * {{cite book, first=John M., last=Thompson, title=A Vision Unfulfilled. Russia and the Soviet Union in the Twentieth Century, url=https://archive.org/details/visionunfulfille00thom, url-access=registration, location=Lexington, MA, year=1996, isbn=978-0669282917 * {{cite book, first=Dmitri, last=Volkogonov, title=Trotsky: The Eternal Revolutionary, others=Translated and edited by Harold Shukman, location=London, publisher=HarperCollins Publishers, year=1996, isbn= 978-0002552721 * {{cite book, first=Geoffrey, last=Wheeler, title=The Modern History of Soviet Central Asia, location=New York, publisher=Frederick A. Praeger, year=1964, oclc=865924756 {{refend

External links

{{Library resources box{{Commons category, Civil war of Russia {{Wikiquote
Newsreels about Russian Civil War // Net-Film Newsreels and Documentary Films Archive
*Sumpf, Alexandre
Russian Civil War
in

* Mawdsley, Evan
International Responses to the Russian Civil War (Russian Empire)
in

* Read, Christopher
Revolutions (Russian Empire)
in

* Peeling, Siobhan
War Communism
in

* Beyrau, Dietrich
Post-war Societies (Russian Empire)
in

* Brudek, Pawe³
Revolutions (East Central Europe)
in

* Melancon, Michael S.
Social Conflict and Control, Protest and Repression (Russian Empire)
in

* [http://libcom.org/library/russian-revolution Russian Revolution and Civil War archive at libcom.org/library]
"BBC History of the Russian Revolution"
(3 February 2007)

(Spartacus History, downloaded 3 January 2006)

(On War website, downloaded 4 January 2006)
"Civil War of 1917–1922 at Encyclopedia of Russian History
(3 February 2007) {{World War I {{Russian Civil War , collapsed {{Russian Revolution 1917 {{Russian Conflicts {{Soviet Union topics {{Authority control Russian Civil War, 1910s in Russia 1920s in Russia 1920s in the Soviet Union Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Europe Civil wars of the Industrial era Revolution-based civil wars Russian Revolution, Civil War Wars involving Chechnya Wars involving Russia Wars involving the Soviet Union 1910s conflicts 1920s conflicts Communism-based civil wars Wars involving Ukraine

Background

World War I

February Revolution

October Revolution

Formation of the Red Army

Anti-Bolshevik movement

Allied intervention

Buffer states

Geography and chronology

Warfare

October Revolution

Initial anti-Bolshevik uprisings

Peace with the Central Powers

Ukraine, South Russia, and Caucasus (1918)

Eastern Russia, Siberia and Far East of Russia (1918)

Central Asia (1918)

Left SR uprising

Estonia, Latvia and Petrograd

Northern Russia (1919)

Siberia (1919)

South Russia (1919)

Central Asia (1919)

South Russia, Ukraine and Kronstadt (1920–21)

Siberia and the Far East (1920–22)

Aftermath

Ensuing rebellion

Casualties

In fiction

Literature

Film

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

Primary sources

External links