The Civil War and War Communism

After seizing power in October 1917, the Bolsheviks faced a civil war that threatened to destroy them. From 1918 to 1921, the Red Army (Bolsheviks) fought against the White Army (a loose alliance of anti-Bolshevik forces) in a brutal conflict that caused millions of deaths. To survive, Lenin imposed a harsh economic policy known as War Communism. This lesson covers these events for AQA GCSE History.

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The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918)

Lenin had promised peace, and in March 1918, Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany.

Term	Detail
Territory lost	Russia lost Ukraine, Finland, the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Poland, and parts of Belarus
Population	Lost approximately 62 million people (one-third of the former empire's population)
Agricultural land	Lost about 27% of farmland
Industry	Lost about 26% of railways and 74% of iron ore and coal deposits
Reparations	Agreed to pay 6 billion marks in reparations

The treaty was deeply unpopular, even within the Bolshevik Party. The Left SRs (who had been in coalition with the Bolsheviks) withdrew from the government in protest. However, Lenin argued that peace was essential — the army was disintegrating, and without peace, the Bolshevik regime would collapse.

Exam Tip: The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is important because it fulfilled Lenin's promise of peace but at a devastating cost. It also contributed to the outbreak of the Civil War, as many Russians — including military officers, nationalists, and the Allies — were outraged by the terms.

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Causes of the Civil War

Cause	Detail
Opposition to Bolshevik rule	Many groups opposed the Bolsheviks — royalists, liberals, moderate socialists, military officers, nationalists, and the Orthodox Church
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk	Outraged patriots who saw it as a betrayal
Closing of the Constituent Assembly	In January 1918, Lenin dissolved the freely elected Constituent Assembly after just one day because the Bolsheviks had won only 175 of 707 seats (the SRs won the most); this showed the Bolsheviks had no intention of sharing power
Foreign intervention	Britain, France, the USA, Japan, and other countries sent troops to Russia to support the Whites and protect their own interests
National minorities	Ukrainians, Finns, Poles, and others fought for independence

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The Two Sides

The Reds (Bolsheviks)

Strength	Detail
Unity of purpose	The Reds had a clear goal — defend the revolution and Bolshevik power
Trotsky's leadership	Leon Trotsky, as Commissar for War, built the Red Army from scratch into a force of 5 million by 1920; he restored military discipline, used former Tsarist officers (watched by political commissars), and personally travelled to the front in his armoured train to inspire troops
Central position	The Reds controlled the heartland of Russia, including Moscow and Petrograd, and the main railway junctions
Industry	Controlled the major industrial centres, giving them access to weapons and supplies
Propaganda	Effectively portrayed the Whites as agents of foreign powers who wanted to restore the Tsar

The Whites

Weakness	Detail
Disunity	The Whites were a loose coalition with no common goal — royalists, liberals, socialists, and nationalists all had different aims
Geographical spread	White armies were scattered around the edges of Russia and could not coordinate
Poor leadership	White generals (e.g. Kolchak, Denikin, Yudenich) often refused to cooperate with each other
Unpopular behaviour	White armies were often brutal towards civilians; some restored the land of former landlords, losing peasant support
Foreign intervention was limited	Allied troops were few in number, war-weary, and reluctant to fight; they withdrew by 1920

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Key Events of the Civil War

Date	Event
1918	Whites and foreign forces attack from multiple directions; Bolsheviks lose territory
July 1918	Execution of the Tsar and his family at Yekaterinburg, to prevent them from becoming a rallying point for the Whites
1919	White forces advance on Moscow from the south (Denikin), east (Kolchak), and northwest (Yudenich); all are eventually defeated
1920	Russo-Polish War; Poland invades Ukraine; eventual peace treaty (Treaty of Riga, 1921)
1921	The last White resistance is crushed; the Bolsheviks win the Civil War

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War Communism

To feed the Red Army and keep the war effort going, Lenin introduced War Communism — a set of extreme economic policies.

Policy	Detail
Grain requisitioning	The government seized grain from peasants by force; armed squads (the Cheka and Red Army units) confiscated food
Nationalisation	All industry was taken into state ownership; private trade was banned
Labour discipline	Workers were forced to work under strict military-style discipline; strikes were banned
Rationing	Food was rationed; the largest rations went to soldiers and workers; the bourgeoisie received the smallest
Abolition of money	Wages were paid in goods, not money (though money continued to be used in the black market)

Consequences of War Communism

Consequence	Detail
Famine	Grain requisitioning, combined with drought, caused a devastating famine in 1921–1922; an estimated 5–7 million people died
Industrial collapse	Factory output fell to 20% of 1913 levels
Peasant resistance	Peasants hid grain, reduced production, or fought back; the Tambov Rebellion (1920–1921) was brutally suppressed
Urban depopulation	Petrograd's population fell from 2.5 million (1917) to 700,000 (1920) as people fled to the countryside to find food
Black market	Despite being illegal, a thriving black market emerged
Kronstadt Rebellion (March 1921)	Sailors at the Kronstadt naval base — once loyal Bolshevik supporters — mutinied, demanding free elections, free speech, and an end to forced grain seizures; the rebellion was crushed by the Red Army, but it shocked Lenin into introducing the New Economic Policy

Exam Tip: War Communism is a key topic. You must be able to explain both why it was introduced (to win the Civil War) and its consequences (famine, economic collapse, peasant resistance, and the Kronstadt Rebellion). The Kronstadt Rebellion is particularly important because it convinced Lenin to change course and introduce the NEP.

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The Red Terror

The Bolsheviks used extreme violence to maintain power during the Civil War.

• The Cheka (secret police, led by Felix Dzerzhinsky) arrested, imprisoned, and executed suspected opponents.
• An estimated 100,000–200,000 people were executed by the Cheka during the Civil War.
• Concentration camps were established for political opponents.
• The execution of the Tsar and his family in July 1918 was part of this campaign of terror.

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Worked Q7 Paragraph: "Trotsky's leadership of the Red Army was the most important reason for Bolshevik victory in the Civil War." How far do you agree?