White vs Red Army of Russia

Suhwan Seo

Poli Sci 150

Professor Hawkins

November 9, 2012

Blog 8

             The Russian Civil War took place after the Brest-Litovsk peace agreement was signed between Germany and Communist Russia which was violently opposed by the Bolshevik government. The White army rose up as an opposing group to the Bolshevik regime and eventually escalated into a full out war between the White and Red army of Russia (Graham). The war finally ended with the Bolshevik regime crushing the White army and reinstituting political authority over Russia. Although the Russian Civil War is accepted by many as a civil war, there are many other factors with the war that makes it difficult to define that it was a civil war.

             According to Samuels, civil war is defined as “armed combat within the boundaries of a sovereign state between parties that are subject to common authority at the start of hostility” (Samuels 259). The Russian Civil War was technically was an armed battle between two parties in Russia. So basing it off just this information, Samuel’s definition is true. But the Russian Civil War was not just fought between these two parties. For one, the Russian Civil War had many small scale revolts, often started by the peasants. The peasant army, also known as the green army, let small scale revolts that often used guerilla tactic throughout the war. There were 344 known peasant revolts that attempted to overthrow the regime (Graham). Furthermore, the there were many foreign countries that fought the war as well. For example, Britain and France invaded Murmanks and Archangel to help establish the White government in these areas. In addition to Britain and France, United States, Canada, and Japan also took part in fighting against the Red Bolshevik regime. So when considering these outside influences and small peasant revolts, the Russian Civil War has characteristics of interstate warfare which is “the use of violence by states against other states” and guerilla war which are “wars in which small groups of insurgents use irregular military tactics” (Samuels).

             In addition to these different factors, some territories of Russia managed to become independent and became sovereign states as a result of the war. For example, in 1920, Poland waged war on Russia to set up an independent country. In addition to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland also gained their sovereignty from Russia as a result of the civil war (“The Russian Civil War”). But each of these “countries” fought and took park in the war against Russia to gain their independence; however, they were not able to completely overthrow the Bolshevik regime. And Samuels defined revolution as an “armed conflict within a sovereign state between insurgents and the state; […] the authority over the state is forcibly transferred from the state to the insurgents” (Samuel 269). So based off this definition, the first segment is true. The individual territories were insurgents who fought against the state; however, even though they managed to set up their own sovereign state, they were not able to completely overthrow the state rule.

             In conclusion, it would be difficult to flat out define the Russian Civil War as civil war because there were so many aspects of it that would fit under a different act of political violence. Furthermore, some events are difficult to place under one of the terms defined by Samuels. So it seems like a good starting point in trying to define political violence, but the definition does not seem adequate enough to cover every war. These definitions could work for some wars, but for most conflicts, it’s more complex and difficult because like the Russian Civil War, there are a lot of factors that influence a war.

 

Works Cited

Graham, James. "The Russian Civil War." Today in History, Birthdays & History Articles. History Orb, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2012.

<http://www.historyorb.com/russia/civil_war.php>.

"The Russian Civil War." The Russian Civil War. History Learning Site, n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/russian_civil_war1.htm>.

Samuels, David. Comparative Politics. New York: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.