While undeniably a political movement the White leaders were all
military men who disliked politics and thus largely ignored it.
This meant that they could organise an effective military but not
an effective civil administration. Without which the regime could
not sustain the armies at the fronts. Central to this was the failure
to mobilise the local populations in the areas the Whites controlled.
Right and centre-right parties predominated in the White governments
and these parties never had much popular support in Russia. Together
with the generals they ruled out any form of land reform. The average
peasant preferred the Soviet program of peace, land reform and worker
control as the lesser of the two evils. With these sentiments it
is little wonder four out of five peasants forcibly conscripted
deserted the White cause many to the Reds. While the Red army lost
four million men up to 1921 their population base allowed them to
replace these losses more easily than the Whites could. Under such
conditions the Whites relied heavily on terror to administer local
regions. The result being the Green revolts which drew precious
White troops from the front. The Whites failure to agree to land
reform lost them the mass support they so desperately required.
Control of the heartland of Russia gave the Reds many
advantages. They controlled the largest chunk of the population
and most of the war industry. The Red Army outnumbered the White
armies by ten to one. Furthermore its population was ethnically
homogenous containing mostly Great Russians. The Whites on the other
hand gained a large amount of their support from ethnic minorities.
Support was often given in the hope of gaining some form of independence
in the future. White leaders however believed in a "Russia, one
and indivisible." This created much internal bickering in the White
organisation with ethnic groups like the Cossacks often refusing
to fight. Moscow and Petrograd also stayed in Red hands for the
entire Civil War. The symbolic importance of this fact is summed
up by Lebedev one of the White leaders in Siberia "In Moscow we
would get the whole brain of our country, all her soul, all that
is talented in Russia." The Soviet government had many initial advantages
over the White forces.
Geography also aided the Reds and hindered the Whites.
The three main White armies were all located at opposite ends of
Russia. There was a 10,500 kilometres voyage between Denikin's and
Kolchak's armies. This distance made communication extremely difficult
something the Reds with control of the existing communications networks
had an advantage in. The large size of Russia also gave the Reds
strategic depth. When under attack on one front they could safely
give ground until troops were transferred from other fronts to repel
the attack. Geographically Russia was unsuited to the attacking
White armies.
The Civil War was fought between the Reds and the
Whites with many other factions, groups and nations involved. Considering
the enormous difficulties the Whites faced it should not be asked
why they lost the Civil War. The question is why they did so well
for so long against an enemy technically superior in almost all
aspects.
