Grumpus_Maximus@thelemmy.club
CHOO CHOO CZECHOSLOVAK LEGION COMING THROUGH
Explanation For Those Wondering: The US Civil War was positively simple, as far as civil wars go - everyone picked the side of the Union or the Confederacy - or else neutrality. No proliferation of third sides, coalition warfare, any of that jazz. And the motivations of each side were, likewise, fairly simple - the Union wanted to keep the Union intact (and, later in the war, to abolish slavery); the South wanted to secede unless they received a guarantee that slavery would be enshrined in perpetuity in US law (which the Union, even before they declared an intention to end slavery in the South, was not willing to accept).
The Russian Civil War was not just a fight between two factions or coalitions, but a whole horrific clusterfuck of the dissolution of an empire while the end of WW1, likewise, dissolved traditional borders and power structures in neighboring countries. Broadly, a loose color alignment was used for the coalitions.
“Red”, for the Bolsheviks and everyone who had thrown in their lot with them after the civil war started. The civil war kicked off after the Bolsheviks couped the democratic socialist provisional government, but many democratic socialists still sided with the Bolsheviks as the lesser evil, at least in comparison to the Whites. The Bolsheviks kept tight ‘political control’ over their side, and used this to great advantage against their less-united foes.
“White”, for the broad-but-disorganized right-wing coalition which protested against the Bolshevik coup - not always for wholesome reasons. The most prominent “White” faction was headed by the self-proclaimed “Supreme Leader of Russia”, Admiral Kolchak, who was not much more than a proto-fascist. Many monarchists and conservatives joined his ranks. Some democratic socialists did early on, but they were quickly purged - leading many of them to side with the “Reds” instead, despite the Bolsheviks having couped the democratic socialists in the first place. However, formally, Kolchak promised to respect democratic elections after reuniting Russia, by a treaty signed with the victorious powers of WW1, including France and Britain. It’s doubtful whether even the signatories believed Kolchak would hold to that, but it was a necessary PR fig leaf for them to support him. He also promised, probably more sincerely, to not bring back the Tsardom. Numerous nationalist movements were also often included as “Whites”, and honestly, there were more independent “White” warlords than united hierarchies. Ironically, for such hierarchical folk.
“Black”, for the anarcho-communists, who started strong, but were rolled up pretty quickly in Russia proper due to being scattered and unorganized. They saw much more success in Ukraine, where they were geographically concentrated and able to organize.
“Green”, sometimes, for the local rural peasant militias and alliances whose primary goal was to stop everyone else from ‘requisitioning’ their food and equipment, and conscripting their villages.
In Finland, the “Reds” (Bolsheviks and socialists) fought against the “Whites” (everyone else), and lost. Since the “Whites” in Finland were not just comprised of horrific reactionaries, this actually ended with some amount of reconciliation and a fairly stable post-war Finnish Republic.
On the western border, the Freikorps, seen with the skull flag, discharged soldiers of WW1 Germany seeking purpose after their country’s defeat and dissolution, sought to ‘maintain’ German control of many areas, and were often virulently anti-socialist (Bolshevik, anarchist, and demsoc alike) and anti-minority in addition.
Poland, meanwhile, seized its opportunity to declare its own independence - and immediately started squabbling over borders with all factions of the Russian Civil War.
In Ukraine, a dizzying array of factions sprung up, including German and Polish supported national governments, along with traditionalist cossacks. Nestor Makhno and his anarcho-communist comrades controlled much of the Ukraine, with their power base located in the east; as time wore on, they would become the most successful of the Ukrainian factions before being backstabbed and crushed by the resurgent “Reds” of the Russian Bolsheviks. ’Green Ukraine’ was a bizarre attempt by ‘resettled’ Ukrainians in Siberia to create their own state. It didn’t last.
The Whites, while not formally monarchist, were much aggrieved over the holding (and subsequent execution) of the Tsar and his family by the Bolsheviks, who very quickly started up the labor camps they would become famous for. “Left-SRs”, socialists who had sided with the Bolsheviks after the civil war broke out, very quickly became disillusioned with the Bolshevik suppression of democracy, and sometimes attempted to voice such complaint. They were generally silenced and suppressed.
Meanwhile, France and Great Britain both made independent foreign interventions in an attempt to support the “White” forces against the Bolsheviks, since the Bolsheviks had promised immediate international revolution (considered undesirable by France and Great Britain). They were generally unpopular. A multinational force, including the USA and Japan, piddled around in Siberia for a few months, suffering casualties from frostbite and achieving little. Almost every party involved disagreed about what the goals of the intervention should be, and distrusted one another. The primary result of the intervention was keeping Vladivostok open to allow the Czechoslovak Legion to evacuate after a grueling, two-year journey, which all sides agreed was important. Silver linings, and all that jazz.
Speaking of the Czechoslovak Legion… Christ, that’s a deep dive all on its own. Basically, Czechs and Slovaks wanted independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and fought on the side of the Triple Entente in WW1. When Russia pulled out of the war under the Bolsheviks, the Czechoslovak Legion couldn’t stay in Russia (as it was a ’neutral’ party) and couldn’t just move west through the territory of the Central Powers, their enemies. So an agreement was made with the Bolsheviks to allow the Czechoslovak Legion to evacuate east, at Vladivostok, to rejoin the war effort in WW1.
The Bolsheviks almost immediately betrayed the Czechoslovak Legion, resulting in the Legion spending the next two years making ad-hoc alliances with local forces (including “White” warlords, who would also end up betraying the Legion, and sometimes even “Red” commanders) in order to push eastwards along the rail lines to evacuate by Vladivostok. Astoundingly, they would eventually make it there, most of the force still intact. WW1 was over, and by that time, Czechoslovakia was independent, so the survivors got to go home to peace and a happy ending, at least! Also, they captured some of the gold reserves of the Russian Empire, which they used as a powerful bargaining chip. Wild shit.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 53 minutes ago
But the next revolution will be totally different, trust me, bro! No descent into warlordism, just instant communist utopia!