Russian Civil War Was in Every Sense a As an Important and Often Decisive Arm Was Period the Reds Sought to Consolidate Their Unique Struggle

30

1918-1922

by Richard B. Spence

The Russian Civil war was in every sense a as an important and often decisive arm was period the Reds sought to consolidate their unique struggle. Few wars have had such an reminiscent of the Napoleonic period. The position and crush the nascent White move­ fanaticism and brutality ' prevalent on all sides ments. The Whites organized, built up their important effect on the future of a nation and "' I the world. Fewer still have been so compli­ and the wholesale destruction meted out to forces, and repulsed the Red attacks. The cated or so little understood. The war was a the civilian population was on a scale unseen salient feature of this phase was the German strange combination of old and new. On the since the Thirty Years War. occupation, which greatly inhibited the political level it pitted the revolutionary The actual fighting in the war was charac­ build-up and operations of both sides. The concepts of communism against traditional terized more by local engagements and second and most crucial phase was the year Czarist autocracy with any number of shades skirmishes than by large-scale battles. Move­ 1919. During this year, White forces launched of opinion in-between. Militarily, the war was a ment was marked by startling advances and three separate and consecutive attacks against throwback to earlier ages . "Modern" precipitous retreats. Betrayal and defection the Reds. All were initially successful, but the weapons, such as tanks and aircraft, were were commonplace. Reds were able to concentrate against each employed, but their numbers and overall effect one in turn and decisively defeated the White was inconsequential. The use of armored Basically, the Russian Civil War can be divided Armies. The last phase, 1920-21, saw the Reds trains and the importance of railways for into three major phases. The first phase runs mop up the last pockets of White resistance in supply and as lines of strategic advance harken from the Bolshevik seizure of power in the Crimea and Siberia and crush the back to our own civil war. The role of cavalry November 1917 to the end of 1918. During this nationalist separatist movements which had

..•••...... ••.••• .. German Occupation Line, 1918 = Furthest advance of Whites, 1919 • Furthest advance of Whites, 1918 ------Wrangel's position, 1920 31 sprung up in various parts of the former forming a regular army in February 1918. each two regiments of two battalions. These' Russian Empire. The notable exception to the Attempts to form a purely volunteer army units were characterized, however, by low Bolshevik success was their defeat by the proved unsuccessful and a decree instituting effective strengths. Battalions seldom dis­ Poles, which' ended Red hopes of extending compulsory recruitment was issued on 22 April posed of more than two-hundred-fifty to three­ revolution into Germany and Western Europe. 1918. hundred rifles. The "average" effective strength of a division was thus around four THE BELLIGERENTS The task of forming the new army was thousand. In many cases, this dropped as low The initial stages of the war were fought with entrusted to Trotsky, who became the as two thousand while in units beefed-up for small, largely volunteer formations of varying People's Commissar for War. The construction an attack, effectiveness might total seven or military efficiency. As the fighting progressed, and the ultimate success of the Red Army was eight thousand. The armament of rifle divisions both sides resorted to conscription to build due largely to this one man. Even Lenin did not also varied greatly. The number of machine large and, more or less, regular armies. The interfere with Trotsky's handling of the guns might vary from forty to nearly three mass of the conscripts had little interest or situation, except to smooth over the quarrels hundred, while divisional artillery might have which developed between Trotsky and understanding of the causes for which they as many as seventy guns, or as few as a dozen opponents of his policies, most notably, Stalin, fought. This gave most units a rather low or less. combat effectiveness and made desertion a Voroshilov and Frunze. serious problem. At the end of 1919, for The Cavalry Division consisted of three Trotsky'S most serious problem was finding an brigades tof two regiments), each of which example, the Red Army had some one million adequate number of competent officers to men under arms. During the same year, was given a battery of four guns. Each command the forces. Both the quantity and regiment had four squadrons and two or three however, nearly two million men deserted quality of communist officers proved from the Soviet ranks. The situation for the supporting machine guns. Total effective inadequate and he was compelled to call upon strength was about two to three thousand. Whites was generally no better. the services of former Imperial officers. The relatively low morale of most of the troops Initially, some twenty-seven thousand former THE WHITE ARMIES meant that unusually large numbers of officers were called to service and thousands The White forces were raised by various prisoners were taken whenever an army more were added in the following years. 'In leaders in such differing locales as Siberia and suffered a setback. More often than not, these 1919, for example, four-fifths of all Red Army Estonia. Nevertheless, they maintained very troops were simply incorporated into the officers were formerly Imperial ones. Many of similar characters. Initially, most White forma­ victorious ranks, often as complete units. these men served out of patriotic duty, others tions consisted of bands of ex-Imperial officers because there was usually no safe way to and a few troops who stuck with them out of The fate of captured officers was another refuse. personal loyalty. Their main problem, therefore matter, however. Red officers, especially was one of "too many cheifs and not enough commissars, met distinctly unpleasant ends in The fact that Communists made up such a small portion of the officer corps and the rank indians." To some extent this was advan­ the hands of the Whites. Captured White tageous in that it gave the Whites a high officers fared no better. and file obviously presented a serious problem of loyalty. The problem of the officers was degree of competence and morale. As the Because of the low standards and general dealt with by the institution of commissars armies increased in size and the original cadres unreliability of most troops, all armies formed attached to all levels of command with were killed off, this qualitative edge various elite units for carrying out important coordinate powers. Their counter signature disappeared. tasks. The Reds employed "shock" battalions, was required on every military order. A double It is generally assumed that the White leaders often composed of foreign ex-prisoners-of­ hold was often placed on especially question­ were men of upper class origins and war. The Whites often formed special units able officers by holding their families in monarchist sympathy. In fact, most were from with distinctive names, such as "Death's "special custody." In the ranks, Communist middle class backgrounds and many had Head" or "Guards." Even such picked units, Party cells were organized down to the worked their way through the ranks. In political however, often left much to be desired in company level. These army Communists were views, they presented a broad spectrum, terms of performance. Among the White used to stiffen the resolve of doubtful units. ranging from the staunch monarchism of forces in Siberia was the so-called "Immortal" They were urged to be examples to the other Kolchak to the democratic leanings of men Regiment. It lived up to its name by fleeIng troops, and, in cases of failure, their punish­ such as Alexev and Deniken. These political whenever the enemy approached. ment was propo-tionately more severe. It is not differences were an important factor in surprising, therefore, to find that the combat THE RED ARMY creating suspicion and rivalry among the White effectiveness of a Red division was factions, which inhibited their attempts to form The first military units formed by the proportionate to the number of Communists in a centralized command and a viable Bolsheviks were the Red Guards. These were its ranks. government. improvised detachments recruited largely in the factories from staunch Bolshevik sup­ Trotsky himself, however, was often the most The principal White Armies were Kolchak's in porters. They were openly armed and drilled on effective agent of Red morale. He had outfitted Siberia and the Volunteer or Deniken's Army the eve of the November Revolution [all dates a special train on which he rushed about to operating in South Russia. Smaller forces were are new style]. numbering some twenty threatened fronts. Onboard was a special staff formed in Estonia under General Judenich and thousand. It is indicative of the weakness and and a hundred or so picked troops. There were in the Murmansk-Archangel region under incompetence of the existing Provisional also stores of tobacco, new boots and Miller. Deniken's Army was ' the best-led and Government that it could or would do nothing uniforms - not enough for everyone, but equipped of the White Armies, and came the to prevent the formation and maintenance of enough to make an impression on discouraged closest to success, while Miller's motley this potentially dangerous force in its midst. At and war-weary troops. Thus, despite the lack collection was the least effective. any rate, these mostly amateur Red Guards of any practical training, Trotsky proved were able to topple the Provisional Govern­ himself a competent strategist, an excellent In terms of composition, the White Armies ment, albeit without any real fighting. administrator, and something of a showman differed most notably from the Red Armies in as well. the amount of cavalry they possessed . In 1919, In the ensuing months, the Red Guards were In terms of organization, the Red Army was for example, half of Deniken's Army was expanded to a force of about three-hundred composed of mounted troops. Most of the thousand. Perhaps thirty percent of this force initially planned to consist of forty-seven rifle divisions and four cavalry divisions. By 1920, White cavalry was formed from the Cossacks was composed of ex-prisoners-of-war, re­ of the Don, the Kuban, and the Urals. The cruited from the camps in Siberia and Central some fifty-seven rifle and sixteen cavalry divisions had been raised, along with an Cossack communities had enjoyed a variety of Asia. It also contained a few surviving special priveleges under the Czarist regime, elements of the old Imperial Army, most indeterminate number of independent bri­ gades. These units were organized into sixteen which made them hostile to the egalitarian notably a brigade of Lettish Rifles. The latter programs of the Bolsheviks. On the whole, the represented the best elements of the Red regular armies, numbered 1st to 16th and the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Armies. Cossacks were formidable if somewhat erratic Guards. Many detachments, particularly those fighters on their own turf. Their enthusiasm for raised by isolated local Soviets, were little The organization of the divisions was basically fighting waned, however, the further they better than bri.gands. the same as the old Imperial units. The rifle advanced from their homes. Organizationally, The German invasion and the growing divisions usually consisted of two brigades, the Whites formed divisions on the same counter-revolutionary threat forced the Bol­ each of two regiments of three battalions. An pattern as the Reds with similar, if often shevik leadership to give serious throughts to alternate organization was three brigades, smaller, effective strengths. They generally 32

operated their divisions, howevp.r, in corps of Some such as those in Poland, Finland, the The Reds possessed an important strategic two or three divisions. Ukraine, Transcaucasia, and the Baltic States advantage in being able to operate on interior represented the nationalistic desires of subject lines. This advantage was limited, however, by THE INTERVENTIONIST FORCES populations. Others, such as those formed at the distances involved, the inadequacy of the The role played by the-interventionist forces, Vladivostok or Chita, represented the desire of rail network, and the effects of bad weather. while important, was more political than local politicians or strongmen to rule their The Whites, in striking toward Moscow, their military. This was basically because the various districts as they saw fit. primary objective, were always moving away Allied governments were unable to agree upon from their base of supply while forcing the The new national states had to form armies to the nature, the scope or the goal of the inter­ Reds back on theirs. Thus, it was easier for the defend their independence from Reds, Whites vention. Suspicions as to each others' intents Reds to concentrate against a portion of the and sometimes each other. The Finns, Poles and political 'unrest at home affected their extended White front. decision-making and limited their options. In and Baits succeeded (with considerable most cases, the troops employed were of low foreign help) while the Caucasian peoples and THE FIRST PHASE: caliber and all were war-weary. This made the Ukrainians were re-absorbed into the new NOVEMBER 1917 - DECEMBER 1918 them susceptible both to Bolshevist propa­ Soviet state. Opening Moves ganda and· the debilitating malaise which sets The local governments in Siberia were neither Following the defeat in November of an in among sedentary troops. overthrown nor co-opted by the White move­ ineffectual attempt by forces of the Provisional Government to retain Petrograd, the Reds The most active interventionists were the ment. The exception was Semenov, who, with his small force of Russians, Mongolians, and were to enjoy a generally favorable situation British. Following the armistice, they esta­ until the Germans renewed their advance in blished themselves in Transcaucasia, Central Chinese, and the support of the Japanese, was able to go on systematically looting and February 1918. As yet no sizeable counter­ Asia and North Russia, and sent military revolutionary movement had come into being. missions and large quantities of supplies to depopulating the Chita region with relative impunity. There were other "Semenov's" However, a Ukrainian government had both Deniken and Kolchak. In both North declared its independence and the Don Russia and Siberi'a, they attempted to form without even the semblance of authority to mask their depredation. These were bands of Cossacks were making separatist overtones so-called Siavo-British Legions, Russian units under their ataman, General Kaledin. commanded by British officers. In neither case deserters, freebooters or outright brigands was it a success and in North Russia, several who plundered and murdered at random in the In December negotiations were opened with British officers were murdered by their Russian largely lawless countryside. the Germans at Brest-Litovsk. Here a Ukrainian troops. British intervention was greatest. in The most important and interesting member of delegation arrived and received recognition of North Russia. Of the twenty-one thousand the "others" category was Nestor Makhno. their independence by the Central Powers. The Allied troops there in February 1919, eighteen Makhno was a peasant anarchist leader in the Reds decided it would be best to eliminate this thousand were British, the remainder being southern Ukraine. He understood the wants potentially dangerous situation in the south. In French, American and Serb. and needs of the peasants and they fought for January 1918, they concentrated between him enthusiastically. He .began his operations eighty and one-hundred thousand troops for a Among the French, the greatest proponents of double-pronged invasion of the Ukraine and intervention were the Generals Foch and against the Austrian occupation troops in the spring of 1918. Striking from his base at Gulai the Don Province. The Ukrainian Government, Berthelot. The latter concocted a grandoise or Rada, had only a few thousand ill-armed plan for landing some twenty French, Serb, Pole, east of Ekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk), he began with a few hundred ill-armed troops, while the Don Cossacks had about Rumanian and Greek divisions in southern fifteen thousand, almost all of them mounted. Russia, but. the plan fell through because of peasants and, by the end of the year, had political disapproval and the lack of troops. fifteen thousand men organized into four The Red advance was successful and rapid. French and Greek troops occupied Odessa and infantry and one cavalry brigades and a Kiev was occupied on February 8th and the Sevastopol from December 1918 to April 1919, machine gun regiment of five hundred guns. Don capital of Novocherkassk on the 26th. but did not give any substantial help to local Makhno's special targets were the landlords Ataman Kaledin committed suicide and a Red White contingents. and his methods were not tempered by mercy Don government was proclaimed. The or fair play. Following the Austro-German Ukrainians, despite the loss of their capital, The Japanese, seeing a chance to extend their withdrawal, he aligned himself more or less signed a peace treaty with the Central Powers influence in Siberia, occupied Vladivostok. with the Reds, though, in time, he would fight which guaranteed the latte'r much needed Eventually, they advanced as far as Lake Baikal them as well. grain. and subsidized a local government under General Semenov. The Japanese remained the STRATEGIES AND TACTICS The Germans, frustrated by Bolshevik stalling longest of any of the interventionists, The methods of fighting employed by the at Brest-Litovsk and threatened with the loss withdrawing the last of their troops from armies in the Russian Civil War were dictated of their newly-acquired bread-basket, renewed Russian territory at the close of 1922. by the peculiarities of the armies and the vast their advance on February 19. The Germans distances over which they fought. The and Austrians swept through the' Ukraine with The Japanese venture in Siberia provoked a enormous size of the fronts made defense in only sporadic Red resistance. Kiev was similar move by the wary Americans, who did depth impossible and encouraged the use of occupied on March 2 and Rostov on March 8. not wish to see Japanese influence go such tactics as frontal attacks and outflanking The Bolsheviks, in the meantime, had signed unchallenged in Siberia. Small contingents of movements. The latter was especially useful the Treaty Of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, in U.S. troops were also stationed in North because there really was no such thing as a which they recognized the independence of Russia and the Black Sea area. "front" in the conventional sense. Forces the Ukraine and ceded territories encom­ The Germans, who fought in the Baltic in 1919, generally advanced along the rail lines and the passing nearly one-third of Russia's popula­ may also be considered interventionists, as flank or intervening territory was covered by tion. could the Rumanians, who seized Bessarabia, small detachm ents or patrols. Artillery, In the Don Province, the heavy-handed. Red and the Serbs, Chinese, Finns and Poles, who including armored trains and shock units, were generally pushed ahead with troops strung out rule provoked a revolt, which, with German sent detachments to Russian territory. The aid, drove out the Bolsheviks and a new most important fact about all these troops is over a long distance. The shattering or ataman, General Krasnov, was elected in May. that they accomplished absolutely nothing. envelopment of enemy forward units was apt to lead to a disorderly retreat, which, if Krasnov accepted the patronage of the Rather than help the Whites, the interven­ Germans who supplied him with arms. By this tionists gave to the Reds the cause of ptoperly exploited by cavalry, could be turned means, the Don Cossack forces were defending the Russian homeland against into a rout. The importance of rail lines for expanded to forty thousand men by the foreign invasion. It also earned the Bolsheviks movement and supply made the capture of rail considerable sympathy worldwide and tied centers important strategic objectives. Most autumn of 1918. down a negligible number of Red troops. The major battles were over such features. The Volunteer Army intervention must simply be considered one of the most ineffectual and counter·productive The poor quality of most riflemen made this In the shadow of the Don Army, a small force fiascos in history. weapon of negligible importance. The machine developed which was to become the' most gun was the decisive weapon in combat. Field powerful and durable of the White forces - the NA TIONALISTS AND OTHERS artillery was relatively ineffective because most Volunteer Army. The Volunteer Army had its With the collapse of the Russian Empire, of the attacks were carried out over a broad origins in a group of officers imprisoned by the numerous local governments sprang up. area. Provisional Government. Among these men 33

were Generals Kornilov, Alekseev, Deniken,. ment of sorts at Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar) and in'fantry and two cavalry divisions, with about Lukomsky and Romanovsky. The first two were talking about independence. In the areas fifteen thousand men. were ex-commanders-in-chief, while Deniken of Novorossk and Stavropol, local Soviets had was the ex-chief-of-staff. The most notorious come into being. The situation was further Deniken reinvaded the Kuban in late July. He of the lot was Kornilov, who had ied an complicated by the thousands of troops who defeated the Reds at the vital rail junction of unsuccessful putsch against the Provisional had abandoned the Caucasian Front. Tikhoretskaya and took Ekaterinodar on Government in September 1917. The others August 15. A White force under General were imprisoned for lesser degrees of political In March, the Red forces pushed into the Wrangel swept south to the Terek and dissent. They shared a common goal, Kuban and ejected the Cossacks from Ekater­ Caucasus where he recruited Moslem troops. however, in their desire to continue the war inodar. The subsequent German invasion and The Red Army simply collapsed, with re-establishment of the Don state largely cut against the Germans and restore Russia to a thousands of troops joining the Whites. The off the Kuban from other Red areas. The Red "place of dignity among nations." remnants retreated towards Tsaritsyn (Stalin­ commander in the region, Sorokin, set about grad) which was soon beseiged by the Don Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the to form a large army from the stranded Cossacks. generals escaped from prison and made their Caucasian troops. By April the Reds had some way south to the comparative safety of the eighty thousand men. At the close of 1918, the Volunteer Army held Don Cossack territory. They set up head­ sway over the whole of the northern Caucasus. The plight of the Volunteer Army was quarters in December 1917 at Rostov and With the addition of ex-Red troops and the seemingly hopeless. Kornilov, however, I I began to recruit for a new Russian Army. From Kuban Cossacks, the army's numerical decided to take the offensive and recapture all over Russia, small groups of ex-officers and strength grew to nearly fifty thousand. Ekaterinodar. He was aided by the fact that the other sympathizers made their way to Rostov, Operations came to a halt, however, when the Red troops were poorly led and contented with arriving at the rate of about eighty per day. German withdrawal cut the flow of ammuni­ occupying the large towns. On April 8, the This was hardly an overwhelming response, tion. Volunteers arrived before Ekaterinodar, which even considering the difficulties in transporta­ Developments in the East and North tion. was held by eighteen to twenty thousand Red troops. For several days, the Whites attacked. Early in 1918, fighting broke out in the area In January 1918, the Volunteer Army was able Their efforts were unsuccessful because between the Volga and the Urals. A number of to field a few small fighting units. These Kuban troops failed to carry out their part. As it anti-Bolshevik factions were active in the area, consisted of an officers' regiment, the was, the Whites lost fifteen hundred men and of which the most important was the "Kornilov" Regiment, a Don foot regiment, were forced to withdraw. A greater blow was "Peoples' Government" at Samara. In June, and a cadet battalion. In addition, there was a suffered in the death of General Kornilov, the 1918, this body raised a small army and began cavalry force of one regular and two Cossack most popular of the White commanders. to extend its control against weak Red regiments, a Czech engineer battalion and an resistance. It was assisted by troops of the artillery group. In all, this modest force boasted Under the command of Deniken, the Czech Legion. Volunteers began a long and difficult journey about 4,000 effectives. It was soon put The Czech Legion consisted of ex-Austro­ to the test with the Red invasion of the Don. back to Don territory. On the way, they fought The Volunteers fought well, but were soon over forty battles with Red troops. In Rostov, Hungarian prisoners who had been recruited to forced to abandon Rostov and seek refuge in they set about rebuilding their forces. Offers of fight for the Russians before the outbreak of the Kuban region to the south. arms from the Germans were refused, but the Revolution. It consisted of about seventy sufficient weapons were obtained second­ thousand troops organized into two divisions The Kuban was seething with political activity: hand from the Don Coss!lcks. In July, the army and supporting units. The Bolsheviks had The Kuban Cossacks had erected a govern- was reorganized into three and one-half given the Czechs free passage from Russian

ADled Intervention Russia in the hopes of supporting anti-Red action in that area. In the Baltic, The Russian Civ.il War was a primarily resistance. As long as the First World War the British crippled the Red fleet, while the Russian affair, but the foreign forces, while lasted, ideological conflict became secon­ Royal and French Navies provided support small in number, exerted a considerable dary-thus the Allies supported the Finnish in the Black Sea, eventually evacuating the influence. Reds over the pro-German, anti-Communist last, sad remnants of Wrangel's Army. The Whites until 1918. Once the First World Siberian intervention was primarily con­ There was never any cohesive interven­ War ended, the rationale for intervention cerned with the Japanese attempt to tionist policy in the Russian Civil War. The began to dry up. The Allies were incredibly extend their sway into Siberia and the Allied commitment was made piecemeal war-weary, having exhausted their men American attempt to limit them. Here, as and gradually, without any definitive end in and money on four years of total war. The elsewhere, the Allies were by no means one mind. It resembled the U.S. experience in troops wanted to go home, and dissatis­ with the Whites. There were several Vietnam in that the presence of Allied faction over demobilization arrangements clashes between them and Kolchak's and troops gradually "escalated" as some occurred even in the British and French other anti-Red forces. A similar situation sixteen nations were dragged into inter­ forces. As the Russian Civil War was seen in the Baltic in 1919-20, when four vention of some form. There was, in reality, progressed, Allied intervention became less different Allied-supported groups (the little talk of massive intervention for the popular at home. It was a strain on the Whites, the Baits, the German Freikorps, express purpose of defeating' the Reds, war-torn economies of these nations and the Poles) would rather fight each although some highly placed individuals (Britain's aid alone to the Whites cost other than the "common enemy." The such as Winston Churchill in Britain and twenty-four million pounds); and the Allied intervention in Russia was a case of General Berthelot in France, occasionally Whites were soon identified with Czarist "too little and too late." Intervention lost its supported such plans. The .policies of the autocracy. British dockers refused to load rationale after 11 November 1918, unless nations that intervened were almost totally. munitions for Poland, and as early as late the Allies were willing to take an active part devoid of long-range goals: Similarly, they 1919, the British were beginning to wind up in defeating the Reds, which they were not were unable to reconcile their support for their Russian involvement. prepared to do. the disparate groups fighting the Reds (those who fought for a re-united Greater While the Allied forces were never Thus, the inability to formulate a policy or Russia, as opposed to those fighting for numerically strong, they were of consider­ goal to intervention doomed intervention to regional autonomy). The only basic policy able military importance. The Czech Legion indecisiveness. While the Communist that was evident was the attempt to keep was the most powerful anti-Red force. ideology made friction with the west the Eastern Front open during the First British supplied (and often manned) tanks, unavoidable, it remains that Allied inter­ World War. This was the reason for the gunboats and aircraft spearheaded the vention did greatly increase mistrust and initial commitment of Allied troops to offensives of Deniken, Wrangel and hostility on both sides, a mistrust that was Archangel and Murmansk; to safeguard the Judenich. The Allied forces at Archangel to linger to 1941. Allied lines of communication to North and Murmansk were the basis for all - David C. Isby 34

territory via Vladivostok. In May, however, the of the year, they had advanced as far as Kemm The Reds dispatched two of their best Reds decided to disarm the Legion. Most of on the railway and Shenkursk on the Dvina. commanders to the front. Frunze and the Legion was strung out from the Volga to Tucachevsky brought the White advance to a THE SECOND PHASE: Lake Baikal. The 1st Division, about twelve halt. In June, Tuchachevsky broke the Whites' JANUARY - DECEMBER 1919 thousand men, was at Samara as a rear guard. center and, in a daring outflanking move, The Czechs resisted the Red attempts to Plans and Proposals seized several of the key passes in the Urals. disarm them and took the offensive, driving As the year 1919 opened, the White Armies The Whites retired into Siberia in disorder. In. the Red Guards from the Trans-Siberian were planning to make an all-out drive on July, a crucial battle was fought over Railway. Moscow and Petrograd, and destroy the Chelyabinsk. The Whites were defeated and driven east toward Omsk. The Czech and Samaran troops took Kazan in Bolshevik Regime. Each leader, however, had August. Czech troops marched on Ekaterin­ his own idea of how this was to be accom­ The White debacle was temporarily halted in burg, where the local Soviet troops held the plished. Despite a good deal of talking, the August, when the best of the Siberian Imperial Family. The latter were executed by Whites could agree on no cohesive plan of commanders, Kappel, successfully counter­ the Soviets on July 16; the Czechs arrived on action. attacked the extended Reds and stabilized the the 25th. The Allies were beginning to wonder what front along the Tobol River. They pushed again in October and the White Army collapsed. The Red situation on the Volga had become they had gotten themselves into. Unwilling to commit further troops to the intervention, an Omsk was taken on Novemeber 14. The White critical in July. Their commander, , Muraviev, remnants retreated towards Irkutsk with the was killed defecting to the Whites. Red effort was initiated to bring about a solution to whole of Siberia in revolt around them. fortunes were restored by the arrival of Trotsky the Russian chaos by negotiation. The and reinforcements. Trotsky purged the so-called Prinkipo Proposal was drawn up by Deniken began his offensive in late May. He command and reorganized the forces into the Woodrow Wilson, asking the various Russian had three distinct forces under his command: 1st through 5th Armies, with one-hundred factions to meet near Istanbul. The Reds the Volunteer Army (fifty thousand), the thousand men. In September, these forces initially showed some interest, but the Whites refurbished Don Army (fifty-five thousand) counter-attacked, and in October took rejected any compromise with the Reds. and Wrangel's Caucasian Army (thirty Samara. thousand) . Wrangel wanted to advance on the The Red Offensive Volga and link up with the Siberian forces . The activities of the Czechs caused the Deniken insisted on Moscow as the major goal, Western Allies to abandon their plans of The German withdrawal, begrnning in but allowed Wrangel to pursue the Volga bringing them West. It was decided to use December 1918, was followed step-by-step by strategy independently. In late June, the them as a nucleus of the new anti-German the Red Army. With the Siberian front Volunteers broke the main Red front at Eastern front. The Reds, it was assumed, temporarily quiet, the Reds initiated a general Kharkov and Wrangel captured Tsaritsyn. In would prove a minor obstacle. An Allied staff offensive to overwhelm the various White and August, Kiev and Odessa were taken. On was sent to Siberia under the French General Nationalist forces in European Russia. October 14th, Deniken reached the height of Janin. The Ukraine was invaded by the 12th, 13th and his success by capturing Orel only 250 miles What the Allies needed, however, was a 14th Red Armies, under Gregoriev. They from Moscow. The position of his forces was Russian leader to unite and lead the Whites in quickly overcame the resistance of the in fact precarious. His armies were stretched Siberia. They found this main in Admiral Ukrainian forces under Petliura and captured out over a large arc from Odessa to the Volga . His rear area was in complete disarray. In the Kolchak, an uninspiring ex-Naval officer. In Kiev on February 6. The Red success in the November 1918, Kolchak reached Omsk, Ukraine was undercut in May, however, when west, Ukrainian forces pressed on Kiev. In the where a government of anti-Bolsheviks had Gregoriev repudiated the Bolsheviks and south, Makhno, with some forty thousand been established. With the support of the proclaimed himself ataman in Odessa. The guerrillas, defeated a large White force at Allied missions, Kolchak staged a coup and Ukrainian forces were able to recover their Peregonovka and threatened the Volunteers' took control, declaring himself the "Supreme balance and regain control over much of headquarters at Taganrog. On October 20, the Red 1st Cavalry Army, under Budenny, Ruler of ali the Russias." Kolchak erected an the western Ukraine. administration and set about raiSing an army. attacked the White front at Voronezh. The In this task, he was supported not only by the The 15th and 16th Red Armies invaded the White forces collapsed . By December, they Allies, but by the Imperial gold reserve (seven Baltic Region, whose newly reformed republics were back in the Kuban, the Reds on their train loads!) as well. of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia hurriedly heels. formed small armies. Riga and Vilna were His projects placed a severe burden on the taken in January and Red regimes erected. The During 1919, a small White Army had been Siberians. Conscription, expropriation, and an situation in the Baltic was retrieved by an army formed in Estonia by General Judenlch, who indiscriminate White Terror drove thousands of German Volunteers under General von der had commanded the Caucasian front in World of peasants into the forest, where they formed Goltz. The "Baltic Corps" recaptured Riga at War I. By September, he had about twenty partisan bands. the end of May. Vilna was retaken by German thousand men and decided to make a mad In the far north, small Allied contingents and Lithuanian troops. The political heavy­ dash to seize Petrograd. He was opposed by occupied Murmansk in March 1918. In the handedness of tl'le Germans, however, the 7th Red Army. His drive reached the out­ course of the year, these forces were provoked the Latvians and Estonians, whose skirts of the city, but Red weight of numbers reinforced to nearly twenty thousand men. The combined forces defeated the "Baltic Corps" prevailed and he was forced back into Estonia original justification for this move was to at Cecis in June. in November, where his forces were interned. protect the northern parts against the In the southeast, the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th In the far north, the last of the Allied troops Germans. The latter had a few thousand Red Armies drove against the Don Cossacks withdrew in September. The local Whites troops in Finland assisting the White Finnish and the Volunteer Army. The Don forces were quickly collapsed. Most of the troops went leader, Mannerheim, in his struggle against overwhelmed in February. Only some fifteen over to the Reds. native and Russian Reds. thousand out of forty-five thousand Don THELAST PHASE: 1920- 1921 The presence of the Allied troops emboldened troops managed to join forces with the the Murmansk Soviets to break with Moscow Volunteers. The Volunteers were able to beat The End in Siberia and set up an independent North Russian off the Red attacks and launch a counter­ In January 1920, Kolchak vyas imprisoned by government. A Russian general with the offensive of their own, which recaptured some of his ex-supporters in Irkutsk. In unlikely name of Miller was eventually found to Novocherkassk in March. February, the Reds arrived and executed him. raise an army. The troops available were The White Offensives The remnants of the White forces under mostly ex-Red Guards and other dubious Kappel struggled eastward, fighting partisans elements, whose behavior was anything but The first of the White thrusts was launched in and avoiding towns. Kappel refused to leave reliable. March by Kolchak's Siberian forces. These his troops and died of gangrene resulting from consisted of the Siberian Army (thirty-two frostbite. The few thousand survivors were In August, the Allied forces occupied thousand) in the north, the Western Army rounded up by the Japanese and evacuated to Archangel and began to advance south along (fifty-one thousand) in the center, and the Manchuria. the Murmansk railway and the Dvina River. Southern Army (thirty thousandl. The Whites They encountered spotty, but often stiff were initially successful and in early April again Semenov escaped to Siberia. His successor, resistance from the 6th Red Army. By the end threatened Samara and Kazan. Baron Ungern-Sternberg led his rabble into 35

Mongolia and seized Ulan Baator. In early INVASION: AMERICA [condjrompage29) August: 1921, Red and Mongolian nationalist forces The PAL takes Portland, but the hovercraft are The ESC lands at Galveston and the SAU at captured and executed him. repulsed at Vancouver. The first PAL New Orleans; they push in rapidly and link up Wrange/,s Last Stand mechanized units land and prepare to take with the ESC lodgement. The ESC force in Seattle. New Jersey is wiped out trying to cross the By April 1920, the remnants of the Volunteer The Defenders' main reserve strikes the ESC Hudson. The front is stable in Mexico. forces were holding the Crimea. Deniken had lodgement, retaking South Carolina and T alla- resigned and been replaced by Wrangel. The reinforcements arrive from California, and . hassee. Air attrition is heavy, with the Wrangel was able to scrape together an the Galveston and New Orleans beachheads irreplaceable carriers suffering. An attack in effective force of about forty thousand. He are wiped out in desperate attacks. A strike Nicaragua fails, but Portland and Cape Flattery realized that he could not hope to hold his own along the Georgia coast fails. More and more are recaptured. The attacks in Oregon are against the Reds, but hoped that their ensuing militia is committed, doing more harm than supported by 60% of the Defender air units. war with the Poles would distract enough Red good. Attempts at partisan warfare in the ESC The Defenders are holding fairly well, but strength to .allow him to hold the Crimea. He rear are disorganized and harshly dealt with. attrition is causing a greater reliance on militia even conducted a small offensive and There are absolutely no Defender reserves left to guard the beaches, which could be occupied the Taurida. anywhere, and every beach is guarded by disastrous. militia. In August, the Red Armies, under Tucha­ May: The ESC advances steadily, as air chevsky, were beaten before Warsaw and, in support based in the US becomes available. September: October, a Russo-Polish peace was concluded. The SAU cracks the line and reaches Yucatan. The ESC tries attacking north, - but fails to The Reds now concentrated 150,000 men The PAL retakes Portland, but does not launch crack the Appalachians. The SAU makes some against the Crimea and stormed the Perekop a second invasion; the hovercraft re-embark as pro!;lress against a thin screen, but is still four­ Isthmus on November 11. On the 14th, they will be more useful in a less restricted hundred kilometers from Texas. Very little of Wrangel left the Crimea, followed by over beachhead. The ESC invasion comes in economic value has fallen to the SAU, and the 100,000 soldiers and civilians. southern New Jersey and is stopped north of failure can be traced to the initial invasion. PAL Trenton. The SAU invasion comes at South The only major force in the field oPPOsing the units land behind SAU lines; they will be useful Texas (1929l. American militia crumbles and Reds was Makhno. Throughout the winter of in the upcoming winter battle for the Sierra the SAU armor strikes westward to cut Mexico 1920, the Red Armies pursued him westward. Madre. The Defenders marshal what strength off from the US. This time aircraft accompany In January 1921, Makhno crossed the they have left to repulse the last attacks before the initial invasion forces. Ruma'nian frontier with 250 followers. He later winter. The Defenders commit the only remaining settled in Paris where he lived peacefully for October: many years. three armored corps in Mexico, cutting off the westernmost SAU units. Remaining units in The invasions come in Corpus Christi (SAUl The Russian Civil War was now technically Central America pull back to Tehuantepec and Galveston (ESCl. The areas are barely over. A few bands of Whites roamed about in (0932l. In New Jersey, the Defenders do not screened and rapid penetration puts invaders Siberia and national revolts were still going on counter-attack, and attacks against the in Dallas, Houston and oil and wheat field in the Caucasus. Everywhere, however, the southern lodgement do little. In Oregon, the areas of great importance. The ESC finally Reds had been triumphant. To a great extent, massive air support allows the destruction of takes Memphis and New Orleans; the their victory was a result of their centralized the PAL beachhead, with heavy losses for both lodgement front now exceeds two-thousand and determined leadership. Even so, they were sides. Units entrain for movement to Georgia. kilometers in length. Scattered Defender armor helped by the military and political errors of the faces the units in Texas, while the main front Whites. Lenin himself later admitted that the falls back to a line from the Appalachians Bolshevik victory was due less to Red strength June: through the Ozarks and down the Mississippi. than to the weakness of the Whites. Atlanta falls to the ESC, as the Defenders fall Few aircraft are left. The USA and Canada are back to the Appalachians. In New Jersey, the weak, but so are the ESC and PAl. THE COST front remains stable, neither side being strong None of the weakened economies can support enough for a big push. The SAU pulls back in The toll which the Civil War exacted on Russia this bloody, inconclusive war. With winter South Texas and advances steadily on Mexico is almost beyond conprehension. In human coming on, the invaders are anxious to City. The PAL invades at Los Angeles, taking terms, it caused the deaths of an estimated negotiate; the Defenders are anxious to L.A. and threatening Phoenix. twenty-five million persons. This is probably a salvage what they can from a losing war. As low figure. The vast majority of the dead were The Defenders send forces from Oregon to Los snow begins to fall in Washington and Zurich, civilians who perished from disease and star­ Angeles, protecting Phoenix, but lacking time the four powers come to an agreement. The vation. Military deaths were comparatively few to attack. Militia blocks the path to San United States will share its mineral and and some 85% of those were from disease. Francisco. Airstrikes deplete the PAL carrier agricultural wealth with the world. In return, The economic structure was in ruins, as were force. The Defenders reduce the South Texas most foreign forces will be withdrawn and the thousands of villages and towns. More impor­ beachhead and prepare for a withdrawal north conquered areas returned to American civilian tantly, the agricultural situation was in of Mexico City. Minor inroads are made administration. The world pulls together in its complete chaos. In some areas effective crops against the southern ESC lodgement, now too hunger, strangely, closer than ever before. At had not been raised in years. The stores which big to be wiped out. least, it might work out like that. did exist had been fed to the armies.~Theresult Admittedly, Invasion: America postulates a was a massive famine in which further millions July: rather improbable set of developments. A died. Birmingham falls, but the ESC makes no Soviet-Chinese-South American alliance headway in attacks against the Appalachians. seems most unlikely, but stranger things have Psychologically, the Civil War left deep scars The Defender line is thinning dangerously. The on the Russian people. Old hatreds were to .SAU finally takes Mexico City, while the PAL happened. If the current trend of diminishing erupt anew during World War II when such expands its L.A. beachhead, unsuccessfully American influence in the Third World continues, it is conceivable that the rest of the groups as the Cossacks flocked to the Nazi attacking Phoenix. Small ESC and SAU forces banner. embark for third invasions. world would "gang up" on the USA. As the world grows poorer in fossil fuels, in food, in The Defenders assume a defensive posture in minerals, while its population increases, the Mexico and unsuccessfully strike at Birming­ enormous wealth of the United States will ham. The air battle is favoring the Defenders seem more attractive. Starvation breeds ATI'END SPI'. END·OF·SUMMER more and more, but ground support is desperation and desperation breeds action. GAME PLAYINGMARATHON minimal; there are few troops left to support. And if the world's economy doesn't improve, For the first time, militia is committed to the there is some chance of an Invasion: America. 48 holUll of coatiDUOllll lame.playllll rl&hthere at line against the ESC. In California, the PAL SPI HQ. MlIl'Ilthon .. divided lllto el&ht,6-hour _Ions startlnl 7pm Friday, 3 Sep. No adyanee forces are again wiped out under huge air realitradon neeessary--:l_t purchase at least one strikes. The PAL amphibious fleet is destroyed, 58 or $9 aame for each _Ion attended. Playen freeing all West Coast forces. Ten corps of must proYldetheir own lames. QuesdoD8? CaD or armor and infantry entrain for the Southeast, send SSAE for details. along with several air fleets.