Lecture:Interbellum

Okay, this ones a very large topic and could be its own independent lecture, but I will try to do the best I can. Today will be about the Russian Civil War/Revolution. We will be talking about the Russian Civil War, the causes of the war, why the whites lost and why the Reds won, the Russo-Polish War, the Finnish Civil War and the Intervention of foreign powers. 

First off, the causes of the war go far back in Russian History. While we could just trace it to WWI, it goes a little farther back. For centuries, Russian peasants were tied to land they didn't own and were forced to work for others (virtually serfdom, or for American readers, it was like Slavery). By 1861, only two civilized nations, the U.S and Russia, allowed one man to own another, and force him to work against his will. In that year, Serfdom was abolished in the Russian Empire. Vestiges of the old system remained, however. Added to that was that there were virtually no reforms made at all unlike other powers such as Britain and Germany. The tipping point finally came when WWI erupted. By 1917, Russia was losing land on every front except for the Middle Eastern. The February Revolution occurred in 1917 which overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and installed a provisional government with a parliament led by Alexander Kerensky. The Bolsheviks did not play any huge role in this first revolution. The provisional government did not take Russia out of the war, however, which made them unfavorable in the views of the Russian people. Meanwhile, the Germans were worried about the entry of America into the war and wanted to get Russia out of the war quickly so they could take out France before large amounts of American reinforcements arrived. Thus, they allowed a Russian exile from Switzerland, named Vladimir Lenin, to take a train to Russia and overthrow the government.



Vladimir Lenin

The october Revolution in November of 1917 saw the Bolsheviks (I'll be calling them reds from here on out) overthrow the provisional government in Petrograd and seize control of the government. The White movement was established the day after as a resistance to the Reds. 

Next, we'll talk about why the Whites lost and why the Reds won. 
White Advantages:Had support of the newly victorious European powers
White Disadvantages:Separated by huge distances, unable to coordinate their attacks, poor supplies
Red advantages:Had control of Russia's industrial core (I.e, Moscow, Minsk, Smolensk, etc.), more available men, concentrated in one area for the most part
Red disadvantage:Heavily stricken by famine, didn't have support of European powers.
the Whites were separated by extremely large distances. Due to this, it was hard to coordinate with each other. For example, one white general is in the Baltic area, while another is in the Urals. They have to both attack the Reds in Moscow simultaneously. Neither of the generals is able to communicate with the other, however, and thus their attacks on Moscow are not as strong as they could be. Also, the Reds had control of Russia's industrial core, where the Whites only had control of virtually worthless Siberia as well as some areas in the Caucasus, Ukraine and the Baltics. Finally, the Reds had a unified cause. Everyone in the Red army was fighting for Bolshevik takeover. The whites, however, had many different goals in mind. Some wanted to restore the Russia monarchy, some wanted a democracy, some wanted to liberate their country they lived which had been part of the Russian empire for centuries. As a result, a lot of infighting occurred. 

Next, the intervention of Foreign powers.






After the civil war began, Britain, France, America, Japan, along with smaller forces such as the Czechoslovak legion, Poland, and the Baltic states, all intervened and fought the Reds. France attacked from the Black Sea, Britain occupied the ports of Murmansk and Archaenglsk in the North, and America, Japan and Britain invaded Vladivostok and Siberia in the East. The Czechoslovak Legion took parts of the Trans-Siberian railroad, and the poles and the Baltic states fought in Western Russia. All of the major powers eventually left in 1920, except for Japan. 

Okay, let's get this finished up and talk about the Western wars with the Poles and Finns.




The Russo-Polish War began in 1919 and ended in 1922. The Russians launched an offensive all the way to Warsaw but were repulsed. The war ended with Poland gaining ethnic Polish land along with some Belarusian and Ukrainian Land. The Finnish Civil War began in 1918 when they gained independence from Russia. It was between the Reds and the Whites. It was a proxy war between the Germans, who supported the whites, and the Soviets, who supported the Reds. The Germans were able to help the whites take Helsinki and the southern portions and win the war. 

Sorry about not mentioning the next topic. The next topic will either be Austria-Hungarys successor states or the Turkish Wars of Independence.
If you mean that I didn't talk much about the Civil War, I mean to give a general overview of the political situation of this era. I would like to do another lecture about this period in Russian history just by itself. I can go more into detail wh that happens either when this lecture ends or the next planned lecture will end.

Thanks for teaching me master

I'm really wanna know what will be on about the Turkish War for Independence. Afterall my ancestors' are from Turkish territory (not Turks though).

Nah, I'm fine with Interbellum. I may need some help with the Cold War. I know a lot about the Proxy Wars as well as the McCarthy trials in the US, but I'd appreciate help for the rest.

Unrelated note:Will you talk about Bulgaria in WWII? Or should I just edit my lecture to add that Bulgaria then invaded Yugoslavia and Greece in 1941 along with the Nazis?

Sorry, I meant the Cold War.
The Bulgarians followed the Wehrmacht after Operation Marita and they didn't participate in the operation itself
"The Bulgarian Army entered Greece on 20 April 1941 on the heels of the Wehrmacht without having fired a shot and eventually occupied the whole of northeastern Greece, Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace, except for the Evros prefecture, at the border with Turkey, which was occupied by the Germans. Unlike Germany and Italy, Bulgaria officially annexed the occupied territories, which had long been a target of Bulgarian irredentism, on 14 May 1941.[24]"

well you and me are nearly same in the ww1 thing