Why Was Russia More Successful Than The Bolsheviks

world with a red pencil in one hand and a gun in the other.’
Finally, the failure of the Whites to work as a cohesive force enabled the Bolsheviks to emerge victorious in 1921. As the events of the Civil War demonstrated, the Bolsheviks proved to be better at organizational matters, rather than the White Army officers who displayed a lack of initiative and adherence to routine. They were ultimately divided on what to replace the Bolshevik regime, as they were an amalgam of separate ethnic groups united only by their desire to eject Bolshevism out of Russia. Furthermore, Pipes states that their administrative structure ‘rebounded in the Communists’ favour’, in that, whilst the Red Army was simply a military wing of a civilian government, the White Army were also a military force that also had to act as government, of which figures such as Admiral Kolchak
Although the Whites had many of the old officers from the Tsarist Regime, they had difficulty in attracting new recruits and were never properly organised as a supreme fighting force. McCauley states that whilst Admiral Kolchak was named the ‘Supreme Ruler of Russia’, it was ‘only on paper,’ signifying his token leadership. Co-operation and communication between White Armies also proved to be limited. Kolchak established a government in Siberia, which had little contact with General Deniken’s outpost in the South. Tactically, the White Armies largely fought independent one of another, which contrasted with the mass formations of the Red Army. In addition the Interventionist armies of Britain, French and American were fighting thousands of miles from home, at the end of a long supply line, and only served as a useful propaganda tool for the Bolsheviks, portraying the Whites to be in league with foreign interventionists who wished to overthrow the country. Other events such as the murder of the former Tsar in July 1918 also removed a focal point for