Russian Civil War
COnflict accumulates
The new Council of People's Commissars faced the challenges of gaining support and extending their reach to the rest of the Russian soviets, as well as the responsibility of managing the ongoing fighting in World War I. The culmination of internal tensions between the Bolsheviks and anti-Bolshevik organizations became the Russian Civil War.
"Nobody misses Kerensky but people hesitate to rally to the Bolsheviks because they feel that their success cannot last." - Louis de Robien
Army reforms
"The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end." - Trotsky
Victory for the Reds
In the months that followed, the Whites, comprised of Bolshevik opponents with no central organization, rallied through their common desire to drive them from power. Militarily, however, the Bolsheviks were far superior and had centralized government to orchestrate the war. In March of 1918, Lenin attempted to end Russian involvement in World War I through the Brest-Litovsk treaty with Germany, hoping partially to incite a socialist revolution in the rest of Europe. This ended Russia's involvement in the war, but also severed relations with the Allied Powers. In the summer of 1918, Japanese and American troops arrived to aid the Whites. The Red army, reformed by Trotsky, forced a full white retreat by 1919, and left their armies unmotivated and defeated. By November 1920, the counterrevolution had been put down at the cost of 700,000 Reds; Soviet power was supreme, and Russia became a one-party state.