After the Czar was removed, a provisional Kerensky Governmen took over Russia. The Germans transported Lenin in a sealed train from Switzerland to Russia where he proceeded to topple the provisionals, mainly because they wanted to continue to fight the Germans. A group of Czechs temporarily took over Siberia and the Mid Volga. These men had been a brigade in the Tsarist Army. They marched towards the East to leave the country. They tried to help the Whites fight, but eventually gave up fighting. The Reds rmobilized a huge army - they had three million deserters and 50,000 Tsarist officers and 270,000 Communist Party members. Trotsky had some regiments decimated for desertion or fleeing. General Krasnov led a Cossack Army with German help and liberated the Ukraine. Denikin also led a foray with some success; Krasnov had been killed. Admiral Kolchak fought in Siberia. General Yvdenitch attacked in the direction of Petrograd. The Allies join in. In the Ukraine there were two French and two Greek Divisions. However, they were reluctant to fight after surviving the Western Front. There was some skirmishing in Archangel and Muranansk by the British. In Siberia, Kolchak won some fights but his capital of Omsk was captured. When he fled, he was captured and shot. Denikin's attack out of the Ukraine was turned back, Petivra and Makhno were local freedom fighters who had some success with peasant armies. Mahkno fought on both sides. He had less than 50,000 men. Denikin controlled a region of 42 million. Yudenitch was turned back fropm Petrograd. At the Battle of Oriel, Denikin was smashed. Budenny pursued, Wrangel took over the White Armies in the Crimea. He was outnumbered 4:1 and was crushed. The war was over. ANALYSIS The Whites had too many leaders. The Reds were disciplined and had one leader. The Bolsheviks and the central geographical position and their enemies could not unite. The poor peasants did not realize that "rich guys" and the Bolsheviks were people who maybe had a cow and would later be shot as class enemies. On the other hand, many of the Whites did not treat poor people well. The Allies were lacking a full commitment to the White cause and their troops were sluggish and reluctant to fight. The Germans left before the War really reached a crisis. Makhno and Petryvra basically just wanted to stay where they were in the Ukraine which was their downfall. The Great Struggle of our century has been Reds versus Whites. This really was what WWII and other conflicts boiled down to. It is very sad that people had to die for ideals which were both noble and ignoble. When we play with our toys, let us learn by their mistakes and struggle for a common idealogical ground without violence. We owe them that, and we can honor them on the wargame table by remembering them and being better than them. War has one place only, on a table with colorful soldiers and buildings and peace outside the table - this is the lesson of the Russian Civil War. FIGURES In 15mm Irregular and Minifigs have Russian WWII, Sailors, Cossacks. Peter Pig has troops and just about everything. You can paint everybody as a rabble of WWI Russians; just about any generation of Cossacks and WWI planes and artillery and no one can criticize you because if you look at pictures of the conflict, mostly everyone looked alike. You might have some units in officer Cadet uniforms of your choice; Russian sailors wear a black-blue, Cossacks with blue pants. Toss in WWI Allies and a train - not always armored and these are toys to remember. Back to MWAN #102 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com