Civil Wars
CAUSES (Long Term)
Russian Civil War
Before and during WWI:
Labor shortages
Food shortages
Increased demand for
goods
Inadequate transport
system
Disruption of foreign trade
Decline in Government
revenue
Economic
Lack of development in
artillery and
transportation during WWI
o Led to many soldiers
being exhausted after 3
years of war
Inflation in Russia also
exacerbated this
situation.
Ideological Red Army
Fight for the Bolshevik
o Anarchists
Communism form of
socialism
White Army
o Diverse interests
favoring monarchism,
Spanish Civil War
Largely agricultural economy
o Economically backwards- poor
and weak
Rural unrest due to poor living
conditions
o Population = Peasants
o Latifundios
Exploited by landowners,
worked near starvation
levels
Towns no better- child labour and
low wages present
o Easier to unite into political
groups that ruling class feared
Improved economy post-WWI
o Short lived; benefited rich
Two major left wing parties
o Thought that the socialists
supported repression, and
resented them for not being
willing to fight for worker rights
Socialists
Chinese Civil War
Peasants under the rule of the
Manchu Dynasty were poor
Peasant population grew by 8% but
the land cultivated increased only by
1% in and this imbalance caused
famines
Peasants had to pay up to 80% of
their harvest to landlords, and
struggled with unemployment and
debt due to cheap Western
technology
Prince Chuns incompetence saw the
dismissal of Jiang Jieshi, and he
increased taxation, contributing to
socio-economic downturn.
Warlords and regionalism - failure to
fill the power vacuum in 1911 divided
up China into different regions where
warlords brutally exercised their
power over the peasants
Manchu Qing dynasty became
increasingly fragile.
o The emperors inability to resist the
influx of foreign involvement in the
country = rising nationalist
resentment
Chinas image was ruined
 capitalism and
alternative forms of
socialism
The Tsarists wanted the
Tsar back in power.
The liberals and social
revolutionaries wanted
democracy not
communism.
Mensheviks wanted Opposing ideologies for a fundamental
another revolution.
Foreign powers
o Angry because Lenin
had left the war and
they wanted Russia's
force to stop Germany
on the Eastern front
o Also scared of
communism
Political Russias poor Political system and monarchy
performance in World War
I swept aside the
Romanov dynasty and
installed a government
that was eager to end the
fighting
Two groups of opponents
combined
o The non-Bolshevik Left
Socialists, who had been
alienated from Lenin by
his dissolution of the
Constituent Assembly
The rightist whites, whose
main asset was the
o Felt they were respectful of the
law and that reasoned discussion
would one day resolve Spanish
issues. The anarchists.
Anarchists had a trade union called
the CNT and Socialist trade union
was called the UGT.
Both of these parties were
opposed to right wing
cause = catalyst for civil war
Collapse of imperial power created the
Constitutional monarchy under
King Alfonso XIII.
Elections/laws/parliament
formed to benefit ruling class,
not poor.
Despite there being universal
male suffrage since 1887,
politics were surprisingly right
wing.
Elections and politics were
rigged to remain this way, by
brutal thuggish 'caciques' in
favour of Liberals and
Conservatives.
Nationalists believed that the
abdication of the emperor was
necessary to modernize the country
to make it a great power again
Dynasty was overthrown in 1911 in
the revolution of the double tenth
o A military nationalistic uprising
As the dynasty was overthrown, a
power vacuum arose
o KMT and CCP fight over later in the
civil war
conditions for the later civil war
China's destabilized economy was
exploited and humiliated through
Western imperialism after the mid-
19th century
Chinese empire had been "carved up
into spheres of influence"
Large portions of the tax revenue did
not reach the central government as
provisional governments were corrupt
Educated Chinese and elites in the
Self-Strengthening Movement were
divided on how to modernize China
China had lost the war with Japan in
1895, and lost land to Japan in the
Russo-Japanese settlement in 19045
There was a widespread and popular
 Volunteer Army in the
Kuban steppes
The Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk had shown to
many how weak the
Bolsheviks actually were.
o Lenin had called for
peace at any price and
the Germans imposed
very severe terms
Territorial The Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk Russia yielded
large portions (1/3) of its
territory to Germany
o Caused a breach
between the Bolsheviks
and the Left Socialist
Dictatorship of Miguel Primo 1923-
1930
Due to defeats and humiliation
in Morocco, King Alfonso
allowed a military dictatorship
under General Miguel Primo de
Rivera as of 1923, severely
undermining the monarchy in
the process.
Primo split the left wing by
allowing the socialist UGT trade
union, but driving underground
and banning the Anarchists and
their CNT trade union.
He created mass opposition
against him by failing to reform
the tax system/economy, did
not give peasants the land
reform they wanted, and
withdrew Catalonian rights.
He is a good cause of war, as
his failures caused problems to
fester, and united left
opposition saw him forced out
of office in 1930, with
subsequent votes calling
overwhelmingly for the
abdication of King Alfonso and
a new Republic
Regional divisions
Basques, Catalans, Galicians
had significant cultural and
economic differences. All
minorities sought greater
autonomy and separation from
Spanish state.
anti-Western feeling, which started
the Boxer Rebellion in 1899, but
without modern weaponry, any anti-
foreign revolt was futile.
The overthrow of the Manchu dynasty
In 1911, the dynasty was overthrown
in a revolution known as the Double
Tenth and a republic was created
In an attempt to overthrow the
rebellion, the imperial government
tried to use the Northern Army
general, Yuan Shikai, only to be
double-crossed
In February 1912, Pu Yi was
abdicated.
Historian Michael Lynch argues that the
revolution was essentially a revolt by the
provinces against the center government;
"a triumph for regionalism."
Political weakness and the influence of
foreign powers
China had been forced to sign
unequal treaties that gave the
imperialist powers extraordinary
controls over Chinese trade, territory,
and ultimately sovereignty.
 Revolutionaries, who Foreigners refused to abide by
thereupon left the Chinese laws, and they had their own
coalition. extraterritorial courts
The treaty was forced on In addition, missionaries flooded into
the Bolshevik government China in an attempt to spread
by the threat of further Christianity.
advances by German and
Austrian forces
CAUSES (Short Term)
Russian Civil War Spanish Civil War
Economic
Ideological February 1936, 'Popular The May Fourth Movement
Front' was an anti-fascist
pact made up of various
left-wing groups including
socialists and communists.
Identical front as Stalin's
policy in 1935.
For many, it was final
attempt to uphold
democracy and peace,
others associated it with
Stalin and extreme
communism.
Government wanted to
restore reforms of 1931-33
regime; political prisoners
released.
Caballero's socialists did
not join government and
right did not accept
restoration of old reforms.
Increase in violence in
countryside as anarchists
encourage peasants to
seize land.
Military officers began
Chinese Civil War
The economic situation in
China overall worsened
after the Sino-Japanese
War
Led by students in 1919,
and in response to the
Treaty of Versailles
A mass demonstration was
held in Beijing, against the
warlords, traditional
culture, and the Japanese
China had joined the Allies
in a "rebirth" as an
independent nation
inspired by the Bolshevik
revolution in 1917
Imperialism was perceived
as the main cause for
China's problem
China's GMD party had
grown stronger during the
warlord period
 planning a coup as soon as
Popular Front gained
power
Catalyst of coup was the
murder of popular CEDA
leader on 13 July 1936.
Azaa knew about the
coup and moved key
military figures to remote
posts.
When details about the
coup were discovered, it
was made a day earlier on
the 17th of July, from
Morocco.
Rising failed to take main
industrial areas, or Madrid.
Half of the army remained
loyal to Republic, coup
technically unsuccessful
Political Lenin's insisted on Political weakness
"complete non- regionalism
cooperation" with After the abdication and
o The bourgeois class death of Yuan, China lost
o The less radical side of the final degree of unity
the Communist party the China broke up into
Mensheviks smaller provinces
o The Left Social controlled by warlords
Revolutionaries which lasted between
This alienated the 1916 and 1928
Bolsheviks and left them The warlords ran their
without a coalition and areas independently,
virtually ally-less during collected taxes, had their
the Civil War. own laws and currencies
Chinese were highly
 embarrassed by this, and
the peasants suffered
Internal state of anarchy,
division, and regionalism
and provincialism was to
play for the cause of the
civil war
Japan had to withdraw
from China
Both communists and
Territorial nationalists wanted to get
as much territory in the
chaos that followed the
Japanese withdrawal as
possible
PRACTICES
Russian Civil War
Significant expansion in Overall Strategies
the numbers of trained
specialists and their
growing emphasis on
practical research
Technologic
Invention of the
al
developme Tachanka a heavy
nts machine mounted on a
regular horse carriage
o Allowed for
mobility and
firepower in wide
range battles
Air Aerial forces available to
the Whites included the
Slavo-British Aviation
Corps (S.B.A.C.)
The British formed
Slavo-British regiments
and also the Aviation
Corps from Russian
personnel with British
officers and NCOs to
maintain the fight
against the Bolsheviks.
These forces provided
the backbone of the
armed services of the
new nations of the
Baltic and Central
Europe as well as the
Spanish Civil War
Strategic bombing
Infantry supported by air power
Infantry supported by tanks
Naval blockades
Aircraft played a crucial role in
the Spanish Civil War and were
used in a wide variety of
capacities including
reconnaissance, ground attack
and strategic bombing
Foreign-supplied aircraft played
the most significant role, with
Germany and Italy providing the
Nationalists a combined 1253
and the USSR supplying 648 to
the Republic. Soviet-supplied
Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 fighters
were superior to aircraft used by
the Nationalists in the first year
of the war, helping the
Republicans to achieve aerial
supremacy in the wars early
Chinese Civil War
Majority of Chinas weaponry was
imported from other countries or
Chinese made German copies
o Rifles, machine guns,
handguns
Neither side manufactured
significant armaments and so
both relied on foreign supplies
and captured weaponry
Communist forces, known before
1949 as the Chinese Democratic
Alliance Forces
Kobayashi's personnel and the
new Red Chinese Air Unit, mostly
Oscars and Franks, saw some
action and were almost used in
the big push to cross the Yangzi
River that finally defeated the
Nanjing Central Government of
Generalissimo Jiang Zhongzheng
on the mainland
 principal striking force
of the remnants of the
White Russian armies
o They crushed
Bolshevist or, as in
Hungary,
supported
Bolshevist
uprisings in their
own countries and
waged war against
the nationalist
movements in
neighboring states
Land 3 periods of war
First period: Fighting
only involved small
groups, was sporadic
Second period: At first
the White armies'
advances from the
south and the east were
successful, in forcing
the Red Army and its
allies back.
o 1919: Red Army
suffered a
significant loss of
troops in Crimea
Third Period: extended
siege of remaining
White forces in the
Crimea
months.
Tanks were primarily used in the
war to support infantry, with
tanks spread in small numbers
across multiple infantry divisions
This usage certainly helped to
bolster an infantry advance, as
was evident in the Republican
defence around Madrid in the
early months of the war
This tactic, however, failed to use
tanks to their full potential; tanks
were better used in mass
formations to quickly overrun
enemy infantry
New tank tactics were developed
later in the conflict by German
officers who used tanks
concentrated together and
supported their rapid attacks
with aircraft
1946: Chiang Kai-Shek launched
an attack on Communist territory
with 1.6 million troops, marked
the final phase of the Chinese
Civil War
Communist party used passive
defense due to their
disadvantages in manpower and
equipment.
Avoided the strong points of the
KMT army and was prepared to
abandon territory in order to
preserve its forces.
Surrounding countryside and
small towns were in control of the
Communist Party
Communist Party attempted to
wear out KMT forces as much as
possible
o Tactic proved to be
successful; after a year, the
favorable to the CPC
 o Killed 1.12 million KMT
troops, while their troops
grew to about two million
men
British Campaign in the There were no major sea battles, Naval engagements were
Baltic 191819 and most naval engagements blockades and counter-blockade
Operation Red Trek were blockade and counter- operations
o Stop rise of blockade operations.
Bolshevism, o Nationalist blockades were
protect Britains more successful
interests o Were never enough
o Extend freedom of completely stop the flow of
seas supplies to the Republic
Failed to secure control
of Petrograd by White
Russian forces
Key component in the
establishment of Estonia
and Latvia
Sea
British fleet prevented
the Baltic Fleet to move
by sea
Only the Baltic fleet
based at Petrograd
remained largely intact,
although it was attacked
by the British Royal
Navy in 1919
Russian Baltic Fleet
o Fleet of the
Bolsheviks
o Essential to
protection of
Petrograd
 White Army: 2.4 million In early 1939 the Republican Communist Party
Red Army: 3 million Popular Army was half the size of o 1.2 million (July 1945)
o 103,000 Troops Nationalist forces, which had o 2.8 million (June 1948)
from Ukraine over a million troops o 4 million (June 1949)
Both sides relied heavily on Kuomintang (KMT):
conscription o 4.3 million (June 1946)
Republic: Militia composed of o 3.65 million (June 1948)
labour unions and leftist political o 1.49 million (June 1949)
groups Both armies relied extensively,
They were civilian volunteers and although not exclusively, on
organized according to left-wing conscripts\
ideas of equality and freedom of
discussion, often rejecting
traditional military hierarchies
o This was especially true in
Human
Resources the radical anarchist
militias.
The very survival of the Republic
in the early days in many areas
was due to the actions of local
militias.
Nationalists: Militias included
monarchists, known as the
requetes, and the paramilitary
forces of the fascist Falange.
o Right wing ideologies made
them more accepting of
military hierarchy.
o Meant that Nationalist
militias were more easily
controlled than Republicans
Involvement of Allied military intervention Spanish Republican government America strongly supported KMT
Foreign Powers with 4 objectives replied on Soviet Union for o Over 50,000 US Marines
Resurrect the Eastern munitions and military supplies were sent to guard strategic
Front by defeating the and equipment sites,
 Bolshevik army o 500,000 weapons given
Prevent the German or o Weapons were of poor
Bolshevik capture of quality; nearly 25 per cent
Allied material of rifles dating from the
stockpiles in 1880s
Arkhangelsk Nationalists relied on Italy and
Mount an attack helping Germany
the Czechoslovak Quantity of nationalist aid
Legions stranded on the increased during the course of
Trans-Siberian Railway the war while Soviet aid
Stop the spread of decreased
communism and the Soviet aircraft were excellent in
Bolshevik cause in quality which helped the
Russia. Republic control the skies in the
Allies supported anti- first year of the war
Bolshevik White forces German aircraft helped the
o 8 foreign troops Nationalists gain control of the
intervened such skies after 1937
as: America, Republic lost presumably due to
France, Britain, diminishing resources
Italy, Japan French government proposed a
o Japanese were non-intervention agreement that
concerned about was signed by all major powers
their Northern European powers would commit
border, sent to non-intervention and not
70,000 troops supply the Nationalists
Wanted to establish a This would make the Spanish
buffer state in Siberia Civil War a purely Spanish affair
Hostile towards and, with the early advantages
communism held by the Republicans,
13,000 Americans (in hopefully lead to a Republican
the Arkhangelsk and victory
Vladivostok regions Italy and Germany violated the
Allies withdrew in 1920 agreement by providing
enormous amounts of aid to the
o 100,000 US troops were
sent to Shandong
o America equipped, and
trained over 500,000 KMT
troops, and transported KMT
forces to the battles and to
guard KMT territory
o Provided military supplies;
loans worth hundreds of
millions of dollars were
made
2 years after the Sino-Japanese
War KMT received $4.43 billion
from the US
Stalin did not fully support the
Communist Party
o Believed they were strong
enough to survive in China
o Did not want a communist
victory in China as it would
result in a strong
communist rival against
Russias borders
In 1949, actually urged the CCP
to make some kind of treaty with
the KMT
Nationalists. Non-intervention
therefore left the Republic unable
to gain official international
assistance, except from the
Soviet Union, which also violated
its promise not to assist any
warring faction in Spain
EFFECTS
Russian Civil War
Bolsheviks established
dictatorship as the
Communist Party
o Run by the Central
Committee, which itself
was run by Lenin
For some years, guerrilla
Political bands of nationalists,
repercussions known as Basmachi,
harassed the Communist
authorities
Western countries became
wary of Russia, as they
wanted to prevent the rise
of Communism, which
threatened capitalism
Economic The dictatorship of the
Impact Communist Party resulted
in War Communism
o Six Principles:
Production should be
run by state and
private ownership
should be
minimalized
State control to be
granted over the
labour of every
citizen
State should produce
Spanish Civil War
Under Francos rule,
repression in Spain was
greater than that in Italy
Spain intended to be
traditional, Catholic and
monarchical
The law of the Cortes of 1942
established a parliament, but
this was powerless
The fascist Falange had little
real influence, especially after
most of its key leaders were
killed in the civil war
Spains economy was
burdened by
o Economic dislocation of
trade and industry
o Large war debt owed to
Germany and Italy
In 1951, wages were at only
60% of 1936 levels
From 1956, Spains economy
began to modernize
The 1960s were a period of
economic growth, greater
prosperity and a resurgence
of industrial unrest
Chinese Civil War
All other political organizations
were banned
October 1950 a campaign
was launched to suppress all
counter-revolutionaries
Surveillance society was
actively promoted
Three-Antis Campaign in late
1951 and the Five-Antis
Campaign in January 1952
o Targeted those perceived as
guilty of financial corruption
and were essentially aimed
against private
businessmen of property
Industrial production, only a
tiny proportion of the Chinese
economy before the war, was
further weakened due to
o The destruction caused to
urban centers by civil
conflict and the Second
Sino-Japanese War
o The Soviet removal of much
of Manchurias best
industrial infrastructure in
19456
Conflict also destroyed and
disrupted significant areas of
agricultural land
 everything in its own Inflation rising rapidly
undertaking Disruption associated with land
Extreme reform created upheaval which
centralisation was disruptive to crop yields
introduced
State attempted to
be sole producer and
sole distributor
Attempted to abolish
money as means of
exchange

Red Terror Educational opportunities Landlords were removed from

o Headed by units of Red
Army the Cheka
o Mass executions explain
away with no justifiable
explanation
o The Cheka was
supported by Lenin No
Social Impact obvious government
could hold back Cheka
Operated on 24-hour Greater religious toleration
basis
Those who
were caught
were dealt with
within 24 hours
became restricted their position of power and
Health and welfare was persecuted by local peasantry
among the lowest in Europe Peasants owned land for the
Trade unions were prohibited first time
Land was returned to the
landlords
Strikes were punishable as
treason
Mass tourism in the 1960s
Less stringent censorship

Changing Nationalist Spain Nationalist China

Status of Conservative view of women
Women o Prohibition of divorce and
civil marriage
o Prohibition on mixed-
gender classrooms
Civil Code of 1930
o Arranged marriages without
the consent of the woman
were prohibited
o Wives were able to initiate
 o Education for girls divorce proceedings
focused on domestic work o Daughters were given equal
and motherhood inheritance rights to sons
Republican Spain Labour law in 1931 stipulated
More freedom that women should be paid the
o Marriage code was passed same rate of pay as men for
which gave women equal the same work
rights with men in issues Increase in educational
of marriage and divorce opportunities
o Women were allowed Women were still expected to
political influence fulfil a more domestic role
o Women participated in within the home
militias Communist China
o Women began working in Women were encouraged to
factories and war-related participate in CCP committees
industries and even serve as officials
Arranged marriages were
strongly discouraged
Women were regarded as being
as legitimate a source of
manual labour as men
Women played a more active
role in manual work in the
fields than had previously been
expected of them
Some women served in the Red
Army and militias
The Marriage Law of 1 May
1950
o Abolished arranged
marriages
o Granted husband and wife
the right to seek divorce on
equal terms
o Guaranteed equality in the
 management and
inheritance of family
property
o Stipulated that a husband
could not apply for divorce
if his wife was pregnant
Could only do so one
year after the birth of the
child.