White Russians (Russian Civil War)

White Russians (Russian Civil War)

This article discusses White Russians or Whites: citizens of Russia who after the Bolshevik October Revolution of 1917 opposed the new Soviet r�gime set up by Lenin and his colleagues.

The designation "White" stands in contradistinction to the "Reds": supporters of the Soviets, of Bolshevism and of Communism.

The Russian Civil War between Whites and Reds raged until 1921. The White Army, in intermittent collaboration with interventionist forces from outside Russia (Japanese, British, French, American) held sway in some areas (especially Siberia, the Ukraine and the Crimea) for periods of time and put considerable bodies of troops into the field. But they failed to unite or to co-operate effectively amongst themselves, and Trotsky's Red Army eventually gained the upper hand.

White activity re-concentrated in �migr� circles. Considerable numbers of anti-Soviet Russians clustered in Berlin, Paris, Harbin and Shanghai, setting up cultural networks which lasted until the time of World War II. Thereafter White Russian activity found a new principal home in the United States.

White Russian Figures:

Anton Ivanovich Denikin

Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak

Lavr Georgevich Kornilov

Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel

Nikolai Nikolaevich Yudenich