Talk:Red Guards (Russia)

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Russian, Soviet and CIS military history task force

Soviet Union High‑importance

	Soviet Union portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Soviet Union, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Soviet UnionWikipedia:WikiProject Soviet UnionTemplate:WikiProject Soviet UnionSoviet Union articles
High	This article has been rated as High-importance on the project's importance scale.

Russia: History / Military Mid‑importance

	Russia portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Russia, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of Russia on Wikipedia. To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.RussiaWikipedia:WikiProject RussiaTemplate:WikiProject RussiaRussia articles
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the history of Russia task force.
	This article is supported by the Russian, Soviet, and CIS military history task force.

Socialism Low‑importance

	Socialism portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Socialism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of socialism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.SocialismWikipedia:WikiProject SocialismTemplate:WikiProject Socialismsocialism articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

File:Red Guard Vulkan factory.jpg Nominated for Deletion

An image used in this article, File:Red Guard Vulkan factory.jpg, has been nominated for deletion at Wikimedia Commons in the following category: Deletion requests May 2012

What should I do?

Don't panic; a discussion will now take place over on Commons about whether to remove the file. This gives you an opportunity to contest the deletion, although please review Commons guidelines before doing so.

If the image is non-free then you may need to upload it to Wikipedia (Commons does not allow fair use)
If the image isn't freely licensed and there is no fair use rationale then it cannot be uploaded or used.

To take part in any discussion, or to review a more detailed deletion rationale please visit the relevant image page (File:Red Guard Vulkan factory.jpg)

This is Bot placed notification, another user has nominated/tagged the image --CommonsNotificationBot (talk) 14:50, 11 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Peasants

The lead implies peasants were a major component, but the article doesn’t support any role for them or even mention them. My understanding is that peasants resisted the Bolsheviks, especially in Ukraine, leading to mass killings of them by the régime during the civil war and over two decades. Can someone clarify their role? —Michael Z. 08:44, 9 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

This is an interesting question. It is true that popular support for the Bolsheviks in October/November 1917 was limited to the urban working class and soldiers. However, that is why the Decree on Land was so significant in terms of winning peasant support, as was the Decree on Peace, which was also relevant to the peasantry. While the Bolsheviks still lost the 1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election to the Socialist Revolutionary Party who actually were popular with the peasants, the peasants never rose up in support of the anti-Bolshevik socialists, even though they had the opportunity in 1918. The People's Army of Komuch failed and the Komuch politicians fled into the Urals and Siberia. Peasant revolts against the Bolsheviks did not become commonplace until the Bolsheviks implemented war communism and used widespread coercion to mobilize people and gather resources.

The Whites, however, practiced the exact same sort of forced conscription and "expropriation." Their disregard for the peasants was not just a matter of policy but part of their normative thinking. The Whites wanted to restore the pre-February Revolution status quo and undo all the pro-peasant reforms. When the Red Army doubled in size in 1919, most recruits came from the Volga region, where peasants had made substantial gains and had the most to lose in the case of a White victory, which seemed very likely when Denikin was driving on Moscow from the south and Kolchak was approaching from the east.

For more on this, see:

Figes, Orlando. 1990. "The Red Army and Mass Mobilization During the Russian Civil War." Past & Present 129: 168-211.

Figes, Orlando. 1996. A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891-1924. London. STPatrick1982 (talk) 05:54, 31 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]