Civil Wars

Causes

Political:
 Governments/state neglect the population, a class, minorities, sectors, etc.
o They don’t feel represented
o Inability to enfranchise grievances of unrepresented groups

Socio-economic:
 Problems
o Structural (social) – class society/feudal
 Landowners
 Peasants – don’t have enough (leads to political pressures)
o Famine, drought – crops collapse – starvation
o Prices collapsing
o Prices inflating
 Russian Civil War

Political:
 Groups: Whites vs Reds
o Whites were a very diverse group compiled of monarchists,
constitutionalists, republicans, military dictatorship, etc
 They were all divided and hated one another
o Reds were the Bolsheviks
 SPS – proletariat (urban, working classes)
o However, majority of Russians were peasants (rural agriculture), and
they did not feel represented.
 Bolsheviks would NEED peasants for food but treated them as
class enemies

Economic:
 War Communism: A series of measures that consisted of confiscating food
from peasants to feed the Red Army and industrial workers producing
weapons
o Millions of peasants starved!
o Economy devastated – no consumer goods produced

How did the Reds win?

Factors:
 Bolshevik held territory had the most resources, major industries (industrial
base to support them), transportation, and communication hubs.
 They also has a centralised, compact area
o Whites were spread out on the fringes of Russia
 Trotsky led the Red Army – excellent organiser, excellent leader, and
excellent motivator
 Whites failures:
o Un-unified
o Did not coordinate attacks – allowed Bolsheviks to concentrate their
forces against one White army at a time
o Very different goals and aspirations
o Spread out
o Lacked industries
o Depended on imports/supplies from abroad that were scarce
 USA, UK, France
 Irregular rate, whilst the red were producing regularly and
efficiently
 Role of “Glorious” Soviet women:
o Fighting battalions
o Workforce
o Vote
 After the civil war they could get divorced, have abortions, and
there were nurseries set up
 However, some weaknesses on the Reds
 o They used terror
 Executions for all those who did not comply

Results:
 NEP: Private ownership on a small scale, retailing (consumer goods),
intermediaries (distributors known as NEP men/women) between farms and
shops
o Farmers (private plots) could sell to the market
o Successful – recovered to their pre-WW1 stage
o Bolsheviks saw this as a betrayal
 Lenin explained this as “two steps back, one leap forward”
o But, Russia was still lacking severely industrially (extremely behind)
o Russia traded with the West
 Exported grain, coal, oil
 Imported machinery from Germany and the USA
 April 1922: Germany and Russia recognise each other, thanks
to the Foreign minister Rathenau
 Constructivism: Build a new society; create a new Soviet model
o Abstract as a concept (Stalin HATED this) which represented the
concept of creating a new Soviet society
 Geometric shapes
 Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

Immediate Cause:
 Army/military uprising against the Second Republic (July 1936)
 Elections of 1936: Popular front won (PSOE and CPE) won elections
o Army begins to plan a coup (July 1936)

Short-term Causes
 Strikes occurred in 1930-31; municipal elections in which republican parties
won; Prime minister (Prima de Riviera) was dismissed, and the King
abdicated. 1931 – 2nd Republic declared
 Constitution
o Women’s rights – vote, divorce, abortion
o Land reform
 Peasants got land but not enough
 Nobody was really happy, and were all unwilling to
compromise. The FAI/CNT would push for expropriating the
aristocrats
o Granted autonomy to regions
 Right-wing parties from a coalition (CEDA) – won elections in 1934, and tried
to reverse reforms

Long-term Causes
 Inequality in land distribution
o Large terrain in the hands of the aristocracy
 Would only use enough land for themselves
 Many day labourers – they wanted their own land (tired of this
system)
 Aristocrats wanted to maintain their privileged socio-economic
position (military and church supported this)
 Leaders of military and church were usually part of the upper
class
 Industrial areas: Madrid, Catalonia, Asturias, and Basque Country
o Working class wanted better working conditions and higher pay
o Working class was divided
 PSOE – Socialists; PCE – Communists, POUM –
Trotskyists/Leninists; FAI/CNT – anarchists (wanted a
confederation)

Head of nationalists: Francisco Franco

 Chinese Civil War

1911: Republic declared – Guomindang (GMD) – Jiang Jeishi

Originally by Dr Sun Yat Sen
GMD was the party for the urban middle class

Peasants were unhappy – lack of land reforms

 Majority of the population

Mao was a peasant

 1919: Librarian

1921: CCP established with Mao as one of the leaders

 This joins the GMD
 Mao teaches the peasants these ideals as early indoctrination

1926/7: GMD expels PCP and the 1st Civil War begins

CCP established “Soviet republics” in provinces. China was divided into warlord held
territory, GMD territory, and Soviet republics.

October 1929: Wall Street Crash and Great Depression

Japan seizes this opportunity, because it’s:
 Industrialised
 1 million increase of people per year
 Lacking land
 Cannot feed its own people
 Tariff Wars
Japan land grabs: Manchuria
Jiang Jeishi comes after the Communists
 They go on the Long March (1934-35)

1937: Sino-Japanese War

 Pause in Civil War – GMD and CCP join together to beat the Japanese
 1945: Civil War starts again

1947: USA withdraws support for GMD

(Maoism is a peasant based revolution)