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The White movement is a general term for Russian political and
military forces that opposed the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution and in particular during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to
1921. They also fought against the nationalist Green Army. The adepts of the White movement are sometimes referred to as White Russians.
The terms White army (Белая Армия), the
Whites (Белые, Беляки), the White
Guard (Белая Гвардия), and White
Guards (белогвардейцы) refer informally to
a loose confederation of counter-revolutionary forces. Strictly speaking, no monolithic "White Army" existed, since the White
forces lacked central coordination; one could speak more correctly of White armies.
The designation White had two meanings. First, it stands in contradistinction to the Reds of the
revolutionary Red Army of supporters of the Soviets and Bolshevism. Second, the word "white" had monarchist associations: historically each Russian Tsar was solemnly called the white tsar, and the monarchist ideal during the civil war was
known as the white idea.
The officer core of the White army upheld monarchist ideals. However the White
army drew support from representatives of many other political movements: democrats, social revolutionaries, and others who opposed
the October Revolution. The rank-and-file troops included both
active opponents of the Bolsheviks (many cossacks, for example) and enlisted
apolitical peasants. At times the Western Allies of the Triple Entente
and interventionist foreign forces provided substantial assistance to White army units.
White Army propaganda poster depicting Leon Trotsky.
The text above the picture reads, "Peace and Liberty in Sovdepiya".
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 the Bolshevik Red Army eventually gained the
upper hand.
White activity re-concentrated in émigré 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.
Prominent persons of the White movement
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