It may be beyond the scope of this essay, but nevertheless I feel obligated to mention it:
Readers may wonder, “how on Earth did the Bolsheviks win? How did this mass-murdering, economy-collapsing, war-communism government, which never had much electoral support in the first place, manage to defeat the various professionally-led, western-backed armies opposing it?”
And the answer is, basically, they promised something the Whites couldn’t or wouldn’t: land reform. They enlisted and marshaled enormous support by promising to seize and redistribute land. Compared to that, the Whites’ vague promises to enact pluralistic liberalism were pretty thin gruel.
It’s no coincidence that the most fearsome units on both sides of the war - the Don Cossacks and Latvian rifles (not to mention the Finnish nationalists) - were explicitly fighting for self-determination.
If there’s any lesson in that - and it may well be that circumstances are so different as to make any lessons useless - it’s that people need a tangible reason to fight. “What’s in it for me if I help you win?” When push comes to shove, appeals to principle just won’t do.
Very good series! Nice breakdown of the people groups and movements involved - do you have a reading list or bibliography? I know you recommended Sean Mcmeekin's book, any others?
Maybe time for a similar treatment of the Spanish Civil War? Have you read Franco: A Personal and Political Biography by Payne and Palacios? It's a well-balanced biography.
It may be beyond the scope of this essay, but nevertheless I feel obligated to mention it:
Readers may wonder, “how on Earth did the Bolsheviks win? How did this mass-murdering, economy-collapsing, war-communism government, which never had much electoral support in the first place, manage to defeat the various professionally-led, western-backed armies opposing it?”
And the answer is, basically, they promised something the Whites couldn’t or wouldn’t: land reform. They enlisted and marshaled enormous support by promising to seize and redistribute land. Compared to that, the Whites’ vague promises to enact pluralistic liberalism were pretty thin gruel.
It’s no coincidence that the most fearsome units on both sides of the war - the Don Cossacks and Latvian rifles (not to mention the Finnish nationalists) - were explicitly fighting for self-determination.
If there’s any lesson in that - and it may well be that circumstances are so different as to make any lessons useless - it’s that people need a tangible reason to fight. “What’s in it for me if I help you win?” When push comes to shove, appeals to principle just won’t do.
Excellent essay!
Good read, thanks for writing these.
I'm glad a surprise 5th piece came out, I should've known a bit of a detail came out.
Thanks for all your work. I'm happy you got to flex your history knowledge because you always let on knowing more than your movie list
Very good series! Nice breakdown of the people groups and movements involved - do you have a reading list or bibliography? I know you recommended Sean Mcmeekin's book, any others?
Maybe time for a similar treatment of the Spanish Civil War? Have you read Franco: A Personal and Political Biography by Payne and Palacios? It's a well-balanced biography.