1917 – 1922
The Russian Civil War was a cluster of overlapping wars across the former Russian Empire after the 1917 revolutions: Bolshevik forces fought diverse White armies, socialist rivals, anarchists, peasant movements, newly independent states, and foreign expeditionary forces. The Red Army’s eventual victory cannot be reduced to a two-sided contest. Red and White terror, anti-Jewish pogroms—especially in Ukraine—requisitioning, forced mobilization, epidemic disease, and the 1921–22 famine killed civilians on a vast scale. Estimates of seven to twelve million deaths combine different dates and causes and are not a direct combat count. Bolshevik victory enabled creation of the Soviet Union while independence struggles and border wars produced a smaller post-imperial state.
Chapter-by-chapter narrative with maps, primary sources, and key events.
Explore battles on a live map with a timeline slider and territory overlays.
Deep-dive into every major engagement — commanders, casualties, significance.
Biographical flip cards with real portraits, facts, and full biography pages.
Trace each figure's full life journey — birth, education, battles, and death — on a live map.
Scroll-driven visualization of casualties — each dot a thousand lives.
Weapons, war machines, and the military innovations that defined how this conflict was fought.
Cause-and-effect chains tracing the war's long shadow on history.
War crimes, massacres, and the darkest chapters of this conflict — documented for history.
The Russian Civil War was a cluster of overlapping wars across the former Russian Empire after the 1917 revolutions: Bolshevik forces fought diverse White armies, socialist rivals, anarchists, peasant movements, newly independent states, and foreign expeditionary forces. The Red Army’s eventual victory cannot be reduced to a two-sided contest. Red and White terror, anti-Jewish pogroms—especially in Ukraine—requisitioning, forced mobilization, epidemic disease, and the 1921–22 famine killed civilians on a vast scale. Estimates of seven to twelve million deaths combine different dates and causes and are not a direct combat count. Bolshevik victory enabled creation of the Soviet Union while independence struggles and border wars produced a smaller post-imperial state.
Russian Civil War was fought from 1917 to 1922.
Russian Civil War was fought between Red Army (Bolsheviks) and White Forces.
An estimated 10,500,000 people died in Russian Civil War, including roughly 2,000,000 military and 8,500,000 civilian deaths. Figures are scholarly estimates and vary by source.
Major engagements included Red Terror, Tambov Rebellion, Denikin's Moscow Offensive, and Kolchak's Siberian Offensive.