[Dissertation] Victory in Red: An Analysis of the Red Commanders in the Southern Front in the Russian Civil War 1918-1919

570 Pages·1999·25.15 MB·English

by  Curtis S. King

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VICTORY IN RED: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RED COMMANDERS ON THE
SOUTHERN FRONT OF THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR 1918-1919
Curtis S. King
A DISSERTATION
in
History
Presented to die Faculties of die University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of die
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
1999
Supe£^ sor station
Graduate Group
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Dedication
To ray parents, George and Cecelia King, with love. Thanks for teaching me die
importance of education and learning.
ii
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ABSTRACT
VICTORY IN RED: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RED COMMANDERS ON THE
SOUTHERN FRONT OF THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR 1918-1919
Curtis S. King
Supervised by Dr. Alfred J. Rieber
This diesis attempts to demonstrate that die Red military commanders in south
Russia during die Civil War were competent and skillful operational leaders. As such, it
attempts to correct die majority of Russian Civil War literature, which portrays the Red
commanders as hopelessly outclassed by their White counterparts. In short, the 'problem'
(or question) is to determine the quality of die Red commanders, and thus to assess their
contribution to die ultimate Red victory. In order to examine this question, this diesis
focuses on die orders and directives of die Red Army relating to the forces fighting in
south Russia in 1918 and 1919. Using this data, and a definition of operational skill for
commanders derived from Clausewitz and other sources, die results point to a
surprisingly high level of skill for die Red commanders in the south. The Red
commandos proved to be a varied group of operational leaders, not unlike most groups
of military commanders found in war. In any case, these commandos were certainly die
equal—if not the better—of their White opponents. These results, at a minimum, ask us to
reconsider die popular notion that the Bolshevik victory was pie-determined by a Red
superiority in strength and resources that overcame a weakness in military leadership—
certainly die skill of die Red military leaders made a major contribution to the
Bolshevik's ultimate triumph.
iii
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Table of Contents
Dedication ii
Abstract iii
Table of Contents iv
list of Tables V
List of Maps vi
Chapter One: Introduction 1
Chapter Two: Building an Army 58
Chapter Three: Early Fighting in die South 114
Chapter Four The Whites Attack 218
Chapter Five: The August Counter Offensive 282
Chapter Six: Orel and Voronezh: Victory in October 406
Chapter Seven: Denouement and Conclusion 502
Appendix: Biographies of Key Red Military Leaders 518
Bibliography 544
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T.ist of Tables
Table 1: Soviet Political and Military Organization in die Civil War 111
Table 2: The Republic Rewoensoviet, Glavkom, and Military Staff 112
Table 3: Overall Red Army Strengths 113
Table 4: Southern Front Organization, October 1918 211
Table 5: Southern Front Organization, April 1919 278
Table 6: Southern Front Organization, July 1919 279
Table 7: Southern Front Strengths as of 15 July 1919 402
Table 8: Southern Front Organization for die August 1919 Counter 404
Offensive
Table 9: Red Forces in South Russia for the October 1919 Counter 500
Offensive
v
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