The Civil War
The Russian army started to break up when the Bolsheviks ordered land redistribution. Soldiers, who were mostly peasants, wished to go home for redistribution and deserted quickly. Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals, and supporters of autocracy condemned the Bolshevik uprising. The Bolshevik uprising was condemned by the non-bolshevik socialists, liberals, and supporters of autocracy. Their leaders moved to South Russia and organized troops to fight the Bolsheviks, referred to as “reds”.
During 1918 and 1919, the “greens” (Socialist Revolutionaries) and whites (pro-Tsarists) controlled most of the Russian empire. They were mostly backed by the American, French, British and Japanese troops- all those forces worried about the growth of socialism. As these troops and Bolsheviks fought the civil war, banditry, looting, and famine became common. The supporters of private property among “white” took some major steps with peasants who had seized the land; which led to the loss of popular support for non-bolsheviks.
By 1920, the Bolsheviks controlled most of the former Russian empire. Cooperation between non-Russian nationalities and Muslim jadidists was important. In Khiva, in Central Asia, Bolshevik colonists brutally killed local nationalists in name of defending socialism. In such a situation, many got confused about what the Bolshevik government stood for. To remedy this, most non-Russian nationalities were given political autonomy in the Soviet Union- the state Bolsheviks created from the Russian empire in December 1922. But since it was combined with unpopular policies of Bolsheviks- like harsh discouragement of nomadism- attempts at winning of different nationalities were only partially successful.
What Changed After October?
Numerous changes were brought in by the Bolsheviks immediately after the October Revolution. The most important ones included, banks and industries that came to be nationalized; the land was declared as social property, thereby allowing peasants to seize the property from the nobility. In the urban areas, houses were partitioned according to the requirements of the family. Also, old aristocratic titles were banned and new uniforms were designed for the army and officials.