White Army
The White Army (Russian: Бѣлая армія[b]/Белая армия, romanized: Belaya armiya) or White Guard (Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya),[3] also referred to as the Whites[4] or White Guardsmen (бѣлогвардейцы/белогвардейцы, belogvardeytsi), was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War.[5] They fought against the Red Army of Soviet Russia.[4]
For other uses, see White Army (disambiguation).White Army
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When it was created, the structure of the Russian Army of the Provisional Government period was used, while almost every individual formation had its own characteristics. The military art of the White Army was based on the experience of the First World War, which, however, left a strong imprint on the specifics of the Russian Civil War.[6]
White Armies drew both from volunteers and on the basis of mobilization. They drew from the population of controlled territories and from captured Red Army soldiers.
On a voluntary basis, they were staffed not only from officers of the Imperial Russian Army and Navy, but also from all comers. It was both in the South – in the Volunteer Army, and in Siberia, for example – the division of the Labor Corps.[23]
The strength of the White Armies fighting against the Red Army, according to intelligence estimates, by June 1919 was about 683,000. However, together with auxiliary and staff units, it could exceed 1,023,000 people.[24] A significant part of the White forces was on contentment. Combat units amounted to only half of this figure.[23] After that, the number of White Armies began to decline steadily.[25]
The White Army consisted of all kinds of troops for that period:
All of them had their own uniforms and formation patch, often copied from the uniform of the guard units of the Imperial Russian Army. According to supporters of the White movement, the White Guard is a military man devoted to his ideals (even though the officer, though the ordinary), who was ready to defend his Motherland and his specific ideas about duty, honour, and justice with arms in hand.
