White Army

The White Army (Belaya armiya) or White Guard (Belaya gvardiya), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (belogvardeytsi), was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. They fought against the Red Army of Soviet Russia. 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. The name "White" is associated with white symbols of the supporters of the pre-revolutionary order, dating back to the time of the French Revolution, in contrast to the name of the Red Guard detachments, and then the Red Army. For the first time, the name "White Guard" was used in Russia for Finnish police detachments created in 1906 to fight the revolutionary movement. Their members wore white bandages on their sleeves; however, this did not have a direct connection with the White Army during the Russian Civil War. The White Armies comprised a number of different groups, who operated independently and did not share a single ideology or political goal. Their leaders were conservative or moderate generals and political leaders, each with different goals and plans to achieve them, and most of these armies did not coordinate their actions. The chain of command in each, as well as individual members, differed, from experienced veterans of World War I to fresh volunteers. The White Guards, in addition to directly fighting with the Reds, as well as the Makhnovtsi, carried out the White Terror, while taking part in mass executions, including assisting allied foreign interventionists (for example, 257 civilians were killed in 1919 in the course of the struggle in the village of Ivanovka of the Japanese Army and the White Guards against the pro-Bolshevik detachments of partisans).