Russian Civil War

AD – MPE: 0.5

ND – MPE: 3

The Communists, the White Armies and Japan were the main nondemocratic forces in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922. Some of the Russian anti-Bolshevik forces considered themselves democratic and some of them were part of the democratic government after the February Revolution in 1917. For others it is impossible to say whether they would have ruled democratically if they had won the war. Germany, Britain, the United States and France were advanced democracies during this time period.

Britain, the US and France directly intervened in the civil war against the Bolsheviks. They supported their enemies with weapons, money, training and goods. They also enforced a blockade against Soviet Russia.

White cites 11 estimates for the overall deaths in the Russian Civil War. The median falls at roughly 9 million – 1 million military deaths, 5 million famine deaths, 2 million deaths by epidemic disease and 1 million civilians killed by terror and crossfire.

Historian Evan Mawdsley gives a comprehensive overview of the available numbers in his impressive book “The Russian Civil War”. He cites estimates ranging from 7 to 10 million overall deaths. He cites plausible estimates for directly killed civilians ranging from 0.5 to 0.6 million.

It is impossible to say how many of the roughly seven million deaths from famine and disease were victims of democide. The majority of victims probably died from the unintended consequences of World War I, revolution, chaos and civil war.

Plausible estimates for the number of people killed by nondemocratic forces range from 1 to 6 million. Plausible estimates for the number of people killed by democratic pioneers and democratic forces range from 0.1 to 1 million.