Editing Russian Civil War (section)

===Formation of the Red Army===
{{Main|Red Army}}
From mid-1917 onwards, the [[Russian Army (1917)|Russian Army]], the successor-organisation of the old [[Imperial Russian Army]], started to disintegrate;<ref>{{Harvnb|Calder|1976|p=166}} "[...] the Russian Army disintegrated after the failure of the Galician offensive in July 1917."</ref> the Bolsheviks used the volunteer-based [[Red Guards (Russia)|Red Guards]] as their main military force, augmented by an armed military component of the [[Cheka]] (the Bolshevik state [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|secret police]]). In January 1918, after significant Bolshevik reverses in combat, the future [[People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs of the Russian SFSR|Russian People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs]] [[Leon Trotsky]] headed the reorganization of the Red Guards into a ''Workers' and Peasants' Red Army'' in order to create a more effective fighting force. The Bolsheviks appointed [[political commissars]] to each unit of the Red Army to maintain morale and to ensure loyalty.

In June 1918, when it had become apparent that a revolutionary army composed solely of workers would not suffice, Trotsky instituted mandatory [[Conscription in the Soviet Union|conscription]] of the rural peasantry into the Red Army.<ref>{{Harvnb|Read|1996|p=237}} By 1920, 77% of the Red Army's enlisted ranks were peasant conscripts.</ref> The Bolsheviks overcame opposition of rural Russians to Red Army conscription units by taking hostages and shooting them when necessary in order to force compliance.<ref>{{Harvnb|Williams|1987}}: "Typically, men of military age (17 to 40 years old) in a village would vanish when Red Army draft-units approached. The taking of hostages and a few summary executions usually brought the men back."</ref> The forced conscription drive had mixed results, successfully creating a larger army than the Whites, but with members indifferent towards [[Communism|communist ideology]].<ref name="Stone-2011" />

The Red Army also utilized former Tsarist officers as "military specialists" (''voenspetsy'');<ref name="Overy 2004">{{Harvnb|Overy|2004|p=446}} By the end of the civil war, one-third of all Red Army officers were ex-Tsarist ''voenspetsy''"</ref> sometimes their families were taken hostage in order to ensure their loyalty.{{Sfn|Williams|1987}} At the start of the civil war, former Tsarist officers formed three-quarters of the Red Army officer-corps.{{Sfn|Williams|1987}} By its end, 83% of all Red Army divisional and corps commanders were ex-Tsarist soldiers.<ref name="Overy 2004" />