In 1918, the Civil War began in Russia, the participants of which were several camps at once. But who invented this name and why do the Communists personify it with red color?

Why is red the color of the communists?

In the symbolism of any political force, one way or another connected with communist ideas, there is always a red color. This tradition originated more than two centuries ago during the bourgeois revolution in France.

In Paris and other cities under the red flags gathered those who were against the royalists (supporters of the king) and advocated the preservation of the established revolutionary order. Subsequently, the red flag was used by the Lyon weavers (1834), who opposed the royal regime of Louis Philippe of Orleans. After 14 years, German and again French revolutionaries marched under the same flags. Even the Taiping rebels in China used red symbols.

In the winter of 1871, the red color became a symbol of the Paris Commune, which personified itself as the heiress of the revolutionary ideas of the Sansculots (the Paris poor) of the time of the WFBR. As a result, by the end of the 19th century, red color became an integral attribute of the communist movement, which by the beginning of the 20th century had penetrated into the Russian Empire.

Interesting fact: at the dawn of the French Revolution in 1789, the red flag was not hung on the streets of Paris as a symbol. His appearance meant a threat to public order.As you can see, at first there was nothing ideological in this color.

Reds, and what else?

After the victory of the October Revolution and the coming to power in Russia of the Bolsheviks, the red color began to dominate the state flag of the country and the coat of arms. By the time the Civil War began, the Red Army also appeared (more precisely, the Red Army - the workers 'and peasants' Red Army).

Lenin and his supporters did not need to especially invent the name of their camp, because it naturally flowed from their ideological affiliation. The leaders of the Bolshevik party personified themselves with the Paris Communards and considered themselves the successors of their ideas, raising the red color to the rank of state.

For Communists, red means the shed blood of fighters for the rights of the proletariat and the liberation from exploitation of the capitalists. In a difficult and also bloody struggle, victory was forged in the Civil War, which was another argument in favor of the well-known name.

Adherence to the red tone helped the Bolsheviks to stand out symbolically and contrast themselves with other participants in the military confrontation, especially since there was no force among them that supported the Soviet regime.

Interesting fact: it is generally accepted that officers of the tsarist army participated in the Civil War on the side of the whites, and the Communists stood up for their opponents of the Reds. This conclusion is only partly true. According to various estimates, 70-75 thousand officers stood for Lenin, and this is about a third of the entire officer corps.Among the well-known generals of the “defectors” are the head of the famous 1916 breakthrough, A. Brusilov, known as the “Siberian red general” A. von Taube and the first of the generals who went over to the Bolshevik side, M. Bonch-Bruevich.

Unlike whites, which did not even have a flag of the corresponding color, the name “red” looks absolutely logical. Supporters of Bolshevism were loyal to communist ideals, and this ideology since the 19th century has become strongly associated with red.