*Content Warning - This episode contains references to rape and suicide* 

The Russian Civil War was a brutal episode in the rise of Bolshevik Russia. Taking place between 1917 and 1922 (after the perhaps better known, Russian Revolution) it pitted the Communist Red Army, led by Vladimir Lenin, against a loose coalition of imperialists known as the White Army. It led to five years of chaos, tumult and tragedy, and changed global history and politics as we know it today.

In today’s episode, James travelled to the Three Johns Pub in London - the alleged location of a fractious anti-tsarist meeting between Lenin and Trotsky - to find out more about this crucial and chaotic period in Russian history. Joined by military history heavyweight Sir Antony Beevor, author of the Russia, Revolution and Civil War: 1917-1921, to look at this chaotic conflict, they discuss why the Red Army came out on top, how the conflict birthed the infamous gulags, and the legacy of the war on Russia’s military today.

Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe. Edited by Joseph Knight.

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