The term "white terror" is used to denote a repressive policy pursued by anti-Bolshevik forces during the Civil War of 1918-1922. 20th century.
Was there really terror
It is worth saying that the concept of "white terror" is very arbitrary. In modern historiography, there is no single idea of this phenomenon, because some historians believe that there was no white terror as such. At the same time, they consider white and red terror in comparison. If the Red Terror had special punitive bodies, for example, a revolutionary tribunal, then this was not characteristic of the White Terror. Other scholars call white terror a response to the punitive actions of the Bolsheviks.
It is interesting to note that terrorist actions per se are not characteristic of white terror, therefore such a definition can be considered conditional rather than accurate. Naturally, the actions of the White Guards were cruel, sometimes too much. However, this all happened within the framework of the war.
A feature of white terror in Russia can be considered its elemental nature. Surprise and spontaneity are the main features that characterize the actions of the White Guards during 1918-1922 of the 20th century. It is a mistake to believe that only the White Guards, that is, representatives of the defeated tsarist army, who did not have time to emigrate abroad, opposed the Bolsheviks. This point of view has been imposed over the years by Soviet ideologists. In fact, on the side of the White Guards were representatives of various sectors of society, respectively, they also turned out to be involved in the so-called White Terror.
