Who were the 'Green Army' during the Russian Civil War of 1918?

Answer 1

Peasant armies or Greens as they became known fought both sides in the Civil War. The White and Red armies required a large amount of conscripts and supplies for their campaigns. The easiest source for these was from rural Russia but conscription and grain requisitions badly alienated the peasants under their control. Many peasants and villages were pushed towards starvation and responded by killing the requisition squads and other officials. These outbreaks of violence quickly spread into outward rebellions with repressive measures against rebelling villages merely acting to spread the disturbances. There were 344 peasant revolts by mid 1919 and by 1920 the revolts had become widespread. These armies sometimes up to a thousand strong disrupted the supply lines and resource base's of both sides but failed to unite into a cohesive national force. Throughout the Civil War large areas of the two sides territory were engulfed by hundreds of distinct peasant revolts.

Answer 2

The 'Green Army' during the Russian Civil War of 1918 were loosely organized groups of peasants who opposed both the Red Army (communist) and the White Army (anti-communist) forces. They were called the Green Army because many of them wore green uniforms and were seen as representing the countryside and peasant class. The Green Army sought to defend their own interests and resist the requisitioning of food and supplies by both sides of the conflict.