The Green armies, Green Army (Russian: Зелёная Армия), or Greens (Russian: Зелёные) were armed peasant groups which fought against all governments in the Russian Civil War

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

. They fought to protect the communities in which they lived from requisitions or reprisals by either side. Closely associated with the Socialist-Revolutionary Party

Socialist-Revolutionary Party

thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...

, by far the largest grouping of the Russian Constituent Assembly

Russian Constituent Assembly

The All Russian Constituent Assembly was a constitutional body convened in Russia after the October Revolution of 1917. It is generally reckoned as the first democratically elected legislative body of any kind in Russian history. It met for 13 hours, from 4 p.m...

, the Green Armies had, at least tacit support, throughout much of Russia. However, the main support base of the Green Armies, namely the peasantry, were largely reluctant to wage an active campaign during the Russian Civil War. Much of the armed strength of the Green Armies eventually became subsumed by the White Army.

See also

• Black Guards
  Black Guards
  Black Guards were armed groups of workers formed after the Russian Revolution and before the Third Russian Revolution. They were the main strike force of the anarchists...
  
  , an anarchist faction of the Russian Civil War known as the "Black Army"
• Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
  Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine
  The Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine , popularly called Makhnovshchina, less correctly Makhnovchina, and also known as the Black Army, was an anarchist army formed largely of Ukrainian and Crimean peasants and workers under the command of the famous anarchist Nestor Makhno during the...
  
  , also known as the Makhnovchina and the Black Army.

Sources

• British Military Operations 1919-1939 by Brian Watson. Retrieved on 10 June 2008.