The **Russian Civil War** took place in the aftermath of the fall of the [Russian Empire](Russian_Empire "wikilink") and the [two](February_Revolution_\(Russia\) "wikilink") [revolutions](October_Revolution_\(Russia\) "wikilink") from 1917 to 1922. The war was largely fought between 'Reds' (composed of the Bolsheviks and their allies) and the 'Whites' (composed of various anti-Bolshevik groups, including monarchists, republicans, capitalists and even more moderate socialists). There were also more independent anarchist groups (like the [Black Army](Black_Army_\(Ukraine\) "wikilink")) and 'Green Armies' who defended their towns and land from exploitation by others. An estimated 7,000,000 to 12,000,000 were killed as a result of the war (compared to 15,000,000 to 19,000,000 deaths in [World War I](World_War_I "wikilink")\[1\]). Russia's economy was destroyed, it is estimated that the total output of mines and factories in 1921 had fallen to 20% of the pre-World War level, and many crucial items experienced an even more drastic decline. For example, cotton production fell to 5%, and iron to 2%, of pre-war levels. 1. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -