The article looks at how the collapse of the tsarist regime in Russia and the civil war which followed created the conditions wherein a class of violent paramilitary entrepreneurs, usually veterans of the Great War, were able to operate almost entirely without restraint. The author terms this phenomenon 'warlordism', and shows how the rise and eventual fall of warlords was connected to the absence and restoration of state control during 1917-23. The article calls for an interpretation of violence during this period which eschews the reductive dualism of 'red' and 'white' terror in favour of an analysis which emphasises the role played by individual and largely autonomous warlords.
Title
The genesis of Russian warlordism: Violence and governance during the First World War and the Civil War
Sanborn, J. (2010) "The genesis of Russian warlordism: Violence and governance during the First World War and the Civil War." Contemporary European History 19(3): 195-213.