The Russian Civil War (November 1917 – October 1922) was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire fought between the Bolshevik Red Army and the White Army, the loosely allied anti-Bolshevik forces. Many foreign armies warred against the Red Army, notably the pro-German armies. The Red Army defeated the White Armed Forces of South Russia in Ukraine and the army led by Aleksandr Kolchak in Siberia in 1919. The remains of the White forces commanded by Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel were beaten in the Crimea and were evacuated in the autumn of 1920. Many pro-independence movements emerged after the break-up of the Russian Empire and fought in the war. A number of them – Finland, Livonia, Lithuania, and Poland – were established as buffer states by Germany. The rest of the former Russian Empi