<sod>Within the borders of Russia itself, those who opposed the Bolsheviks looked to the Western Powers for help. This was for their own benefit, the Western Powers wanted to re-establish an Eastern Front so that the German Army would be split once again, thus relieving the problems that were being experienced on the Western Front.<eod>
<sod>After the disintegration of the Russian imperial army and navy in 1917, the Council of People's Commissars headed by Leon Trotsky set about creating a new army.  By a decree on January 28th, 1918 the council created the Workers' and Peoples' Red Army; it began recruitment on a voluntary basis, but on April 22nd, the Soviet government made serve in the army compulsory for anyone that did not employ hired labor.  While the majority of the army was made up of workers and peasants, many of the officers had served in the imperial army before its collapse.<ref>https://www.britannica.com/topic/Red-Army</ref><eod>