General Alekseev had control over finance, civil government, and relations with the Allies. General Kornilov was now Commander in Chief of the Volunteer Army. General Kaledin was responsible for the administration of the Don Territories and the Don Cossack forces.

At this time the anti-Bolshevik (White) movement consisted of Russian Generals Kornilov, Denikin, Wrangel, Finnish General Mannerheim, and later Generals Miller, Yudenich and Admiral Kolchak. The White forces were never unified either militarily or politically. The Civil War in Russia had a tremendous influence on the eventual development of the Red Army, foreign policy, and the structure of the Communist Party itself, acting as a catalyst for the internal power struggle by the Reds.

At Petrograd, the Reds instituted civil marriage and divorce. On 12 March 1918, the capital was moved to Moscow.

At Petrograd, the Soviet Government officially recognized the independence of Finland. However, there were still large numbers of Russian troops stationed in Finland. Civil War in Finland was imminent, loyalties were confused, allegiances muddled. A meeting of the Finnish Military Committee was held in Helsingfors.

In Washington, President Wilson  replied to London that the  United States was opposed to intervention in Russia, either by Japan, or by Japan and the United States acting together.

During December, the French Army began the organization of the Polish Legion, an All-Polish military organization of volunteer Poles in France.

During December, at Kiev, the Ukrainian Army (UNR) planned to form up to eight Corps, to be composed of sixteen divisions, sixty four infantry regiments with artillery, a few cavalry regiments, and special units, including an armored car unit led by Polkovnik Distel. Known division chiefs are Podpolkovnik Georgiy Kapkan and General Aleksandr Hrekov. Polkovnik Viktor Pavlenko commanded the Kiev Military District.

The 1st Ukrainian Army Corps was led by General Pavlo Skoropadskiy, former chief of the Russian 34th Army Corps. The 2nd Zaporozhian Sech Corps was led by General Mandryka, from the Russian 6th Army Corps. The Zaporozhian Division, headed by General Aleksandr Natiiv, became a Corps at the end of March 1918.

During late December, in the Far East, Chinese guards drove the Russians away from the Chinese-Eastern Railway line.

During December, the Reds took control of education from the church; banking became a state monopoly; workers' control of industry was established; sale or purchase of houses was forbidden. Revolutionary courts with a new code made the legal profession useless. Payment of interest and dividends was halted. Private bank accounts were frozen.

During December, Reds took inventory of arsenals and depots, seizing 2.5 million rifles, 1.2 billion rounds of small arms ammunition (SAA), 12,000 field guns, and 28 million shells.

During December, Reds began organizing aeronautical materials and personnel to form field VO's (balloon units). Of the former Air Fleet's eighty seven VO's the Reds managed to hold together ten as a base, which eventually made it possible for them to form 28 VO's. They would serve with army units, naval flotillas, armored trains and within coastal defense units.

During December, the Reds activated the Amurskaya Military Flotilla, with HQ at Khabarovsk, which existed until September 1918. It was re-activated on 8 May 1920.

By the end of December, in Germany, over 250,000 German civilians died as a result of hunger during 1917 alone. The number of those in Russia who died from hunger, or from various infectious diseases, is as yet unknown. The same holds true for the other belligerents.

Russian General N.N. Golovin estimated the following losses during World War One from Russian General Staff reports:

WARCHRON – The RUSSIAN FRONT 1914-1917 will be followed by WARCHRON 1918 – 1922, which will chronicle key events during the Russian Civil War, the Allied Intervention and the various Wars of Independence.