The White movement and its military arm the White Army (Бѣлая Армiя/Белая Армия, Belaya Armiya), also known as the White Guard (Бѣлая Гвардiя/Белая Гвардия, Belaya Gvardiya) or the Whites (Белые and белогвардейцы, "White Guardsmen"), was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces that fought the Bolsheviks (большевики, "Majority") in the Russian Civil War (1917–1922/3) and, to a lesser extent, continued operating as militarized associations both outside and within Russian borders until roughly the Second World War.