This paper describes the main stages in the development of the historiography of the Civil War in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation as well as in the Russian-language literature abroad. The author shows the dependence of the historiographers of the Civil War on the ideology that dominated in the USSR and the West during the Soviet era. In addition, the author notes the fact that contemporary Russian society has not yet been able to fully recover from the consequences of the Civil War of 1917-1920.