The Russian Army was institutionally anti-semitic. It was forbidden for Jews to serve as officers and between 1874 and 1917 only nine Jews were ever commissioned none of them, as far as I'm aware, reaching above the rank of Captain. Jews (and Polish Catholics) were forbidden from becoming scribes, telegraph operators, draftsmen, foremen, train conductors, engineers, millers, gunsmiths, or members of the engineering corps. They were also not allowed to work at depots or to practice medicine in the western military districts. In 1912, a survey was conducted amongst 50 serving senior officers and all of them concluded that an excess of Jews in the military would be harmful. The War Minister Sukhomlinov concluded a report about the composition of the army in 1913 by saying, "The desired solution to the problem is the complete and total removal of Jews from the army." There was a suspicion of Jews amongst the officers of the army, and amongst the Military institution, and as such when the White Armies were formed they were formed from an officer corps that at best mistrusted Jews and at worst actively hated them due to their association with the Soviet. By contrast, the Soviet allowed Jews to reach never before seen positions of authority both in state institutions and in the Red Army. It was not that Jews had a particular affiliation with Bolshevism, although there were also significant figures of importance amongst the Bolsheviks such as Yakov Sverdlov, but the Soviet state apparatus allowed Jews opportunities they had been denied under Tsarism.