The 7th Army was a field army of the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
during the
Russian Civil War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Russian Civil War
, partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I
, image =
, caption = Clockwise from top left:
{{flatlist,
*Soldiers ...
, which existed between November 1918 and February 1920.
History
The 7th Army was formed on November 1, 1918 from the units of the former Olonets group of troops, the
2nd Petrograd Infantry Division and the Pskov Rifle Division. It was part of the
Northern Front which fought against
Entente troops and the
White Northern Army which were based in
Archangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...
and
Murmansk. After the disbandment of Northern Front the 7th Army was transferred to the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
.
The 7th Army also took part in the
Soviet campaign against Estonia. On November 22, 1918, units of the 7th Army attacked
Narva
Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 5 ...
for the first time, but the assault was repulsed by the German troops still remaining in the city. A week later, the Soviet troops seized the city. Then the troops of the 7th Army began to advance westward, and by early January 1919 they were 35 kilometers from
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
. But on January 7, 1919, the
Estonian 1st division launched a counter-offensive, and already on January 19 the Estonians and Finns took Narva and entered the territory of the
Petrograd Governate.
In spring 1919 the 7th Army defended the approaches to Petrograd against Finnish troops on the Karelian and Onega-Ladoga Isthmus, the White Guard
Northern Corps of Major-General Dzerozhinsky and Estonian troops south of the Gulf of Finland.
On June 21 the 7th Army launched an offensive against the troops of the
Northwestern Army (the former Northern Corps). On August 5,
Yamburg was taken, after which they halted their advance.
In the autumn of 1919, the troops of the Northwestern Army under Major-General
Alexander Rodzyanko
Alexander Pavlovich Rodzyanko (russian: Александр Павлович Родзянко; 26 August 1879 – 6 May 1970) was an officer of the Imperial Russian Army during the World War I and lieutenant-general and a corps commander of the Wh ...
and from October 2, General
Nikolai Yudenich undertook a second attempt to conquer Petrograd. The outskirts of the city were reached but the reinforced 7th Army was able to halt their advance and launched a counteroffensive on October 21. The North-Western Army was pushed back in chaos and disintegrated. Its remains retreated into Estonia where they were interned. On December 31, an armistice agreement between the RSFSR and Estonia came into force, and on February 2, 1920, the
Tartu Peace Treaty was concluded, which meant the end of the war in the Northwest of the RSFSR.
Immediately afterwards, the administration of the 7th Army was disbanded.
Commanders
*
Eugen Iskritsky
Yevgeni Andreyevich Iskritsky (August 15, 1874 – July 27, 1949) was a Russian Empire and Soviet military commander, author, teacher, a hero of the First World War, lieutenant general in the Imperial Russian army, who fell in with the winning ...
: 01.11.1918 — 28.11.1918
* Evgeny Golubintsev : 28.11.1918 — 05.12.1918
* Nikolai Henrikson : 05.12.1918 — 27.01.1919
* Alexander Remezov : 27.01.1919 — 01.07.1919
*
Mikhail Matiyasevich
Mikhail Stepanovich Matiyasevich (Matiasevich) (Smolensk, May 23 une 41878 – Kyiv, August 5, 1941) was a Soviet military commander, who commanded several military units of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.
Biography
From the nobili ...
: 01.07.1919 — 26.09.1919
* Sergei Kharlamov :26.09.1919 — 17.10.1919
*
Dmitry Nikolayevich Nadyozhny 17.10.1919 — 17.11.1919
* Sergei Odintsov : 17.11.1919 — 10.02.1920
Members of the Revolutionary Military Council include
*
Boris Pozern (09.12.1918 — 05.05.1919)
*
Ivan Mezhlauk
Ivan Ivanovich Mezhlauk (russian: Иван Иванович Межлаук; lv, Jānis Mežlauks) (30 September 1891 – 25 April 1938) was a Soviet politician and statesman who was the first general secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkme ...
(25.05.1919 — 28.06.1919)
*
Arkady Rosengolts
Arkady Pavlovich Rosengolts (Russian: Арка́дий Па́влович Розенго́льц; 4 November 1889 – 15 March 1938; sometimes spelled Rosengoltz or Rosenholz) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet military leader, politician an ...
(28.06.1919 — 30.09.1919)
*
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev, . Transliterated ''Grigorii Evseevich Zinov'ev'' according to the Library of Congress system. (born Hirsch Apfelbaum, – 25 August 1936), known also under the name Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky (russian: Ов ...
(14.07.1919 — 26.11.1919)
*
Nikolai Podvoisky
Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky (russian: Николай Ильич Подвойский; February 16 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S_February_4.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S_February_4">Old_Style_and_New_S ...
(06.10.1919 — 17.12.1919)
*
Mikhail Lashevich
Mikhail Mikhailovich Lashevich (russian: Михаил Михайлович Лашевич; 1884 in Odessa, Russian Empire – 30 August 1928 in Harbin, China), also known under the name ''Gaskovich'', was a Soviet military and party leader.
L ...
(23.10.1919 — 10.02.1920)
Source
*
{{Soviet Armies of the Russian Civil War
Soviet field armies in the Russian Civil War
Military units and formations established in 1918
Military units and formations disestablished in 1920