The Northern Front (russian: Северный фронт) was an

army group An army group is a military organization consisting of several field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by ...

of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

during the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was responsible for carrying out operations against the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

along a front line that stretched 280 kilometers, from

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

in the north down to northern

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. It was established in August 1915 when the

Northwestern Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-cre ...

was split into the Northern and Western Front following the

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

, and existed until the demobilization of the Russian army in 1918 due to the unrest from the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. In 1917 it had a total troop strength of 1.4 million men.Северный фронт
. Ria1914.info. Retrieved 19 November 2017.

Armies of the Northern Front

The following

field armies A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and withi ...

were part of the Northern Front. * 5th Army (Aug. 1915 – early 1918) * 6th Army (Aug, 1915 – Dec. 1916) * 12th Army (Aug. 1915 – early 1918) * 1st Army (Apr. 1916 – Jul. 1917, Sept. 1917 – early 1918)

Commanders of the Northern Front

The following officers served as commanders of the Northern Front. *18 Aug. 1915 – 6 Dec. 1915: General of Infantry

Nikolai Ruzsky Nikolai Vladimirovich Ruzsky (russian: Никола́й Влади́мирович Ру́зский; – October 18, 1918) was a Russian general, member of the state and military councils, best known for his role in World War I and the abdi ...

*6 Dec. 1915 – 6 Feb. 1916: General of Infantry

Pavel Plehve Paul von Plehwe (russian: Па́вел Ада́мович (фон) Пле́ве, Pavel Adamovich (von) Pleve) (30 June 1850 – 28 March 1916), more commonly known as Pavel Plehve, was a Russian general of Baltic German descent who distinguished ...

*6 Feb. 1916 – 22 Jul. 1916: General of Infantry

Aleksey Kuropatkin Aleksey Nikolayevich Kuropatkin (russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Куропа́ткин; March 29, 1848January 16, 1925) served as the Russian Imperial Minister of War from January 1898 to February 1904 and as a field command ...

*1 Aug. 1916 – 25 Apr. 1917: General of Infantry Nikolai Ruzsky *29 Apr. 1917 – 1 Jun. 1917: General of Cavalry

Abraham Dragomirov Abram Mikhailovich Dragomirov (russian: Абра́м Миха́йлович Драгоми́ров, tr. ; 9 December 1955) was a General in the Imperial Russian Army. Following the Russian Revolution he joined Anton Denikin in the Volunteer Arm ...

*1 Jun. 1917 – 29 Aug. 1917: General of Infantry

Vladislav Klembovsky Vladislav Napoleonovich (Vladimir Nikolayevich) Klembovsky (russian: Владислав Наполеонович (Владимир Николаевич) Клембовский; 28 June 1860 in Moscow Governorate – 19 July 1921) was a Russian ...

*29 Aug. 1917 – 9 Sept. 1917: Major-General

Mikhail Bonch-Bruevich Mikhail Dmitriyevich Bonch-Bruyevich (russian: Михаи́л Дми́триевич Бонч-Бруе́вич; – 3 August 1956) was an Imperial Russian and Soviet Union, Soviet military commander (Lieutenant General from 1944). His famil ...

*9 Sept. 1917 – 14 Nov. 1917: General of Infantry

Vladimir Cheremisov Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

*14 Nov. 1917 – 22 Nov. 1917: Major-General

Sergei Lukirsky Sergius is a male given name of Ancient Roman origin after the name of the Latin ''gens'' Sergia or Sergii of regal and republican ages. It is a common Christian name, in honor of Saint Sergius, or in Russia, of Saint Sergius of Radonezh, and h ...

*22 Nov. 1917– 12 Dec. 1917: Lieutenant-General

Vasily Fedorovich Novitsky Vasily Fedorovich Novitsky ( rus, Василий Фёдорович Новицкий, - 15 January 1929) was a Russian general with a liberal, progressive viewpoint during the 19th century of Imperial Russia. During the Russian Revolution, in 19 ...

Armies of the Northern Front

Commanders of the Northern Front

References

Notes

See also