The Western Front () was a

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War, which existed between February 12, 1919 and April 8, 1924. The Western Front was first established on the basis of the administration of the disbanded Northern Front. The Front headquarters were located consequently in Staraya Russa,

Molodechno Maladzyechna ( be, Маладзе́чна, Maladziečna, ; russian: Молоде́чно, Molodechno; pl, Mołodeczno) is a city in the Minsk Region of Belarus, an administrative centre of the Maladzyechna District (and formerly of the Maladzyech ...

, Dvinsk, Smolensk and Minsk .

Operations

At the time of the formation of the Western Front, Soviet troops were fighting on a front some 2,000 km long, stretching from Murmansk (against the White Northern Army and the Entente interventionists), over the Karelian Isthmus (against Finland), and the Baltics to the Belorussian Front (against Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian formations and Russian White Guards, supported by German and Polish troops). By July 1919, the Soviet Armies of the Western Front had retreated from the Baltic area under the onslaught of the enemy. In Belarus, the Polish offensive was stopped in August on the

Berezina River The Berezina or Biarezina ( be, Бярэ́зіна; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is 613 km. The width of the river is 15-20 m, the ...

. In August 1919 the Front forces were on the line of the Gulf of Finland-Pskov-Polotsk-Berezina river. In June-August and October-November 1919, the

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

and 15th Armies, supported by the ships of the Baltic Fleet, repelled two offensives of the White Northwestern Army under

Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in Northwestern Russia during the Civil War. Biography Early life Yuden ...

against Petrograd and defeated it, which allowed the concentration of the main efforts of the Red Army in the fight against the armies of

Denikin Anton Ivanovich Denikin (russian: Анто́н Ива́нович Дени́кин, link= ; 16 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._4_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New St ...

and

Kolchak Kolchak, Kolçak or Kolčák is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Iliash Kolchak ("Kolchak-Pasha") ( fl. before 1710–1743), Moldavian mercenary and military commander * Alexander Kolchak (1873–1920), Russian naval commande ...

. In 1920, the Western Front became the main front of the Soviet Republic and it participated in repelling the offensive of the Polish Army during the Soviet-Polish War. The May operation (1920) of the Western Front, although it did not achieve its goals, created favorable conditions for a successful counteroffensive of the troops of the South-Western Front in Ukraine. As a result of the July operation (1920) of the Western Front, Belarus and parts of Lithuania were occupied, and in August 1920 the troops of the Western Front approached Warsaw. However, the reassessment by the Soviet command of its forces and the underestimation of the enemy's forces, as well as bad coordination between the Western and South-Western Fronts, led to the defeat of the Soviet troops of the Western Front in the

Battle of Warsaw (1920) The Battle of Warsaw (Polish: ''Bitwa Warszawska'', Russian: ''Варшавская битва'', transcription: ''Varshavskaya bitva''), also known as the Miracle on the Vistula ( Polish: ''Cud nad Wisłą''), was a series of battles that resu ...

and their withdrawal. Despite the defeat of the Red Army, Poland didn't continue the War and a truce was signed on 12 October, which enabled the Red Army to concentrate its main forces against Wrangel's troops around the Crimean Peninsula. The Western Front and its administration continued to exist after the end of hostilities, until it was transformed into the Western Military District on April 8, 1924.

Composition

* 7th Army (19.02.1919 - 10.05.1921), * 16th Army (a.k.a. Western Army and Belarusian-Lithuanian Army) (19.02.1919 - 07.05.1921), * 15th Army (a;k.a.

Soviet Latvian Army The 15th Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War, which existed between 7 June 1919 and 26 December 1920. History The 15th Army was formed on 7 June 1919 by transformation of the Army of Soviet ...

) (19.02.1919 - 04.10.1920), * Estonian Army (19.02.1919 - 30.05.1919), * 12th Army (16.06.1919 - 27.07.1919, 07.09.1919 - 17.10.1919, 14.08.1920 - 27.09.1920), * 3rd Army (11.06.1920 - 31.12.1920), * 4th Army (11.06.1920 - 18.10.1920), *

1st Cavalry Army __NOTOC__ The 1st Cavalry Army (russian: Первая конная армия, Pervaya konnaya armiya) was a prominent Red Army military formation. It was also known as "Budyonny's Cavalry Army" or simply as ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horse ...

(14.08.1920 - 27.09.1920), * Reserve Army (04.1920 - 11.1920) * Mozyr group (18.05.1920 - 09.1920) * Dnieper Flotilla (1919)

Commanders

Commander : *

Dmitry Nikolayevich Nadyozhny Dmitry Nikolayevich Nadyozhny (russian: Дмитрий Николаевич Надёжный; , Nizhny Novgorod - 22 February 1945, Moscow) was a commander in the Russian Imperial Army who later joined the Red Army. He rose to lieutenant general ...

(19.02.1919 - 22.07.1919) *

Vladimir Gittis Vladimir Mikhailovich Gittis (Russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Ги́ттис; 24 June 1881 – 22 August 1938) was a Soviet military commander and komkor. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going ov ...

(22.07.1919 - 29.04.1920) * Mikhail Tukhachevsky (29.04.1920 - 04.03.1921) * Ivan Zakharov (04.03.1921 - 20.09.1921) * Alexander Yegorov (20.09.1921 - 24.01.1922) * Mikhail Tukhachevsky (24.01.1922 - 26.03.1924) *

August Kork August Ivanovich Kork (, also Аугуст Яанович Корк; 11 June 1937) was an Estonian Red Army commander (Komandarm 2nd rank) who was tried and executed during the Great Purge in 1937. Kork became an officer of the Imperial Russi ...

(26.03.1924 - 05.04.1924) *

Alexander Kuk Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

(05.04.1924 - 08.04.1924) Chief of Staff : * Nokolai Domogyrov (19.02.1919 — 26.05.1919), * Nikolai Petin (26.05.1919 — 17.10.1919), * Alaksei Peremytov (17.10.1919 — 13.11.1919), * Vladimir Lazarevich (13.11.1919 — 09.02.1920), * Nikolai Schwartz (25.02.1920 - 30.09.1920) * Nikolai Sollogub (01.10.1920 - 06.12.1920) * Pavel Ermolin (06.12.1920 - 07.06.1921) *

Mikhail Batorsky Mikhail Alexandrovich Batorsky (; 25 January 1890 8 February 1938) was a Red Army Komkor. The son of an officer and a member of the nobility, Batorsky fought in World War I as a staff officer, ending the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

(07.06.1921 - 23.11.1921) *

Sergei Mezheninov Sergei A Mezheninov (January 19, 1890 – September 28, 1937) was a Soviet komkor (corps commander). He fought for the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks during the subsequent civil war. During this wa ...

(23.11.1921 - 06.07.1923) * Ivan Gludin (06.07.1923 - 30.09.1923) *

(30.09.1923 - 08.04.1924) Members of the Revolutionary Military Council include : *

Boris Pozern Boris Pavlovich Pozern (Russian: Борис Павлович Позерн; 7 July 1882 – 25 February 1939) was a Soviet politician and statesman and member of the Troika of the NKVD of the Soviet Union. Pozerb was born in Nizhny Novgorod to a ...

* Reingold Berzin * Joseph Stalin * Konstantin Yurenev * Józef Unszlicht * Arkady Rosengolts * Ivar Smilga *

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky ( pl, Feliks Dzierżyński ; russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed "Iron Felix", was a Bolshevik revolutionary and official, born into Poland, Polish n ...

* Romuald Muklevich

Source

* {{Soviet fronts of the Russian Civil War Soviet units and formations of the Russian Civil War Military units and formations established in 1919 Military units and formations disestablished in 1924 Soviet fronts