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 The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

during the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

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 Staraya Russa ( rus, Старая Русса, p=ˈstarəjə ˈrusːə) is a town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased o ...

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 Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the ...

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

and

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

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 Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') i ...

(against the White Northern Army and the Entente interventionists), over the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...

(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. 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 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 The Western Military District (russian: Западный военный округ, Zapadnyy voyennyy okrug) is a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, ...

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 The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

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

Dnieper Flotilla The Dnieper Flotilla () is the name given to the various naval flotillas on the Dnieper River. These were particularly active in four conflicts: the Russo-Turkish wars of 1735–39 and 1787–92, the Russian Civil War, and World War II (called, in ...

(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 o ...

(22.07.1919 - 29.04.1920) *

Mikhail Tukhachevsky Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Тухачевский, Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevskiy, p=tʊxɐˈtɕefskʲɪj; – 12 June 1937) nicknamed the Red Napoleon by foreign newspapers, was a Sovie ...

(29.04.1920 - 04.03.1921) * Ivan Zakharov (04.03.1921 - 20.09.1921) * Alexander Yegorov (20.09.1921 - 24.01.1922) *

(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 (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 Vladimir Salamovich Lazarevich (russian: Влади́мир Салама́нович Лазаре́вич, be, Уладзі́мір Саламо́навіч Лазарэ́віч; Sokółka, Grodno Governorate, 15 September 1882 – Moscow, 20 ...

(13.11.1919 — 09.02.1920), * Nikolai Schwartz (25.02.1920 - 30.09.1920) *

Nikolai Sollogub Nikolai Vladimirovich Sollogub (russian: Николай Владимирович Соллогуб; – 7 August 1937) was a Soviet military specialist who served in World War I, the Russian Civil War, and the Polish-Soviet War, reaching the rank ...

(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 (23.11.1921 - 06.07.1923) * Ivan Gludin (06.07.1923 - 30.09.1923) * Alexander Kuk (30.09.1923 - 08.04.1924) Members of the Revolutionary Military Council include : * Boris Pozern *

Reingold Berzin Reingold is a name. Notable people with the name include: Last name * Arvin Reingold (1930-2020), American lawyer and politician * Babs Reingold, American artist * David Reingold (born 1968), American sociologist * Edward Reingold (born 1945) ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

Konstantin Yurenev Konstantin Konstantinovich Yurenev (russian: Константи́н Константи́нович Юре́нев), also known as Konstantin Konstantinovich Krotovsky (russian: Константин Константинович Кротовский ...

Józef Unszlicht Józef Unszlicht or Iosif Stanislavovich Unshlikht (russian: Ио́сиф Станисла́вович У́ншлихт; nicknames "Jurowski", "Leon") (31 December 1879 – 29 July 1938) was a Polish and Russian revolutionary activist, a Soviet go ...

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 ...

Ivar Smilga Ivar Tenisovich Smilga (russian: И́вар Тени́сович Сми́лга, lv, Ivars Smilga; 1892–1938) was a Latvian Bolshevik leader, Soviet politician and economist. He was a member of the Left Opposition in the Soviet Union. Early l ...

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 Romuald Adamovich Muklevich (, pl, Romuald Muklewicz, 25 November 1890 – 9 February 1938) was a Soviet military figure and Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Naval Forces from August 1926 to July 1931. Early life Muklevich was born in Supra ...

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