The Steppe Front (russian: Степной фронт) was a
front 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
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
which existed from July to October 1943.
History
On 9 July 1943,
Stavka
The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine.
In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff ...
designated a new Reserve Front in the
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...
region, that had been effective since 30 April.
[Great Patriotic War 1941–1945, Moscow 1977] It consisted of the command component of the
2nd Reserve Army (augmented by several officer and NCO courses), the
27th,
52nd,
53rd,
46th,
47th,
4th Guards Tank,
5th Air Army
Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five.
Fifth or The Fifth may refer to:
* Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth"
* Fifth column, a political term
* Fifth disease, a contagious rash that ...
and eight mobile corps (Tank, Guards Tank, and Mechanised). Most of these armies had been reassigned from the
Northwestern Front,
North Caucasus Front, or the
Reserve of the Supreme High Command
The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the ''Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Stav ...
(''Stavka'' reserve, or the RVGK). On 13 April 1943 the Front was renamed the
Steppe Military District, to be effective 15 April.
The Steppe Military District was redesignated the Steppe Front on July 9, 1943. It incorporated forces from the Soviet rear areas to the West of
Kursk salient along the line
Tula
Tula may refer to:
Geography
Antarctica
*Tula Mountains
* Tula Point
India
* Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar
Iran
* Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province
Italy
* Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the ...
-
Yelets-
Stary Oskol-
Rossosh (Тула-Елец-Старый Оскол-Россошь). It included units pulled out of the battles of
Stalingrad
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...
and
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and others.
Under the command of
Colonel General Ivan Konev from July to October 1943, it took part in the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history ...
.
On October 20, 1943, the Steppe Front was renamed the
2nd Ukrainian Front, remaining under Konev's command.
See also
*
Combat composition of the Soviet Army
''Boevoi sostav Sovetskoi armii'' ("Combat composition of the Soviet army") is an official Second World War Soviet Army order of battle published in five parts from 1963 through 1990 by the Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff and Voenizdat.
E ...
References
{{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II
Steppe Front
Military units and formations established in 1943