The Western Front () was a front 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 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,

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 ...

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'') ...

(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. 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 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 and Kolchak. 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) 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 district of Russia. It is one of the five military districts of the Russian Armed Forces, with its jurisdiction primari ...

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) (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 (19.02.1919 - 22.07.1919) * Vladimir Gittis (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 (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 (01.10.1920 - 06.12.1920) * Pavel Ermolin (06.12.1920 - 07.06.1921) * Mikhail Batorsky (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 Secretar ...

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

* Józef Unszlicht *

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 *

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