The 23rd Rifle Corps was a corps of the

Soviet Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of Peop ...

. It was part of the 4th Army. It took part in the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

in 1939.

History

On 22 June 1941 it was part of the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of First Republic of Armenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic ...

comprising the 136th and 138th Rifle Divisions.Dr Leo Niehorster
Administrative Order of Battle, Transcaucasus Military District, 22 June 1941
/ref> The 45th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the

from the Staff of 23rd Rifle Corps. At the end of the war the corps joined the new

Central Group of Forces The Central Group of Forces (Russian: Центральная группа войск) was a formation of the Soviet Armed Forces used to incorporate Soviet troops in Central Europe on two occasions: in Austria and Hungary from 1945 to 1955 and tr ...

in Austria and Czechoslovakia. In accordance with an order of the Central Group of Forces, the 252nd Rifle Division was transported by rail to the Soviet Union via

Kaposvár Kaposvár (; also known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in southwestern Hungary, south of Lake Balaton. It is one of the leading cities of Transdanubia, the capital of Somogy County, and the seat of the Kaposvár District and th ...

, Budapest, Sighet,

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

, and

Mineralnye Vody Mineralnye Vody (Min-Vody) ( rus, Минеральные Воды (Мин-Воды), p=mʲɪnʲɪˈralʲnɨjə ˈvodɨ, mʲɪn ˈvodɨ; lit. ''mineral waters'') is a town in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located along the Kuma River and the main rail ...

, with the rest of the 23rd Rifle Corps from 20 December 1945. By February 15, 1946 the 252nd Rifle Division had fully arrived in the Stavropol Military District (merged into the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included t ...

shortly afterwards). The

295th Rifle Division The 295th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed twice. The 295th's first formation was formed in the summer of 1941 and destroyed within months during the Battle of Kiev. Refo ...

(Second Formation) was relocated after the end of the war from the GSFG in Germany to

Stavropol Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. E ...

in the North Caucasus Military District with the 23rd Rifle Corps, where it became the 30th Separate Rifle Brigade in 1946. In October 1953, the brigade was upgraded into the 295th Rifle Division. The 23rd Rifle Corps was reformed in accordance with a

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

directive of 4 March 1955 and a

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

order of 13 June, by renumbering the

79th Rifle Corps The 79th Rifle Corps () was a rifle corps of the Red Army in World War II that became part of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. World War II The corps was formed in July 1943 as a headquarters with no troops assigned, and subordinated to th ...

in the

Group of Soviet Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...

. Its headquarters was disbanded on 4 July 1956, with its divisions directly subordinated to the 3rd Army headquarters.

Units

52nd Rifle Division The 52nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, the interwar period, World War II, and the Cold War, formed once during the Russian Civil War and three times during the existence of the Soviet Union. ...

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 Russo–Turkish War (1735–1739), 1735–39 and Russo-Turkish War (1787– ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * – Located in fond 949, opus 1, file 2 of the Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence {{Soviet Union corps Rifle corps of the Soviet Union Military units and formations disestablished in 1956 Military units and formations of the Soviet invasion of Poland