The 7th Army was a field army of the

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 People ...

during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, which existed between November 1918 and February 1920.

History

The 7th Army was formed on November 1, 1918 from the units of the former Olonets group of troops, the 2nd Petrograd Infantry Division and the Pskov Rifle Division. It was part of the Northern Front which fought against Entente troops and the White Northern Army which were based in

Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river and numerous islands o ...

and

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

. After the disbandment of Northern Front the 7th Army was transferred to the Western Front. The 7th Army also took part in the Soviet campaign against Estonia. On November 22, 1918, units of the 7th Army attacked

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

for the first time, but the assault was repulsed by the German troops still remaining in the city. A week later, the Soviet troops seized the city. Then the troops of the 7th Army began to advance westward, and by early January 1919 they were 35 kilometers from

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. But on January 7, 1919, the Estonian 1st division launched a counter-offensive, and already on January 19 the Estonians and Finns took Narva and entered the territory of the Petrograd Governate.
In spring 1919 the 7th Army defended the approaches to Petrograd against Finnish troops on the Karelian and Onega-Ladoga Isthmus, the White Guard Northern Corps of Major-General Dzerozhinsky and Estonian troops south of the Gulf of Finland. On June 21 the 7th Army launched an offensive against the troops of the Northwestern Army (the former Northern Corps). On August 5, Yamburg was taken, after which they halted their advance.
In the autumn of 1919, the troops of the Northwestern Army under Major-General

Alexander Rodzyanko Alexander Pavlovich Rodzyanko (; 26 August 1879 – 6 May 1970) was an officer of the Imperial Russian Army during the World War I and lieutenant-general and a corps commander of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. He also competed at th ...

and from October 2, General Nikolai Yudenich undertook a second attempt to conquer Petrograd. The outskirts of the city were reached but the reinforced 7th Army was able to halt their advance and launched a counteroffensive on October 21. The North-Western Army was pushed back in chaos and disintegrated. Its remains retreated into Estonia where they were interned. On December 31, an armistice agreement between the RSFSR and Estonia came into force, and on February 2, 1920, the Tartu Peace Treaty was concluded, which meant the end of the war in the Northwest of the RSFSR. Immediately afterwards, the administration of the 7th Army was disbanded.

Commanders

* Eugen Iskritsky : 01.11.1918 — 28.11.1918 * Evgeny Golubintsev : 28.11.1918 — 05.12.1918 * Nikolai Henrikson : 05.12.1918 — 27.01.1919 * Alexander Remezov : 27.01.1919 — 01.07.1919 * Mikhail Matiyasevich : 01.07.1919 — 26.09.1919 * Sergei Kharlamov :26.09.1919 — 17.10.1919 * Dmitry Nikolayevich Nadyozhny 17.10.1919 — 17.11.1919 * Sergei Odintsov : 17.11.1919 — 10.02.1920 Members of the Revolutionary Military Council include * Boris Pozern (09.12.1918 — 05.05.1919) *

Ivan Mezhlauk Ivan Ivanovich Mezhlauk (; ) (30 September 1891 – 25 April 1938) was a Soviet politician and statesman who was the first first secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR as well as its first president. Ivan Mezhlauk was born in Khar ...

(25.05.1919 — 28.06.1919) * Arkady Rosengolts (28.06.1919 — 30.09.1919) *

Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev (born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky; – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. A prominent Old Bolsheviks, Old Bolshevik, Zinoviev was a close associate of Vladimir Lenin prior to ...

(14.07.1919 — 26.11.1919) *

Nikolai Podvoisky Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky (; ; 16 February Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O.S. 4 February1880 – 28 July 1948) was a Russian Bolsheviks">Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet Union">Soviet statesman and the first People's Co ...

(06.10.1919 — 17.12.1919) * Mikhail Lashevich (23.10.1919 — 10.02.1920)

Source

* {{Soviet Armies of the Russian Civil War Soviet field armies in the Russian Civil War Military units and formations established in 1918 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920