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 ...

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 ...

and

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

, which existed between 12 February 1919 and 8 April 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 (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist, Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over ...

Molodechno Maladzyechna, or Molodechno, is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Maladzyechna District (and formerly of Molodechno Region from 1944 to 1960). Maladzyechna is located northwest of Minsk. In 2006, it had an ...

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

Smolensk Smolensk 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 cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

and

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

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 () 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 ...

(against the White Northern Army and the

North Russia intervention The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought a ...

), over the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

(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 The Berezina or Byarezina (, ; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is . The width of the river is 15–20 m, the maximum is 60 m. The ba ...

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

Nikolai Yudenich Nikolai Nikolayevich Yudenich ( Russian: Николай Николаевич Юденич; – 5 October 1933) was a commander of the Russian Imperial Army during World War I. He was a leader of the anti-communist White movement in northweste ...

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 Kolchak, Kolçak or Kolčák is a surname from Turkish ''wikt:kolçak, kolçak''. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander Kolchak (1874–1920), Russian naval commander, head of anti-Bolshevik White forces *Erkan Kolçak Köstendil, Tu ...

. 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

. 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 (; , ), also known as the Miracle on the Vistula (), was a series of battles that resulted in a decisive Polish victory and complete disintegration of the Red Army in August 1920 during the Polish–Soviet War. After the ...

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 () was a Military districts of Russia, military district of Russia, in existence from 2010 until its abolishment as a unitary military command on February 26, 2024, succeeded by the newly reconstituted Moscow Mil ...

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 (), 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. The Estonian Land Forces is currently the ...

(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 __NOTOC__ The 1st Cavalry Army (), or ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horsearmy"), was a prominent Red Army military formation that served in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War. History Formation On 17 Novem ...

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

(1919)

Composition of the Western Front in August 1920

* 3rd Army (

Komandarm is the abbreviation of the , and was a military rank used in the Soviet Union. Between 1918 and 1935, it was a rank in the Red Army, roughly equivalent to Flotilla commander in the Red Fleet. In 1935, the rank was split in two, before being abo ...

Vladimir Lazarevich Vladimir Salamanovich Lazarevich (, ; Sokółka, Grodno Governorate, 15 September 1882 – Moscow, 20 June 1938) was a Soviet Union, Soviet military commander, who commanded several military units of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. ...

) ** 5th Rifle Division () ** 6th Rifle Division () ** 21st Rifle Division () ** 56th Rifle Division (K. N. Annenkov) * 4th Army (Komandarm Yevgeniy Sergeyev, replaced by

Aleksandr Shuvayev Aleksandr Dmitriyevich Shuvayev (; 8 December 1886, Novocherkassk - December 1943) was a Soviet military commander, who commanded the 4th Red Army in the Battle of Warsaw (1920), during the Polish-Soviet War and fought in the Russian Civil War. ...

from 31 July 1920) ** 12th Rifle Division () ** 18th Rifle Division (I. F. Kuprianov) ** 53rd Rifle Division (K. P. Shcherbakov) **

54th Rifle Division The 54th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army and Soviet Army, formed twice. The division was formed in 1936 and fought in the Winter War. The division spent most of World War II in Karelia fighting with Finnish t ...

(V. N. Shubin) ** 143rd Brigade ( 48th Rifle Division) ** 164th Brigade ( 55th Rifle Division) (M. I. Rozen) * 3rd Cavalry Corps (

Komkor () is the syllabic abbreviation for corps commander (; ). It was a Military ranks of the Soviet Union, military rank in the Red Army and Red Army Air Force of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was als ...

Gaia Gai) ** 10th Cavalry Division (N. D. Tomin) ** 15th Cavalry Division (V. I. Matuzenko) * 15th Army (Komandarm

August Kork August Ivanovich Kork (, also Аугуст Яанович Корк; 12 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 Rus ...

) ** 4th Rifle Division (V. I. Solodukhin) ** 11th Rifle Division (M. K. Simonov) ** 16th Rifle Division (S. P. Medvedovskiy) **

33rd Rifle Division The 33rd Rifle Division was a rifle division of the Red Army and Soviet Army, formed twice. The division was formed in 1922 at Samara and moved to Belarus in the next year. It fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939 and in the O ...

(O. A. Stigga) * 16th Army (Komandarm

Nikolai Sollogub Nikolai Vladimirovich Sollogub (; – 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 of Komdiv in the Red Army. During the Great Purges he was imp ...

) ** 2nd Rifle Division (R. V. Longva) ** 8th Rifle Division (V. M. Smirnov) ** 10th Rifle Division (A. E. Dauman) ** 17th Rifle Division (K. P. Nevezhin) **

27th Rifle Division The 27th Rifle Division () was a tactical unit in the Red Army of Soviet Russia and then the Soviet Union, active between 1918 and 1945. First formed during the Russian Civil War on November 3, 1918, as part of 5th Red Army. Commanded by Vitov ...

( Vitovt Putna) * Mozyr Group (

Komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

Tikhon Khvesin) ** 57th Rifle Division (N. Z. Mikita-Kolyada) ** 139th Brigade (

47th Rifle Division The 47th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army. It was first formed in 1922 as the Georgian Rifle Division. In 1924, it became the 1st Georgian Mountain Division. The division became the 47th Georgian Mountain Rifle Division in 1 ...

)

Commanders

Commander : *

Dmitry Nikolayevich Nadyozhny Dmitry Nikolayevich Nadyozhny (; , 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 and fought in the First World War and Russian Civil War, co ...

(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, was a Soviet general who was prominen ...

(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) *

(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), *

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

(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 *

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

Konstantin Yurenev Konstantin Konstantinovich Yurenev (), also known as Konstantin Konstantinovich Krotovsky () (1888 – 1 August 1938), was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician and diplomat. Life and career Early revolutionary career Yurenev was born ...

* Józef Unszlicht * Arkady Rosengolts * Ivar Smilga *

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

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

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