The Red Banner Caucasus Army () was a Soviet army existing from 1921 to 1935. The army was named the Independent Caucasus Army on its creation, and carried this name until August 1923, when it was renamed the Red Banner Caucasus Army. It ceased to exist on May 17, 1935 when it was redesignated as 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 ...

in connection with the overall reorganization 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 ...

. The army consisted of 6 territorial divisions, an air force, and some reserve troops.

History

The army was established at the end of May 1921 from the 11th Army, a unit of the Caucasus Front, which was dissolved on May 29, 1921. The army unified the territorial forces of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (but in reality was under the control of the

Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

, and later of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

). At a meeting of the Presidium of the

Central Executive Committee of the USSR The Central Executive Committee of the USSR (), which may be abbreviated as the CEC (), was the supreme governing body of the USSR in between sessions of the All-Union Congress of Soviets from 1922 to 1938. The Central Executive Committee elec ...

on 17 August 1923, it was moved and passed to award the Independent Caucasus Army the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

and rename it the Red Banner Caucasus Army. Units of the Red Banner Caucasus Army, together with units of the

OGPU The Joint State Political Directorate ( rus, Объединённое государственное политическое управление, p=ɐbjɪdʲɪˈnʲɵn(ː)əjə ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əjə pəlʲɪˈtʲitɕɪskəjə ʊprɐˈv ...

, were involved in fighting partisans, mainly in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

and

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; ; ), officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Fede ...

, in the years 1921-1933.

Reason for dissolution

Amid a perceived increasing threat of armed aggression against the USSR, the old mobilization doctrine and structure of the Red Army was found not optimal for meeting these threats. On May 17, 1935, the military and administrative system of the Red Army was radically changed. Instead of 8 military districts and 2 separate armies, 13 military districts were created: Moscow, Leningrad, Belarus, Kiev, Kharkov, North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Volga, Urals, Siberia, Transbaikalia, and Far East. In almost all of these new districts the composition of the territorial armies was also changed. Replacing the former distinction between "border" and "interior" districts, a new designation of districts as "front" (combat) or "rear" (administrative) was made. It was assumed that the "front" districts would bear the brunt of any fighting, and the "rear" districts would provide reinforcements and logistical support. For each front district there would be two rear districts.

Composition

Six territorial infantry divisions: * 1st Georgian Division *2nd Georgian Division *1st Caucasus Infantry Division (formed on June 8, 1922, by combining the 1st and 2nd Caucasus Brigades) *3rd Caucasus Infantry Division *Azerbaijan Infantry Division * Armenian Infantry Division Auxiliary units: *Air Force of the Red Banner Caucasus Army *Mechanized and armored units of the Red Banner Caucasus Army

Commanders

Anatoliy Gekker Anatoly Ilyich Gekker (; – 1 July 1937) was a Soviet military commander (Komkor) involved in the Russian Civil War. Gekker was born into a family of a military doctor in Tiflis (Tbilisi), in the Georgia Governorate of the Russian Empire. Havin ...

: May–June 1921 *

Semyon Pugachov Semyon Andreevich Pugachov (Russian: Семён Андреевич Пугачёв; 26 February 1889 – 23 March 1943) was a Russian soldier who served in the Russian Imperial The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of nort ...

: June 10, 1921 - July 12, 1923 *

Alexander Ilyich Yegorov Alexander Ilyich Yegorov or Egorov () ( – 23 February 1939) was a Soviet military leader and one of the original five Marshals of the Soviet Union. Yegorov was born in Samara to a middle-class family. He joined the Imperial Russian Army in 190 ...

: February 1922 - April 1924 *Semyon Pugachov: April 1924 - February 1925 *

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 ...

: February 1925 - November 13, 1925 * Mikhail Karlovich Lewandowski: 1925 — 1928 *

Konstantin Avksentevsky Konstantin Alekseyevich Avksentevsky (; October 12, 1890 – November 2, 1941) was a Soviet Union, Soviet army commander. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and for the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war. He was a recip ...

: October 20, 1928 - 1931 *

Ivan Fedko Ivan Fyodorovich Fedko (; ; July 6, 1897 – February 26, 1939) was a Soviet Komandarm 1st rank and army commander. He was born in what is now the Left-bank Ukraine. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I before joining the B ...

: 1931 - 1932 *

Ivan Smolin Ivan Ivanovich Smolin (; 5 July 1895 – 20 September 1937) was a Soviet army commander. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I and in the Soviet Red Army in the Russian Civil War. He was a recipient of the Order of the Red Banner (1 ...

: 1932 *Mikhail Karlovich Lewandowski: November 1933 - 1935. Became the first commander of the successor organization, the Transcaucasian Military District.

References

Sources

*''10 years of the Red Banner Of The Caucasus Army'' Tbilisi: 1931 *''Red Banner Transcaucasus: A Short History of the Red Banner Transcaucasian Military District'' Tbilisi: 1981 *ITU February 1935 edition Col 124 {{Armies of the Soviet Army Field armies of the Soviet Union