The Southwestern Front () was a front 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 the Polish-Soviet War, which existed between January 10, 1920, and December 5, 1920. Before January 1920, it was named the Southern Front.

Operations

In January–February 1920, the Front forces, pursuing the retreating White forces of Denikin, successfully conducted the Odessa operation and occupied Odessa on February 7. By March 1 the Front reached the line Mozyr-Ovruch-Korosten-Letichev-Dniester River, but attempts to seize the Crimea, defended by the White Army under the command of General

Yakov Slashchov Yakov Aleksandrovich Slashchov-Krymsky (; 29 December Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 17 December1885 – 11 January 1929) was a Russian Empire">Russian military officer, member of the ...

, ended unsuccessfully. Then the Front troops acted on two strategic directions : the Western against Poland, and the Crimean against the Army of Wrangel. In April-May 1920, countering the advancing Polish troops, they left Mozyr, Ovruch, Korosten, Kiev and moved to the left bank of the Dnieper. In May and June, they launched a counteroffensive and successfully conducted the Kiev operation, after which they continued their pursuit of the enemy in the zone from

Polesia Polesia, also called Polissia, Polesie, or Polesye, is a natural (geographic) and historical region in Eastern Europe within the East European Plain, including the Belarus–Ukraine border region and part of eastern Poland. This region shou ...

to the Dniester. in June-July, during the Novohrad-Volynskyi and

Rivne Rivne ( ; , ) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the Rivne Raion (district) within the oblast.

operations, the Front troops defeated the Polish and reached the approaches to

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

and

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, but they could not seize Lviv and in August 1920 they were forced to retreat. The troops of the Front also fought the armed detachments of Bulak-Balakhovich, Petlyura and

Boris Savinkov Boris Viktorovich Savinkov (; 31 January 1879 – 7 May 1925) was a Russian revolutionary, writer, and politician. As a leading figure in the Socialist Revolutionary Party's (SR) Combat Organization in the early 20th century, he was a key organ ...

. On October 18, after the conclusion of the Truce with Poland, the Front's operations were stopped and the troops withdrew behind the state border. On the Crimean front, in June–July, under the pressure of Wrangel's army the Front forces withdrew to the right bank of the Dnieper and conducted defensive battles on the Kherson-Nikopol- Tokmak-Berdyansk line. In August, they launched an offensive and occupied the

Kakhovka bridgehead The Northern Taurida operation (6 June – 3 November 1920) was a military campaign in the Russian Civil War between the Red Army and the White Army under Pyotr Wrangel for the possession of Northern Taurida. The campaign can be divided into 3 ...

.
In September, the enemy succeeded in pushing back the troops of the left wing of the 13th Army, and in occupying Alexandrovsk, Orekhov and Sinelnikovo, creating a threat to the Donbas Region. In September 1920, the Crimean section of the South-Western Front was separated into an independent Southern Front (2nd formation). The Front was disbanded on December 5, 1920, and the Front Administration merged with the Administration of the

Kiev Military District The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...

, to which all the front troops became subordinated.

Composition

* 12th Army (10.01.1920 - 13.08.1920 and 27.09.1920 - 25.12.1920), * 13th Army (10.01.1920 - 21.09.1920), * 14th Army (10.01.1920 - 31.12.1920), *

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 ...

(01.04.1920 - 14.08.1920), *

2nd Cavalry Army The 2nd Cavalry Army () was a cavalry Field army, army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. History It was created by an order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southwestern Front (RSFSR), Southwestern Front on 16 July 1920 ...

(16.07.1920 - 25.09.1920), * 6th Army (08.09.1920 - 26.09.1920), * Ukrainian Labor Army (30.01.1920 - 25.09.1920), * Gomel

Fortified Region A fortified district or fortified region (, ukreplyonny raion, ukrepraion) in the military terminology of the Soviet Union, is a territory within which a complex system of defense fortifications was engineered. Each fortified district consiste ...

(25.02.1920 - 17.03.1920), * Fastov Group (

Iona Yakir Iona Emmanuilovich Yakir (; 3 August 1896 – 12 June 1937) was a Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II. He was an early and major military victim of the Great Purge, alongsid ...

) (19.05.1920 - 13.06.1920)

Commanders

Commander : * Alexander Yegorov Chief of Staff : * Nikolai Petin Members of the Revolutionary Military Council: *

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 ...

* Reingold Berzin *

Leonid Serebryakov Leonid Petrovich Serebryakov (; 11 June 1890 – 1 February 1937) was a Russian Soviet politician and Bolshevik who became a victim of the Great Purge. Early life Born at Samara, the son of a metalworker, Serebryakov left school at 14 to opera ...

* Miron Vladimirov *

Christian Rakovsky Christian Georgiyevich Rakovsky ( – September 11, 1941), Bulgarian name Krastyo Georgiev Rakovski, born Krastyo Georgiev Stanchov, was a Bulgarian-born socialist Professional revolutionaries, revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and Soviet Un ...

* Sergey Ivanovich Gusev * Semyon Aralov

Sources

* {{Soviet fronts of the Russian Civil War Soviet units and formations of the Russian Civil War Military units and formations established in 1920 Military units and formations disestablished in 1920 Soviet fronts