The Transcaucasus Front (), also translated as Transcaucasian 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

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 ...

—a military formation comparable to an

army group An army group is a military organization consisting of several field army, field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organizatio ...

, not a geographic military front—during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Transcaucasus Front describes two distinct organizations during the war.

First creation

The first version was created on 23 August 1941 from the

Transcaucasus Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...

, which was originally formed in 1922. The boundary of the Front extended along the Soviet border with Turkey and along the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast from

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

Tuapse Tuapse (; , Ṫuapsă ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of a resort zone which extends sou ...

.
It was commanded by Lieutenant-General Dmitry Kozlov from August 1941 to December 1941. On 22 June 1941, when the German invasion started, the Transcaucasus Military District included the 3rd, 24th, and 40th Rifle Corps, the 28th Mechanised Corps, two cavalry divisions (the 17th Mountain and the 24th) and three separate rifle divisions (the

63rd 63rd may refer to: ;Metro stations *Ashland/63rd (CTA station), on the Green Line *East 63rd-Cottage Grove (CTA), on the Green Line *63rd (CTA Red Line), on the Red Line *63rd Street station (SEPTA Market–Frankford Line) on the Market-Frankford L ...

, 76th, and 77th). Also part of the District were three fortified regions and District troops, which included artillery and NKVD frontier units. The initial Front organization incorporated the four Soviet armies stationed in the district in June 1941: * the 45th and 46th on the border with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and * the 44th and 47th on the border with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. On 25 August 1941 troops from the Front entered Iran according to the Soviet-Iran Treaty of Friendship of 21 February 1921, which eliminated the direct threat to the

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

Order of Battle, Invasion of Iran, 1941

Soviet OOB for 25 August 1941: 44th Army (Major General Alexander Khadeyev) *20th Mountain Rifle Division * 77th Mountain Rifle Division *17th Cavalry Division *24th Tank Regiment

47th Army The 47th Army () was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, active from 1941 to 1946. History The 47th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the Transcaucasian Military District as part of the Soviet Union's border defenses with Iran. O ...

(Major General

Vasily Novikov Vasily Novikov (born 1929) is a Soviet former sports shooter. He competed in the 25 m pistol event at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsi ...

) * 63rd Mountain Rifle Division * 76th Mountain Rifle Division * 236th Rifle Division * 6th Tank Division *54th Tank Division *13th Motorcycle Regiment

53rd Army The 53rd Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army which was formed in August 1941, disbanded in December 1941, and reformed in May 1942. It fought throughout World War II before again being disbanded after the war in October 1945. Th ...

(Major General Sergei Trofimenko) (invaded Iran from Turkmenistan,

Central Asian Military District The Red Banner Central Asian Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, which existed in 1926–1945 and 1969–1989, with its headquarters at Tashkent (1926–1945) and Almaty (1969–1989). By USSR Order No.304 of 4 ...

, on 27 August) *58th Rifle Corps * 83rd Mountain Rifle Division * 4th Cavalry Corps As part of the Central Asian Military District (not the TCF), 53rd Army was described by the

Combat composition of the Soviet Army ''Boevoi sostav Sovetskoi armii'' ("Combat composition of the Soviet army") is an official Second World War Soviet Army order of battle published in five parts from 1963 through 1990 by the Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff and Voenizdat. ...

as including 58th Rifle Corps (68th and 83rd Mountain Rifle Divisions,

389th Rifle Division The 389th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union during World War II. The division was formed in October 1941 part of the 53rd Army of the Central Asian Military District, and was deployed for active field duty from May 19 ...

), 4th Cavalry Corps ( 18th, 20th, 39th Cavalry Divisions), 44th Cavalry Division, and 72nd Independent Mountain Rifle Regiment (огсп) on 1 October 1941. On 1 November 1941 the front was listed in the

as including the 44th (five divisions), 45th (four divisions and 55th

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 ...

), 46th Army (9, 20th Mountain Rifle Division; 224, 388, 390th Rifle Divisions, 51st Fortified Region), and 47th Armies (five divisions), and forces of frontal subordination including the 61, 151, 223, 396th Rifle Divisions, and forces in Iran consisting of the

402nd Rifle Division The 402nd Rifle Division was raised in 1941 as an infantry division of the Red Army, and served throughout the Second World War in that role. It was raised as an Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijani National division in the Transcaucasus Military District and ...

, the 1st Mountain Cavalry Division, and the 23rd Cavalry Division. In November 1941, the 51st Army joined the front after being evacuated from the Crimea. The Transcaucasus Front was renamed the Caucasian Front on 30 December 1941.

Second creation

The second version of this front was again created from the Transcaucasus Military District on 15 May 1942, and continued in existence until its reorganization as the Tbilisi Military District on 25 August 1945 after the end of the war. It was commanded by General Ivan V. Tyulenev (May 1942 - August 1945), and included the

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

and 58th Armies at various periods.

References

{{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II Soviet fronts History of the Caucasus under the Soviet Union