Southern Front (RSFSR)
| Southern Front | |
|---|---|
Red Army insignia of the Civil War period
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| Active |
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| Country | Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic |
| Branch | Red Army |
| Type | Front |
| Engagements | Russian Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
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The Southern Front (Russian: Южный фронт) was a front of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, formed twice.
The front was first formed in September 1918, fighting against the White Don Cossacks and the Volunteer Army in southeastern Russia. It advanced into the North Caucasus in January 1919, but was forced to retreat from eastern Ukraine by an attack of the Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR) in May and June. The Southern Front then retreated in the face of the latter's Moscow offensive, launching a counterattack in August that advanced into northeastern Ukraine and to the Don River. With its rear disrupted by White cavalry raids, the front retreated north in September and early October, moving as far as Orel. In October the front launched a counteroffensive, defeating the AFSR, leading to the latter's precipitate retreat to the Black Sea by early January. The front was redesignated the Southwestern Front on January 10, 1920, at the beginning of the Red advance into the North Caucasus.
The front was formed for a second time in September 1920, with troops transferred from the Southwestern Front. It fought in the defeat of Pyotr Wrangel's Russian Army in Crimea, forcing the evacuation of the latter in November with the Perekop–Chongar operation. The front was disbanded in December, reorganized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Crimea.
The Southern Front was first formed by an order of the Revolutionary Military Council on 11 September 1918, which replaced the Red Army's organization into screens with fronts, under the command of Pavel Sytin. It included all troops previously part of the Bryansk and Kursk areas of the Western Screen, the Voronezh, Povorino, and Balashov-Kamyshin areas of the Southern Screen, the Red Army of the North Caucasus, and the Astrakhan Group of Forces. It is referred to in some sources as the Southern Front against Krasnov and Denikin to distinguish it from the from the front's 2nd formation. The front headquarters was formed from units of the Southern Screen headquarters and its Military Council from the Military Council of the North Caucasus. It was initially based at Kozlov. When it was first formed, the front was tasked with maintaining the demarcation line between the Red Army and Austro-German troops in Ukraine, and fighting Pyotr Krasnov's Don Cossack Host and Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army in southeastern Russia. On 3 October, the front's sector was divided into five areas, which were reorganized as
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