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Southwestern Front (Russian Empire)

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Southwestern Front
Юго-Западный фронт
The headquarters staff of the Southwestern Front, 1917
Active1914–1918
Country Russian Empire
 Ukraine
BranchRussian Imperial Army
RoleArmy group
Size~2,000,000
EngagementsWorld War I
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Nikolai Ivanov
Alexei Brusilov
Lavr Kornilov

The Southwestern Front (Russian: Юго-Западный фронт) was an army group[a] of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I as part of the Eastern Front war theater.

During the conflict it was responsible for managing operations along a front line that stretched 615 kilometers across Ukraine, starting from what is now southern Belarus to northern Romania. To its left side (south), there was located Romanian Front which was a joint formation of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania. To its right side (north), there was located Northwestern Front which in 1915 split and Western Front was one that covered right flank of the Southwestern Front. The front was facing primarily against Austro-Hungarian Army and in few operations against Imperial German Army.

In 1917 the headquarters of the Front was located in Berdychiv and later moved west to Rivne.

It was established in August 1914 based on units of the Kiev Military District and the Odessa Military District and lasted throughout the war until the unrest caused by the Russian Revolution, at which point it was demobilized along with the rest of the Russian Army in early 1918. In total some two million troops had been under its command.[1][2]

Operations

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Key events

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Armies deployed on the Southwestern Front

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The following field armies were part of the Southwestern Front.[2]

  • 3rd Army (July 1914 – June 1915 and June 1916 – July 1916)
  • 5th Army (July 1914 – September 1914)
  • 8th Army (July 1914 – August 1917)
    • 28.07.1914 – 17.03.1916 — General of Cavalry Aleksei Brusilov
    • 23.03.1916 – 29.04.1917 — General of Cavalry Alexey Kaledin
    • 29.04.1917 – 10.07.1917 — General of Infantry Lavr Kornilov
    • 11.07.1917 – 25.07.1917 — Lieutenant-General Vladimir Cheremisov
    • 30.07.1917 – 17.10.1917 — Lieutenant-General Michai Sokownin
  • 4th Army (August 1914 – June 1915)
  • 9th Army (August 1914 – December 1916 )
  • 7th Army (October 1914 – early 1918)
  • 11th Army (October 1914 – early 1918), created during the Siege of Przemyśl as "Siege Army"
    • 21.10.1914 – 05.04.1915 — General of Infantry Andrey Selivanov
    • 05.04.1915 – 19.10.1915 — General of Infantry Dmitry Shcherbachev
    • 19.10. 1915 – 25.10.1916 — General of Infantry Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov
    • 25.10.1916 – 20.12.1916 — General of Infantry Vladislav Klembovsky
    • 20.12.1916 – 05.04.1917 — General of Infantry Dimitri Bałanin
    • 15.04.1917 – 21.05.1917 — Lieutenant-General Aleksei Gutor
    • 25.05.1917 – 04.06.1917 — General of Infantry Ivan Fiedotov
    • 04.06.1917 – 09.07.1917 — General of Cavalry Ivan Erdélyi
    • 29.04.1917 – 09.09.1917 — General of Infantry Pyotr Baluyev
    • 19.07.1917 – 29.08.1917 — Lieutenant-General Fiodor Rerberg
    • 09.09.1917 – 01.12.1917 — Lieutenant-General Mikhail Promtov
  • Special Army (September 1916 – November 1916 and July 1917 – early 1918)
    • 14.08.1916 – 10.11.1916 - General of Cavalry Vasily Gurko
    • 10.11.1916 – 17.02.1917 - General of Infantry Pyotr Baluyev
    • 17.02.1917 – 31.03.1917 - General of Cavalry Vasily Gurko
    • 02.04.1917 – 09.07.1917 - General of Infantry Pyotr Baluyev
    • 12.07.1917 – 29.08.1917 - General of Cavalry Ivan Erdélyi
    • 29.08.1917 – 14.09.1917 - Acting Major General Vasily Sarychev
    • 14.09.1917 – 20.11.1917 - General of Infantry Stepan Stelnitsky
    • 11.1917 - Acting Colonel Alexander Ilyich Yegorov
    • 20.11.1917 – 13.12.1917 - Lieutenant General Theodore Rerberg
    • 13.12.1917 – 19.12.1917 - Lieutenant General Alex Kushakevich
    • 12.19.1917 – 03.1918 - Colonel Vladimir Yegoryev
  • 1st Army (July 1917 – September 1917)
  • Separate Danube Army
  • Separate Czechoslovak Corps

Command

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Commander of the armies of the Southwestern Front

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The commanders of the Southwestern Front were as follows.[2]

Appointed Commander Dismissed
19.07.1914 General of Infantry Nikolai Ivanov 17.03.1916
17.03.1916 General of Cavalry Aleksei Brusilov 21.05.1917
22.05.1917 Lieutenant General Aleksei Gutor 10.07.1917
10.07.1917 General of Infantry Lavr Kornilov 18.07.1917
24.07.1917 Lieutenant General Peter Baluev 31.07.1917
02.08.1917 Lieutenant General Anton Ivanovich Denikin 29.08.1917
29.08.1917 Lieutenant General Fyodor Ogorodnikov 09.09.1917
09.09.1917 Lieutenant General Nikolai Volodchenko 24.11.1917
11.1917 Lieutenant General Nikolai Stogov 12.1917
01.1918 Lieutenant General Vladimir Yegoryev 02.1918

Bolshevik leaders

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Appointed Commander Dismissed
12.1917 Praporshchik Alexander Myasnikov 01.1918
01.1918 Vasily Kikvidze 02.1918

Chiefs of Staff

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Appointed Commander Dismissed
19.07.1914 Lieutenant General Mikhail Alekseyev 17.03.1915
23.03.1915 Lieutenant General Vladimir Dragomirov 08.05.1915
08.05.1915 General of Infantry Sergei Savvich 13.12.1915
13.12.1915 General of Infantry Vladislav Klembovsky 23.10.1916
23.10.1916 Lieutenant General Semyon Sukhomlin 29.05.1917
29.05.1917 Major General Nikolay Dukhonin 04.08.1917
04.08.1917 Lieutenant General Sergey Markov 29.08.1917
10.09.1917 Lieutenant General Nikolai Stogov 24.11.1917

References

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  1. ^ Оськин М.В. Проблема резерва для генерального наступления русской армии в 1917 г. (in Russian). History Studies. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Юго-Западный фронт (in Russian). Ria1914.info. Retrieved 11 November 2017.

Notes

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  1. ^ A "front" is the Russian equivalent of an army group, not to be confused with a geographic theater of operations.

See also

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