Battle of Petrograd

Coordinates: 60°03′0″N 31°45′0″E / 60.05000°N 31.75000°E / 60.05000; 31.75000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Russian Civil War 1919 battle. For the 1940s WWII battle, see
Russian SFSR
60°03′0″N 31°45′0″E / 60.05000°N 31.75000°E / 60.05000; 31.75000
Result Soviet victoryBelligerents Northwest Russia
Soviet Russia
Commanders and leaders Nikolai Yudenich Leon TrotskyUnits involved Northwest Army

Red Army

Strength 18,500 55,500

The Battle of Petrograd was a campaign by the

Russian State
was at its peak.

Using the new Regional Government of Northwest Russia as a base, the newly formed Northwestern Army had launched an attack from Pskov and drove north to Petrograd. The White Army saw a string of victories on the road to Petrograd. After the White advance severed a railroad junction from Moscow to Petrograd, the Bolsheviks began to fear the city might soon fall. Trotsky personally went north to rally the city's defenses, he oversaw the utilization of an alternative rail line to bring in supplies from Moscow needed to fend off the attack.

The advance stalled and reversed, soon the Whites were forced to retreat into Estonia. Hoping to secure a peace deal with

Soviet Russia
, the Estonian government refused to allow the Northwestern Army to be restationed in the nation. The White cause had begun to disintegrate across Russia however. Though the Northwestern Army was soon allowed to send pockets of units into Estonia, the new government of the Russian State collapsed; simultaneously the army disbanded, ending any chance of Petrograd, the historic capital of Russia, being taken from the Bolsheviks.

Background

On August 8, the

Russian SFSR, the Northwestern Army would have no base for operations. In an effort to preserve an alliance with Estonia, he formed the Regional Government of Northwest Russia to start formal negotiations.[1]

Battle

White Army offensive

On September 28 the Northwestern Army launched the offensive. Within the week

Iamburg had been taken by October 11. On October 20 some units had made it to Pulkovo Heights, within the suburbs of Petrograd. The 3rd Infantry Division of the Army had ignored orders to cut the Moscow-Petrograd railway at Tosno to reach Petrograd first.[2]

Red Army counteroffensive

Tsarskoe Selo and Pavlovsk 2 days later. Soon the 7th Army attacked east while the 15th Army attacked south taking back Luga on the 31st. On the second anniversary of the October Revolution the two armies linked up east and south of Iamburg.[3]

Aftermath

After the counterattacks by the 7th and 15th Red Armies, the Northwestern Army was severely weakened. Estonia, who did not want to jeopardize the current peace negotiations, refused to take the White Army in as refugees preventing them from taking shelter in Narva. After several pleas, the Estonian government agreed to take in small groups, provided that they would be unarmed and would not be wearing the uniform of Northwestern Army. The Regional Government of Northwest Russia was disbanded on December 5 and the army itself formally disbanded.[4][5]

Trotsky would later be awarded the Order of the Red Banner for his personal role in organising the defence of Petrograd.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Lincoln 1989, p. 292-293.
  2. ^ Lincoln 1989, p. 296-298.
  3. ^ Lincoln 1989, p. 298-299.
  4. ISBN 9780465094974
    .
  5. ^ Lincoln 1989, p. 299-300.
  6. ISBN 978-1-108-21041-6
    .

References

See also
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