Group of forces in battle with the counterrevolution in the South of Russia

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Group of Forces for Combating Counter-Revolution in the South of Russia
ActiveDecember 21, 1917 (1917-12-21)–March 19, 1918 (1918-03-19)
Country 
Ukrainian-Soviet War
Commanders
Commander-in-chiefVladimir Antonov-Ovseenko
Chief of staffMikhail Artemyevich Muravyov
Political commissarSergo Ordzhonikidze

The Group of Forces for Combating Counter-Revolution in the South of Russia (Russian: Группа войск по борьбе с контрреволюцией на Юге России, romanized: Gruppa voysk po bor'be s kontrrevolyutsiyey na Yuge Rossii) was a military formation of the Soviet Russian government created in the beginning of December 1917 to invade and occupy various autonomous state formations (the Don Host Oblast and Ukrainian People's Republic) with a goal of establishing the Soviet government.[clarification needed]

The formation mainly consisted of

Petrograd and Moscow under the command of Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko and Mikhail Muravyov
as the chief of staff. The group consisted of some 20,000 troops.

Historical background

The group started to arrive[clarification needed] in Kharkiv on December 21, 1917, and on December 22–23, 1917, with the help of the local squads of Red Guards, it established Soviet power in the city. On December 24–25, 1917, in Kharkiv the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets, which proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets, took place. The group included the squads of Rudolf Sivers, Yuriy Sablin, Pavel Yegorov, Grigory Petrov, and others, as well as the local squads of Red Guards.

In the beginning of January 1918, without any official declaration of war, the group initiated military actions around

Kiev and the government of Ukraine relocated to Zhytomyr. On February 9, 1918, it signed a military protection pact with the Central Powers (see Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Ukraine–Central Powers)
).

In the east the group managed to occupy the

Donetsk-Krivoi Rog Soviet Republic
were established.

Kiev offensive

See also: Battle of Kruty and Kiev Arsenal January Uprising

On January 15, 1918, the formation occupied Oleksandrivsk (

Katerynoslav: "Pass this on to the Red Guard headquarters. We attacked Poltava ... the station is occupied, there is fighting in the city. Send urgently to Konstantinograd (Krasnohrad) 1000 Red Guards to connect with Yegorov". The Moscow Red Guard squads led by Yegorov, while traveling from the Lozova Rail Station, intercepted a heavy siege battery of the opponent that was sent to Poltava from Novocherkassk. At the same time Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko reported to the Narkom of Military Affairs (Soviet Russia): "Yesterday in the evening Poltava was occupied by us through an offensive from Lozova and Kharkiv... [We are] anticipating a report about the occupation of Bakhmach
".

On January 28 the 1st Minsk Revolutionary Troops, led by

Putilov plant) with a team of 77 people and 16 machine guns. The same day, the revolutionary forces met some resistance at the Kruty Rail Station, where they were held off for another day by a few hundred cadets. Another commander of the Moscow Red Guards was Andrei Znamensky
, who led the special assignment unit of Blagushe-Lefortovo.

At the Extraordinary All-Russian Railway Congress on January 26, 1918,

Petrograd
that street fighting was taking place in Kiev and the Red Guards were suffering great losses. And it further stated: "We have cleared all the stations in Kiev, as well as the Rail Terminal. Armored trains of the latest technology are pushing out the enemy from the city center. Our artillery is shelling the city day and night. Request urgently that 1,000 Red Guards be sent." But no reinforcements were really needed, as the Ukrainian forces withdrew from the city. On February 8, 1918, Kiev finally became Soviet.

With the situation in Ukraine and the Lower Don river region secured, the group of forces was redirected to the South Ural region against General Alexander Dutov and then Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki in the eastern regions of Belarus.

Order of battle

Commanders

Initial composition

Later additions

  • Kharkiv Red Guards (Aleksandr Belenkovich)
    • a few soldiers of the 2nd Ukrainian Reserve Regiment
  • Vitaly Markovich Primakov
    )
  • Donbas Red Guards (Dmitry Zhloba)
  • 30th Reserve Regiment (Nikolai Rudnev)
  • Kharkiv Red Guards
    • VEK Factory Red Guards
    • Dynamo Factory Red Guards
  • Synelnykove Red Guards
  • Bryansk Factory Red Guards
  • Orlyk Serdiuk Regiment
  • Anarchists of Maria Nikiforova and Nestor Makhno
  • Oleksandrivsk Red Guards
  • Kiev city garrison soldiers (Shevchenko, Sahaidachny, Khmelnytsky regiments)
  • Arsenal Factory Red Guards
  • Matisson Factory [Podil] Red Guards
  • Demiyivka Red Guards
  • Shuliavka Red Guards
  • Kiev Locomotive Depot Red Guards

Further reading

  • Antonov-Ovseenko, V. Notes about the civil war. Moscow 1924.
  • Khrystiuk, P. Notes and materials to the history of the Ukrainian revolution 1917-1920. Vienna 1921.
  • Doroshenko, D. History of Ukraine: 1917-1923. Uzhhorod 1932.
  • Civil War in the USSR. Moscow 1980.
  • Ukrainian Central Council. Documents and materials. Kiev 1997.

External links

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