11th Army (Soviet Union)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=11th Soviet Red Army


caption=Soldiers of the 11th Red Army entering the Democratic Republic of Georgia's capital of Tiflis in February 1921
dates=
country=Soviet Russia/Soviet Union
allegiance=
branch=Rifle/Combined Arms
type=
role=
size=70,000 - 100,000 (Russian Civil War [cite book
last =Figes
first =Orlando
authorlink =Orlando Figes
title =A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution: 1891-1924
publisher =Penguin Books
date =1998
location =New York
pages =712, 715
isbn =0-1402-4364-X ]
command_structure=
current_commander=
garrison=
identification_symbol=
march=
mascot=
battles=
notable_commanders=Pavel KurochkinThe 11th Army (1st formation) of the Worker's and Peasant's Red Army (RKKA) was a unit of the then newly created Soviet armed forces. It was deployed by the Bolsheviks in October 1918 as the Southern Front (see Soviet Fronts). In February 1919 it was dissolved and was again deployed in March 1919 as a subdivision of the Caspian-Caucasian Front.

In 1939 the 11th Army (2nd formation) was formed in the Belarussian Special Military District (BSMD) from the former Minsk Army Group.

Operations in the Caucasus

During the Russian Civil War it fought against the White troops of General Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army in the western part of the North Caucasus. In April 1920 it entered into Azerbaijan. in May 1920 into Iran, Armenia in December 1920 and finally invaded Georgia in February 1921. At this stage, the 11th Red Army is characterized by the modern French historian Marie Broxup as "a purely Russian army led by Russian commanders and Russian political cadres." [Broxup, "The Last Ghazawat: The 1920-1921 Uprising," cited in: John B. Dunlop (1998), Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict, p. 40. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521636191.] In May 1921 the army lost its name and was integrated into the Caucasian Front, later part of the North Caucasus Military District.

The first country to fall in the Caucasus was the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan in May 1920. Taking advantage of its quarrels with neighboring Armenia, the army had little difficulty in sovietizing Azerbaijan. From there, it was poised to attack and the capitals of the remaining two republics (Tiflis, in Georgia; and Yerevan, in Armenia). [cite book
last =Hovannisian
first =Richard G.
authorlink =Richard G. Hovannisian
title =The Republic of Armenia, Vol. IV: Between Crescent and Sickle - Partition and Sovietization
publisher = University of California Press
date =1996
location =Berkley, California
pages =62
isbn =0-5200-8804-2 ]

However, the authorities in Moscow ordered the army to discontinue its operations in the region. [Hovannisian. "The Republic of Armenia", 62-63] In that brief span the Red Army did aid Armenian communists fighting against the Armenian government in the Ijevan region of Armenia.

The head of the 11th Army's Revolutionary Military Council was Sergo Ordzhonikidze. The military leaders of the 11th Army were in 1921: V.P. Raspopov, J.P. Butyagin, M.I. Vasilenko, M.K. Levandovski and A.I. Gekker. Military decisions were supervised by the Army's "Council of War". Its members were in 1921: Sergey Kirov, Valerian Kuybyshev, J.P. Butyagin, K.A. Mekhonoshin, Sokolov, J.I. Vesnik, Lukin, B.D. Mikhailov, Kvirkeliya, S.S. Eliava, J.I. Vesnik and P.I. Kushner.

Great Patriotic War

In 1939 the 11th Army (2nd formation) was formed in the Belarussian Special Military District (BSMD) from the former Minsk Army Group. It took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland (1939). In summer 1940 it became part of the Baltic Military District (from August, 17th, 1940 the Baltic Special military district).

When the Germans invaded in June 1941 the 11th Army comprised the 16th Rifle Corps(which included the 5th, 33rd and 188th Rifle Divisions) and 29th Rifle Corps (179th and 184th Rifle Divisions) and the 3rd Mechanised Corps (640 tanks), the 23rd, 126th and 128th Rifle Divisions, the 42nd and 46th Fortified Regions, and other smaller formations and units. It participated in military operations as part of the Soviet Northwestern Front west and south-western of Kaunas and Vilnius.

Since July 9, 1941, it had under its command the 41st and 22nd Rifle and the 1st Mechanized Corps. In 1942 and 1943 it participated in attacks against the Wehrmacht near Solzy and Staraya Russa and in the Dmyansk Operation. In summer and fall 1943 it was part of the Western Front. In mid July 1943 the Army comprised the 53rd Rifle Corps, the 4th, 96th, 260th, 273rd and 323rd Rifle Division, the 225th Tank Regiment and other units. From July 30 11th Army joined the Bryansk Front, and fought in the Battle of Kursk. In December 1943 the 11th Army was dissolved, with the personnel being integrated into other Soviet armies.

The commanders of the 11th Army were:
*1939 - V. I. Morosov, P. A. Kurtoshkin, A. I. Lopatin and I. I. Fedyuninski.
*Pavel Kurochkin commanded the 11th Army from November 1942 to March 1943

References

External links

*Orbat.com/Niehorster, [http://orbat.com/site/ww2/drleo/012_ussr/41_oob/baltic/army_11.html Order of Battle, 22 June 1941]
*de icon [http://www.biologie.de/biowiki/11._Armee_%28RABA%29 History of the 11th Soviet Red Army]