Southwestern Front (Russian Empire)


The Southwestern Front was an army group of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. During the conflict it was responsible for managing operations along a front line that stretched 615 kilometers, from what is now southern Belarus to northern Romania, and took part in such operations as the Battle of Galicia and the Brusilov Offensive. It was established in August 1914 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.

Armies deployed on the Southwestern Front

The following field armies were part of the Southwestern Front.

Commander of the armies of the Southwestern Front

The commanders of the Southwestern Front were as follows.
AppointedCommanderDismissed
19.07.1914General of Infantry Nikolai Ivanov17.03.1916
17.03.1916General of Cavalry Aleksei Brusilov21.05.1917
22.05.1917Lieutenant General Aleksei Gutor10.07.1917
10.07.1917General of Infantry Lavr Kornilov18.07.1917
24.07.1917Lieutenant General Peter Baluev31.07.1917
02.08.1917Lieutenant General Anton Ivanovich Denikin29.08.1917
29.08.1917Lieutenant General Fyodor Ogorodnikov09.09.1917
09.09.1917Lieutenant General Nikolai Volodchenko24.11.1917
11.1917Lieutenant General Nikolai Stogov12.1917
01.1918Lieutenant General Vladimir Yegoryev02.1918

Bolshevik leaders

Chiefs of Staff

AppointedCommanderDismissed
19.07.1914Lieutenant General Mikhail Alekseyev17.03.1915
23.03.1915Lieutenant General Vladimir Dragomirov08.05.1915
08.05.1915General of Infantry Sergei Savvich13.12.1915
13.12.1915General of Infantry Vladislav Klembovsky23.10.1916
23.10.1916Lieutenant General Semyon Sukhomlin29.05.1917
29.05.1917Major General Nikolay Dukhonin04.08.1917
04.08.1917Lieutenant General Sergey Markov29.08.1917
10.09.1917Lieutenant General Nikolai Stogov24.11.1917