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== Offensive ==
== Offensive ==
On 4 March, the Siberian Army of the Whites began its advance. On 8 March it captured [[Okhansk]] and [[Osa, Perm Krai|Osa]] and continued its advancing to Kama river. On 9 April they captured [[Sarapul]]. On 15 April soldiers of Siberian Army's right flank contacted with detachments of Northern front in rare populated lands near [[Pechora River]].
On 4 March, the Siberian Army of the Whites began its advance. On 8 March it captured [[Okhansk]] and [[Osa, Perm Krai|Osa]] and continued its advanceg to the Kama river. On 10 April they captured [[Sarapul]] and closed in on [[Glazov]]<ref name="smele110" />. On 15 April soldiers of Siberian Army's right flank made contact with detachments of the [[Northwestern Army (Russia)|Northern Front]] in a sparsely populated area near the [[Pechora River]].


On 6 March Hanzhin's Army stroke between Red's 5th and 2nd Armies. After four days of fighting Red's 5th Army was crushed, its remains retreated onto Simbirsk and Samara. Reds had no forces to cover [[Chistopol]] with its bread storages. It was a strategical breakthrough, commanders of Red's 5th Army fled from Ufa. Whites captured Ufa without fighting on 14 March. On 6 April Whites captured [[Belebey]], later - [[Bugulma]] and Chistopol.
On 6 March Hanzhin's Western Army stroke between the Red 5th and 2nd Armies. After four days of fighting the Red 5th Army was crushed, its remains retreated onto Simbirsk and Samara. Reds had no forces to cover [[Chistopol]] with its bread storages. It was a strategical breakthrough, the commanders of Red's 5th Army fled from Ufa and the White Western Army captured Ufa without a fight on 16 March. On 6 April they took [[Sterlitamak]], [[Belebey]] the next day and [[Bugulma]] on 10 April.<ref name="smele110" />


In the South, Dutov's Orenburg Cossacks conquered [[Orsk]] on 9 April and advanced towards Orenburg.<ref name="smele110" />.
⚫
After receiving information about crushing the 5th Army, Mikhail Frunze (he became a commander of Southern Army Group of Reds) decided not to advance, but to defend its positions. As a result Reds were able to stop White's advancing on southern flank and to prepare its counteroffensive.

⚫
After receiving information about the defeat of the 5th Army, Mikhail Frunze, who had become commander of the Red Southern Army Group, decided not to advance, but to defend its positions and wait for reinforcements. As a result the Red Army was able to stop the White advanceg on the southern flank and to prepare its counteroffensive.


== Aftermath ==
== Aftermath ==
Whites made strategical breakthrough in the center, but Reds were able to prepare its counteroffensive on the southern flank.
The White Army had made a strategical breakthrough in the center, but the Red Army had been able to prepare its counteroffensive on the southern flank.<br>
On April 22, [[Mikhail Frunze]] launched his successful [[Counteroffensive of the Eastern Front]] against the over-extended Western Army. <ref name="smele110" />



== Sources ==
== Sources ==

Revision as of 16:19, 9 February 2019

Spring Offensive of the Russian Army
Part of the Russian Civil War

Map of the Spring Offensive of the Russian Army
DateMarch 4 – April 1919
Location
Ural Region, Volga Region
Result White victory
Belligerents
Red Army White Army
Commanders and leaders
Gaya Gai (1st Army)
Vasilii Shorin (2nd Army)
M.Lashevich (3d Army)
Mikhail Frunze (4th Army)
Jan Blumberg (5th Army)
Georgy Zinoviev		 Alexander Kolchak
Radola Gajda[citation needed]
Mikhail Hanzhin
Alexander Dutov
Strength
111,000 men
379 guns		 113,000 men
more than 200 guns

The Spring Offensive of the Russian Army was an offensive of the Siberian Army of the White movement led by Alexander Kolchak on the Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War between March and April 1919.

Background

At the end of the year 1918, the situation on the Eastern Front of the Russian Civil War was unclear. Both sides fought for the Kama river. The Supreme Command of the Red Army prepared for major offensives on the Southern and Western fronts, hence there were no supplies for the Eastern front. At the end of December Whites conquered Perm on the northern flank, but Reds captured Ufa on the southern flank. On 22 January 1919 the Red 1st Army connected with the Army of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which had advanced from Middle Asia. On 24 January the Red 4th Army captured Uralsk.

At the beginning of 1919, the Supreme Command of the White Army decided to advance in two directions. The purpose of the northern advance was to connect with the North Russia Front and to strike on Petrograd; the purpose of the southern advance was to crush the Red front on the middle Volga river and to advance to Moscow.

The Whites had three armies :[1]

The Reds had 3 armies in the south :[1]

and 3 armies to the north of them :

  • 5th Army ( (10,000 men, 42 guns and 142 machineguns, commander Jan Blumberg), defending a 200 km front in the center,
  • 2nd army (22,000 men, 70 guns and 475 machineguns, commander - Vasilii Shorin), near Sarapul,
  • 3rd Army (27,000 men, 69 guns and 491 machineguns, commander - M.Lashevich, since 5 March - Sergei Mezheninov), near Perm railway.

Therefore, on the northern flank both sides were equal, the Whites prevailed in the center (49,000 men of Hanzhin against 10,000 men of the Red's 5th Army) but the Reds had an advantage on the southern flank (52,000 men of the Reds against 19,000 men of the Whites). Both sides decided to strike on the right flank (the Whites on the right flank and in the center) and to cut the communication lines of the opponent's left flank. At the end of February, the Whites pushed back the left flank of the Red's 2nd Army, forcing it to retreat.

Offensive

On 4 March, the Siberian Army of the Whites began its advance. On 8 March it captured Okhansk and Osa and continued its advanceg to the Kama river. On 10 April they captured Sarapul and closed in on Glazov[1]. On 15 April soldiers of Siberian Army's right flank made contact with detachments of the Northern Front in a sparsely populated area near the Pechora River.

On 6 March Hanzhin's Western Army stroke between the Red 5th and 2nd Armies. After four days of fighting the Red 5th Army was crushed, its remains retreated onto Simbirsk and Samara. Reds had no forces to cover Chistopol with its bread storages. It was a strategical breakthrough, the commanders of Red's 5th Army fled from Ufa and the White Western Army captured Ufa without a fight on 16 March. On 6 April they took Sterlitamak, Belebey the next day and Bugulma on 10 April.[1]

In the South, Dutov's Orenburg Cossacks conquered Orsk on 9 April and advanced towards Orenburg.[1].

After receiving information about the defeat of the 5th Army, Mikhail Frunze, who had become commander of the Red Southern Army Group, decided not to advance, but to defend its positions and wait for reinforcements. As a result the Red Army was able to stop the White advanceg on the southern flank and to prepare its counteroffensive.

Aftermath

The White Army had made a strategical breakthrough in the center, but the Red Army had been able to prepare its counteroffensive on the southern flank.
On April 22, Mikhail Frunze launched his successful Counteroffensive of the Eastern Front against the over-extended Western Army. [1]


Sources

  • Н.Е.Какурин, И.И.Вацетис "Гражданская война. 1918-1921" (N.E.Kakurin, I.I.Vacietis "Civil War. 1918-1921") - Sankt-Peterburg, "Polygon" Publishing House, 2002. ISBN 5-89173-150-9

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Smele, Jonathan (2017). The "Russian" Civil Wars, 1916–1926. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 110-114.
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