The Southwestern Front () was an army group of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I as part of the Eastern Front war theater.

During the conflict it was responsible for managing operations along a front line that stretched 615 kilometers across Ukraine, starting from what is now southern Belarus to northern Romania. To its left side (south), there was located Romanian Front which was a joint formation of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Romania. To its right side (north), there was located Northwestern Front which in 1915 split and Western Front was one that covered right flank of the Southwestern Front. The front was facing primarily against Austro-Hungarian Army and in few operations against Imperial German Army.

In 1917 the headquarters of the Front was located in Berdychiv and later moved west to Rivne.

It was established in August 1914 based on units of the Kiev Military District and the Odessa Military District 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.Оськин М.В. Проблема резерва для генерального наступления русской армии в 1917 г. . History Studies. Retrieved 11 November 2017.

Operations Battle of Galicia (23 August – 11 September 1914) → Russian occupation of Eastern Galicia Siege of Przemyśl (16 September 1914 – 22 March 1915) Battle of the Vistula River (29 September – 31 October 1914) Battle of Krzywopłoty (17 – 18 November 1914) Battle of Limanowa (1 – 13 December 1914) Battle of Łowczówek (22 – 25 December 1914) Carpathian Front (7 January – 20 April 1915) Gorlice–Tarnów offensive (2 May – 13 July 1915) Great Retreat (13 July – 19 September 1915) Rovno offensive (27 August – 15 October 1915) Brusilov offensive (4 June – 20 September 1916) Kerensky offensive (1 – 19 July 1917) Battle of Krechowce (24 July 1917)

Operation Faustschlag (18 February – 3 March 1918) → Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Battle of Bakhmach (8 – 13 March 1918) Crimea Operation (13 – 25 April 1918)

Key events Arrest of Generals in Berdychiv (29 August – 27 September 1917) Kornilov affair (10 – 13 September 1917) → Bolshevik coup-d'etat Assassination of Nikolay Dukhonin in Mogilev Kerensky–Krasnov uprising Ukrainian–Soviet War (8 November 1917 – 17 November 1921)

Armies deployed on the Southwestern Front The following field armies were part of the Southwestern Front.Юго-Западный фронт . Ria1914.info. Retrieved 11 November 2017. 3rd Army (July 1914 – June 1915 and June 1916 – July 1916) 19.07.1914 – 03.09.1914 — General of Infantry Nikolai Ruzsky 03.09.1914 – 20.05.1915 — General of Infantry Radko Dimitriev 03.06.1915 – 03.08.1917 — General of Infantry Leonid Lesh 5th Army (July 1914 – September 1914) General of Cavalry Pavel Plehve 8th Army (July 1914 – August 1917) 28.07.1914 – 17.03.1916 — General of Cavalry Aleksei Brusilov 23.03.1916 – 29.04.1917 — General of Cavalry Alexey Kaledin 29.04.1917 – 10.07.1917 — General of Infantry Lavr Kornilov 11.07.1917 – 25.07.1917 — Lieutenant-General Vladimir Cheremisov 30.07.1917 – 17.10.1917 — Lieutenant-General Michai Sokownin 4th Army (August 1914 – June 1915) General of Infantry Alexei Evert 9th Army (August 1914 – December 1916 ) General of Infantry Platon Lechitsky 7th Army (October 1914 – early 1918) 19 July 1914 – 19 October 1915 — General of Artillery Vladimir Nikolayevich Nikitin 19 October 1915 – 11 April 1917 — General of Infantry Dmitry Shcherbachev 13 April 1917 – 20 June 1917 — Lieutenant-General Leonid Bielkowicz 26 June 1917 – 9 September 1917 — Lieutenant-General Vladimir Selivachyov 9 September 1917 – 3 December 1917 — Lieutenant-General Januariusz Cichowicz 11th Army (October 1914 – early 1918), created during the Siege of Przemyśl as "Siege Army" 21.10.1914 – 05.04.1915 — General of Infantry Andrey Selivanov 05.04.1915 – 19.10.1915 — General of Infantry Dmitry Shcherbachev 19.10. 1915 – 25.10.1916 — General of Infantry Vladimir Viktorovich Sakharov 25.10.1916 – 20.12.1916 — General of Infantry Vladislav Klembovsky 20.12.1916 – 05.04.1917 — General of Infantry Dimitri Bałanin 15.04.1917 – 21.05.1917 — Lieutenant-General Aleksei Gutor 25.05.1917 – 04.06.1917 — General of Infantry Ivan Fiedotov 04.06.1917 – 09.07.1917 — General of Cavalry Ivan Erdélyi 29.04.1917 – 09.09.1917 — General of Infantry Pyotr Baluyev 19.07.1917 – 29.08.1917 — Lieutenant-General Fiodor Rerberg 09.09.1917 – 01.12.1917 — Lieutenant-General Mikhail Promtov Special Army (September 1916 – November 1916 and July 1917 – early 1918) 14.08.1916 – 10.11.1916 - General of Cavalry Vasily Gurko 10.11.1916 – 17.02.1917 - General of Infantry Pyotr Baluyev 17.02.1917 – 31.03.1917 - General of Cavalry Vasily Gurko 02.04.1917 – 09.07.1917 - General of Infantry Pyotr Baluyev 12.07.1917 – 29.08.1917 - General of Cavalry Ivan Erdélyi 29.08.1917 – 14.09.1917 - Acting Major General Vasily Sarychev 14.09.1917 – 20.11.1917 - General of Infantry Stepan Stelnitsky 11.1917 - Acting Colonel Alexander Ilyich Yegorov 20.11.1917 – 13.12.1917 - Lieutenant General Theodore Rerberg 13.12.1917 – 19.12.1917 - Lieutenant General Alex Kushakevich 12.19.1917 – 03.1918 - Colonel Vladimir Yegoryev 1st Army (July 1917 – September 1917) Lieutenant General Gleb Vannovsky Separate Danube Army Separate Czechoslovak Corps

Command Commander of the armies of the Southwestern Front The commanders of the Southwestern Front were as follows.

Appointed Commander Dismissed 19.07.1914 General of Infantry Nikolai Ivanov 17.03.1916 17.03.1916 General of Cavalry Aleksei Brusilov 21.05.1917 22.05.1917 Lieutenant General Aleksei Gutor 10.07.1917 10.07.1917 General of Infantry Lavr Kornilov 18.07.1917 24.07.1917 Lieutenant General Peter Baluev 31.07.1917 02.08.1917 Lieutenant General Anton Ivanovich Denikin 29.08.1917 29.08.1917 Lieutenant General Fyodor Ogorodnikov 09.09.1917 09.09.1917 Lieutenant General Nikolai Volodchenko 24.11.1917 11.1917 Lieutenant General Nikolai Stogov 12.1917 01.1918 Lieutenant General Vladimir Yegoryev 02.1918

Bolshevik leaders Appointed Commander Dismissed 12.1917 Praporshchik Alexander Myasnikov 01.1918 01.1918 Vasily Kikvidze 02.1918

Chiefs of Staff

Appointed Commander Dismissed 19.07.1914 Lieutenant General Mikhail Alekseyev 17.03.1915 23.03.1915 Lieutenant General Vladimir Dragomirov 08.05.1915 08.05.1915 General of Infantry Sergei Savvich 13.12.1915 13.12.1915 General of Infantry Vladislav Klembovsky 23.10.1916 23.10.1916 Lieutenant General Semyon Sukhomlin 29.05.1917 29.05.1917 Major General Nikolay Dukhonin 04.08.1917 04.08.1917 Lieutenant General Sergey Markov 29.08.1917 10.09.1917 Lieutenant General Nikolai Stogov 24.11.1917

References

Notes

See also List of Imperial Russian Army formations and units South-Western Front electoral district (Russian Constituent Assembly election, 1917)