Southern Front (RSFSR)

Southern Front
Red Army insignia of the Civil War period
Active	1st formation: September 1918–January 1920 2nd formation: September–December 1920
Country	Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
Branch	Red Army
Type	Front
Engagements	Russian Civil War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Alexander Yegorov Mikhail Frunze

The Southern Front (Russian: Южный фронт) was a front of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, formed twice.

The front was first formed in September 1918, fighting against the White Don Cossacks and the Volunteer Army in southeastern Russia. It advanced into the North Caucasus in January 1919, but was forced to retreat from eastern Ukraine by an attack of the Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR) in May and June. The Southern Front then retreated in the face of the latter's Moscow offensive, launching a counterattack in August that advanced into northeastern Ukraine and to the Don River. With its rear disrupted by White cavalry raids, the front retreated north in September and early October, moving as far as Orel. In October the front launched a counteroffensive, defeating the AFSR, leading to the latter's precipitate retreat to the Black Sea by early January. The front was redesignated the Southwestern Front on January 10, 1920, at the beginning of the Red advance into the North Caucasus.

The front was formed for a second time in September 1920, with troops transferred from the Southwestern Front. It fought in the defeat of Pyotr Wrangel's Russian Army in Crimea, forcing the evacuation of the latter in November with the Perekop–Chongar operation. The front was disbanded in December, reorganized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Crimea.