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| Red Guards Russian: Красная гвардия | |
|---|---|
 Red flags were used by guards in several modifications and variations | |
| Leaders | RSDLP(b) and Soviets |
| Dates of operation | 1917–1918 (became core units of the Red Army) |
| Headquarters | Every major city |
| Active regions | Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and Russian Republic |
| Ideology | Communism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Part of | Red Army (since January 1918) |
| Allies |  Finnish Red Guards |
| Opponents |  Russian Provisional Government White MovementEntente Pro-independence movements in Russian Civil War |
| Battles and wars | October Revolution Russian Civil War |
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Red Guards (Russian: Красная гвардия) were paramilitary volunteer formations for the "protection of the soviet power", as part of the Bolshevik Military Organizations. The Red Guards consisted primarily of urban workers, peasants,[dubious – discuss] cossacks and partially of soldiers and sailors. Red Guards were a transitional military force of the collapsing Imperial Russian Army and the base formations of Bolsheviks during the October Revolution and the first months of the Russian Civil War. Most of them were formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917, and some of the units were reorganized into the Red Army during 1918. The Red Guards formations were organized across most of the former Russian Empire, including territories outside the contemporary Russian Federation such as Finland, Poland, Estonia, Ukraine, and others. They were not centralized and were formed by decision of a local political party and local soviet members. By fighting to protect and extend the power of the Soviets, they aided the creation of a new state that (according to its original conception) would give "all power to the soviets": the Soviet Union.