Transcaucasian Front

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Transcaucasus Front
Active	23 August 1941 - 30 December 1941 15 May 1942 - 25 August 1945
Country	Soviet Union
Branch	Red Army
Type	Army Group Command
Size	Several Armies
Engagements	World War II Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran Battle of the Caucasus
Commanders
Notable commanders	Dmitry Kozlov Ivan Tyulenev

Transcaucasian Front or Transcaucasus Front (Russian: Закавказский Фронт) was a front of the Soviet Red Army—a military formation comparable to an army group, not a geographic military front—during the Second World War.

The Transcaucasus Front describes two distinct organizations during the war.

First creation[]

The first version was created on 23 August 1941 from the Transcaucasus Military District, which was originally formed in 1922. The boundary of the Front extended along the Soviet border with Turkey and along the Black Sea coast from Batumi to Tuapse.
It was commanded by Lieutenant-General Dmitry Kozlov from August 1941 to December 1941.

On 22 June 1941, when the German invasion started, the Transcaucasus Military District included the 3rd, 24th, and , the 28th Mechanised Corps, two cavalry divisions (the 17th Mountain and the 24th) and three separate rifle divisions (the 63rd, 76th, and 77th).^[1] Also part of the District were three fortified regions and District troops, which included artillery and NKVD frontier units.

The initial Front organization incorporated the four Soviet armies stationed in the district in June 1941:

• the 45th and 46th on the border with Turkey and
• the 44th and 47th on the border with Iran.

On 25 August 1941 troops from the Front entered Iran according to the Soviet-Iran Treaty of Friendship of 21 February 1921, which eliminated the direct threat to the Baku oil fields.

Order of Battle, Invasion of Iran, 1941[]

Here is the Soviet OOB for 25 August 1941:^[2]

44th Army (Major General )

• 20th Mountain Rifle Division
• 77th Mountain Rifle Division
• 17th Cavalry Division
• 24th Tank Regiment

47th Army (Major General )

• 63rd Mountain Rifle Division
• 76th Mountain Rifle Division
• 236th Rifle Division
• 6th Tank Division
• 54th Tank Division
• 13th Motorcycle Regiment

53rd Army (Major General Sergei Trofimenko) (invaded Iran from Turkmenistan, Turkestan Military District, on 27 August)

• 58th Rifle Corps
• 83rd Mountain Rifle Division
• 4th Cavalry Corps

In November 1941, the 51st Army joined the front after being evacuated from the Crimea.
The Transcaucasus Front was renamed the Caucasus Front on 30 December 1941.

Second creation[]

The second version of this front was again created from the Transcaucasus Military District on 15 May 1942, and continued in existence until its reorganization as the Tbilisi Military District on 25 August 1945 after the end of the war.

It was commanded by General Ivan V. Tyulenev (May 1942 - August 1945), and included the 4th and 58th Armies at various periods.

References[]