Red Guards

Categories / Social Life
RED GUARDS, the main organization of the working class' armed forces in Petrograd at the time of the 1917 Revolution and the first period of the Civil War. The first Red Guards detachments were created in Petrograd factories after the February Revolution of 1917, concurrently with the detachments of the Workers' Militia. On 17 April (30 April) 1917, meeting between representatives of squads throughout Petrograd formed the Commission for the Formation of the Red Guards. It was organized by factory-plant committees, district Soviets and party organs of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (Bolsheviks). The Red Guards were voluntary and arranged on a regional-industrial basis. Workers, members of socialist parties and professional unions, and those recommended by any of the aforementioned groups could enter the Red Guards. Exercises were held during off-work hours, and included studying arms, shooting and military formation. In Petrograd, guardsmen participated in the First of May and June demonstrations, and in the July Days political crisis. By the beginning of July 1917, there were approximately 6,000 Red Guards. Organisation of the Red Guards became stronger during the Kornilov Affair. In October 1917, the strength of the Red Guards reached 30,000 - 40,000 people (including 20,000 armed and trained soldiers). On 23 October (5 November) 1917, the Petrograd All-City Conference approved regulations creating the Central Commandant's Office of the Workers' Red Guards (from the end of November, known as the Main Headquarters of the Red Guards). The Red Guards were organised according to decades (13 people), platoons (53 people), troops (160 people) and battalions (480-600 people). Battalions were organized into district detachments under the control of Red Guards District Commandants' Offices. Within the Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, the Department of Workers' Guards was created. Many people played an important role in the creation of the Red Guards, including K.K. Yurenev (Head of the Red Guards General Staff), V.F. Malakhovsky, A.K. Skorokhodov, I.I. Gaza, Y.A. Kalinin, V.A. and E.A. Trifonovs, K.N. Orlov, V.N. Pavlov, N.I. Podvoisky, V.I. Nevsky, A.G. Shlyapnikov. In October 1917, the Red Guards were the leading force of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. Red Guardsmen Detachments suppressed the Military Cadets Rebellion on 29 October (11 November), helped ward off the Kerensky-Krasnov attack near the Alexandrovskaya Railway Station, Pulkovo and Krasnoe Selo; they also were involved in closing "counter-revolutionary" newspapers, and dispersing mass demonstrations by supporters of the Constituent Assembly in December 1917 and on 5 (18) January 1918. Once the Red Army was organised in March 1918, the Red Guards were disbanded; a number of its soldiers and commanders entered the Red Workers and Peasants' Army. The Krasnogvardeisky District, Square, Street and Lane were named in honour of the Red Guards.

Reference: Старцев В. И. Очерки по истории Петроградской Красной гвардии и рабочей милиции (март 1917 - апр. 1918 г.). М.; Л., 1965; Цыпкин Г. А., Цыпкина Р. Г. Красная гвардия - ударная сила пролетариата в Октябрьской революции: По материалам Центр. пром. р-на, Урала и Поволжья. М., 1977; Конев А. М. Красная гвардия на защите Октября. 2-е изд., доп. М., 1989.

A. M. Kulegin. Gaza Ivan Ivanovich
Kalinin Yakov Andreevich
Kerensky Alexander Fedorovich
Kornilov Lavr Georgievich
Krasnov Peter Nikolaevich
Malakhovsky Vladimir Filippovich
Nevsky Vladimir Ivanovich (real name Krivobokov Feodosy Ivanovich)
Orlov Kirill N.
Pavlov Vladimir Nikolaevich
Podvoysky Nikolay Ilyich
Shlyapnikov Alexander Gavrilovich
Skorokhodov Alexander Kastorovich
Trifonov E.A.
Trifonov Valentin Andreevich
Yurenev Konstantin Konstantinovich
Krasnogvardeiskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Krasnogvardeiskaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Krasnogvardeisky Lane/Saint Petersburg, city
Красногвардейский район
Старцев В. И. Очерки по истории Петроградской Красной гвардии и рабочей милиции (март 1917-апр. 1918 г.). М.; Л., 1965
Конев А. М. Красная гвардия на защите Октября. 2-е изд., доп. М., 1989
Цыпкин Г. А., Цыпкина Р. Г. Красная гвардия - ударная сила пролетариата в Октябрьской революции: По материалам Центр. пром. р-на, Урала и Поволжья. М., 1977 February Revolution of 1917