Red Guards (Russia)
Russian volunteer paramilitary units / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Red Guards (Russian: Красная гвардия) were paramilitary volunteer formations consisting mainly of factory workers, peasants,[dubious – discuss] cossacks and partially of soldiers and sailors for "protection of the soviet power". 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.
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Red Guards Russian: Красная гвардия | |
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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 Movement Entente Pro-independence movements in Russian Civil War |
Battles and wars | October Revolution Russian Civil War |