Battle for Tsaritsyn
Encyclopedia
The Battle for Tsaritsyn was a military confrontation between Bolshevik
forces and the White Army during the Russian Civil War
. It resulted in a Bolshevik victory.
defenders into areas surrounding the town on the west bank. The local Bolshevik leaders desperately called Moscow
for reinforcements and arms, but received nothing other than orders to stand firm. According to Soviet legend, the town was saved by the actions of the local chairman of the military committee, Joseph Stalin
. Stalin urged his comrades to continue fighting and disobeyed direct orders from Moscow by recalling forces from the Caucasus, nicknamed Zhloba's 'Steel Division'. These forces were able to attack the White forces in the rear and defeat them, saving Tsaritsyn for the Bolsheviks. For these and later actions in the Tsaritsyn region, the city was renamed Stalingrad in 1925 to honor Stalin and his actions.
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
forces and the White Army during the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
. It resulted in a Bolshevik victory.
The battle
The battle started when White forces under General Denikin laid siege to Tsaritsyn in the autumn of 1918, pushing back the Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
defenders into areas surrounding the town on the west bank. The local Bolshevik leaders desperately called Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
for reinforcements and arms, but received nothing other than orders to stand firm. According to Soviet legend, the town was saved by the actions of the local chairman of the military committee, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. Stalin urged his comrades to continue fighting and disobeyed direct orders from Moscow by recalling forces from the Caucasus, nicknamed Zhloba's 'Steel Division'. These forces were able to attack the White forces in the rear and defeat them, saving Tsaritsyn for the Bolsheviks. For these and later actions in the Tsaritsyn region, the city was renamed Stalingrad in 1925 to honor Stalin and his actions.