Karelian Front
Encyclopedia
The Karelian Front was a Front
Front (Soviet Army)
A front was a major military organization in the Soviet Army during many wars. It was roughly equivalent to an army group in the militaries of most other countries except Germany...

 (a formation of Army Group size) of the Soviet Union's
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 Red Army
Red 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...

 during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and operated in Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...

.

Wartime

The Karelian Front was created in August 1941 when Northern Front
Soviet Northern Front
The Northern Front was a front of the Red Army during the Second World War.The Northern Front was created on June 24, 1941 from the Leningrad Military District. Its primary goal was the defense of the Kola Peninsula and the northern shores of the Gulf of Finland. On August 23, 1941, the Front's...

 was split into Karelian Front and Leningrad Front
Leningrad Front
The Leningrad Front was first formed on August 27, 1941, by dividing the Northern Front into the Leningrad Front and Karelian Front, during the German approach on Leningrad .-History:...

 to take account of the different military developments and requirements on the Leningrad approaches and along the Finnish border to the Arctic. It remained in existence until the end of the war.

The front covered the sector north of Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, not far from Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake in Europe, and the 14th largest lake by area in the world.-Geography:...

 and the Svir River
Svir River
Svir is a river in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows from Lake Onega west to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two largest lakes of Europe. It is the largest river flowing into Lake Ladoga....

 to the Arctic Coast
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

 near Murmansk. It was involved in combat with Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 forces and Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

 forces along the Soviet-Finnish border during the Continuation War
Continuation War
The Continuation War was the second of two wars fought between Finland and the Soviet Union during World War II.At the time of the war, the Finnish side used the name to make clear its perceived relationship to the preceding Winter War...

 and the Soviet-German War
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

. The front between Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega
Lake Onega
Lake Onega is a lake in the north-west European part of Russia, located on the territory of Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and is the second largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga...

 was split of to the independent 7th Army during the static phase of the war.

During 1944, the front participated with Leningrad Front in the final offensive against Finland which led to the Soviet-Finnish armistice. In October 1944 it conducted the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
The Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive was a major military offensive during World War II, mounted by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht in 1944 in northern Finland and Norway. The offensive defeated the Wehrmachts forces in the Arctic, driving them back into Norway, and was called the "Tenth Shock" by...

, capturing some parts of northern Finland and liberating the easternmost parts of the Norwegian Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...

 province from German occupation.

Karelian Front conducted the only successful major military operation ever undertaken in an Arctic environment in modern warfare. The experiences in the conduct of the operation, particularly in terms of organising rear-area services and supply, were considered important to the conduct of the Red Army’s offensive against the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...

, and many leading officers were transferred from Karelian Front to the Baikal
Baikal
Baykal commonly refers to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia.Baykal or Baikal may also refer to:-Russia:*Baykal, Irkutsk Oblast, an urban-type settlement*Baykal, Aurgazinsky District, Republic of Bashkortostan, a village...

 theatre of war.

Order of battle

Order of battle
Order of battle
In modern use, the order of battle is the identification, command structure, strength, and disposition of personnel, equipment, and units of an armed force participating in field operations. Various abbreviations are in use, including OOB, O/B, or OB, while ORBAT remains the most common in the...

 of the Karelian Front on 1 September 1944:
  • 7th Army
    7th Army (Soviet Union)
    The Soviet Red Army's 7th Army first saw action in the 1939-40 Winter War against Finland. In November 1939, just before the initial Soviet attack, it consisted of the 19th Rifle Corps , 50th Rifle Corps , 10th Tank Corps, 138th Rifle Division, and an independent tank brigade...

    • 4th Rifle Corps (4 ск) (114, 272 сд)
    • 99th Rifle Corps (18, 65, 310 сд)
    • 30, 32 лыжбр, 150, 162 УР ; 149, 633, 1942 кап, 989 гап;
  • 14th Army
    14th Army (Soviet Union)
    The 14th Army was formed in October 1939 in the Leningrad Military District. It participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which its 52nd and 104th Rifle Divisions fought in the Battle of Petsamo.From 24 June 1941 the Army included...

    • 126 лгск (72 морсбр, 31 лыжбр (31st Ski Brigade?))
    • 10th Guards Rifle Division
      10th Guards Motor Rifle Division
      The 10th Guards Motor Rifle Division was a division of the Soviet Ground Forces. The full name of its predecessor division was the "10th Guards Rifle Pechengskii twice Red Banner, Order of Alexander Nevsky and the Red Star division"...

    • 14th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
      14th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
      The 14th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army from 1922 to 1944.It was formed in Moscow 1 Jul 1922.During the Winter War, it covered the state border in the north and north-east coast of the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk Group....

    • 2nd Fortified Region
  • 19th Army
    19th Army (Soviet Union)
    The 19th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed in 1941 and active during the Second World War. It was disbanded in 1945 or 1947.-First Formation:...

    • 21st Rifle Division
      21st Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
      The 21st Rifle Division was a tactical unit of the Bolshevist Russia and then the USSR, active between 1918 and 1945. Organised during the Russian Civil War on September 3, 1918 out of several smaller partisan detachment of Perm Governorate. Soon it was reinforced with a single artillery battery...

    • 67th Rifle Division
    • 104th Rifle Division
    • 122nd Rifle Division
    • 341st Rifle Division;
    • 38th Guards Tank Brigade
    • 73rd Guards Separate Tank Regiment
    • 88th Separate Tank Regiment
  • 26th Army
    26th Army (Soviet Union)
    The 26th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, active from 1941.- Operational history :...

    • 31st Rifle Corps (83, 205 сд)
    • 132nd Rifle Corps (54, 367 сд)
    • 45th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
      45th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)
      The 45th Rifle Division was a Red Army infantry division formed originally during the Russian Civil War that fought in World War II and then served through the Cold War in the Leningrad Military District....

  • 32nd Army (Soviet Union)
    • 127th Corps (127 лгск) (27 сд)
    • HQ 131st Rifle Corps
    • 176th Rifle Division
    • 289th Rifle Division
    • 313th Rifle Division
    • 368th Rifle Division
    • 3 брмп (3rd Naval Infantry Brigade?), 69, 70 морсбр, 33 лыжбр, 31 обмп
  • 7th Air Army
    • 1st Guards Mixed Aviation Division
      16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division
      The 16th Guards Fighter Aviation Division was an Aviation Division of the Soviet Air Forces, active from 1942 to 1998. Originally activated in 1942 as the 258th Fighter Aviation Division from the Air Forces of the 14th Army, then the 258th Mixed Aviation Division; redesignated in accordance with...

    • 257th, 260th, 261st Mixed Aviation Divisions
    • 324th Fighter Aviation Division
    • 858th Fighter Aviation Regiment
    • 204 крап, 121 оапс, 108, 119 раэ, 118 драэ

Major Operations

  • Svir-Petrozavodsk Operation against Finland, July-August 1944
  • Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
    Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation
    The Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive was a major military offensive during World War II, mounted by the Red Army against the Wehrmacht in 1944 in northern Finland and Norway. The offensive defeated the Wehrmachts forces in the Arctic, driving them back into Norway, and was called the "Tenth Shock" by...

     against the Wehrmacht, October 1944

Commanders

  • Colonel-General Valerian Frolov (Sept. 1941 to Feb. 1944)
  • Colonel General K.A. Meretskov
    Kirill Meretskov
    Kirill Afanasievich Meretskov was a Soviet military commander. Having joined the Communist Party in 1917, he served in the Red Army from 1920. During the Winter War, he was responsible for penetrating the Mannerheim Line as commander of the 7th Army...

    (Feb 1944-May 1945)
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