11th Army ( Soviet Union ) The 11th Army ( 1st formation ) of the Red Army was a unit of the then newly created Soviet armed forces . It was formed by the Bolsheviks on October 3 , 1918 from the Red Northern Caucasus Army . In February 1919 it was dissolved and was again deployed in March 1919 as a subdivision of the Caspian - Caucasian Front . It took a prominent part in the sovietization of the three republics of the southern Caucasus in 1920 - 21 , when Azerbaijan , Armenia , and Georgia were brought within the orbit of Soviet Russia . In 1939 the 11th Army ( 2nd formation ) was formed in the Belarussian Special Military District ( BSMD ) from the former Minsk Army Group . Russian Civil War . Since the Russian Republic ' s Caucasus Front dissolved , it did not have a true successor organization . The Army of the North Caucasus , which was renamed 11th Army on October 3 , 1918 , constituted the main army of the Russian Republic in the area during the Russian Civil War . During the Russian Civil War the 11th Army fought against the White troops of General Anton Denikin ' s Volunteer Army in the western part of the North Caucasus . It was the main strength of the Caspian - Caucasian Army Group . In January 1919 , the front of 200 miles held by the Red troops along the Caucasus foothills and South Russian steppes was cut into two by the White forces , which resulted in the panic flight of the 11th Red Army . By 1921 , the 11th Red Army is characterized by the modern French historian Marie Broxup as " a purely Russian army led by Russian commanders and Russian political cadres . " In May 1921 the army lost its name and was integrated into the Caucasian Front , later part of the North Caucasus Military District . The first country to fall in the South Caucasus was the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan , which was made a Soviet republic in May 1920 . Taking advantage of its quarrels with neighboring Armenia , the 11th Army had little difficulty in initially sovietizing Azerbaijan . Although it soon was embroiled in a fierce anti - Soviet insurgency , the army remained poised to advance into the two remaining republics , Armenian and Georgia . For the time being , however , the authorities in Moscow ordered the army to stand down while negotiations between Russia and Armenia were being carried out . In that brief span the Red Army did aid Armenian communists fighting against the Armenian government in the Ijevan region of Armenia . The head of the 11th Army ' s Revolutionary Military Council was Sergo Ordzhonikidze . The military leaders of the 11th Army were in 1921 : V . P . Raspopov , J . P . Butyagin , M . I . Vasilenko , M . K . Levandovski and Anatoli Gekker . Military decisions were supervised by the Army ' s " Council of War " . Its members were in 1921 : Sergey Kirov , Valerian Kuybyshev , J . P . Butyagin , K . A . Mekhonoshin , Sokolov , J . I . Vesnik , Lukin , B . D . Mikhailov , Kvirkeliya , S . S . Eliava , J . I . Vesnik and P . I . Kushner . World War Two . In 1939 the 11th Army ( 2nd formation ) was formed in the Belarussian Special Military District ( BSMD ) from the former Minsk Army Group . It took part in the Soviet invasion of Poland ( 1939 ) . In summer 1940 it became part of the Baltic Military District ( from August , 17th , 1940 the Baltic Special military district ) . When the Germans invaded in June 1941 the 11th Army comprised the 16th Rifle Corps ( which included the 5th , 33rd and 188th Rifle Division s ) and 29th Rifle Corps ( 179th and 184th Rifle Division s ) and the 3rd Mechanised Corps ( 640 tanks ) , the 23rd , 126th and 128th Rifle Division s , the 42nd and 46th Fortified Region s , and other smaller formations and units . It participated in military operations as part of the Soviet Northwestern Front west and south - western of Kaunas and Vilnius . Since July 9 , 1941 , it had under its command the 41st and 22nd Rifle Corps and the 1st Mechanised Corps . On 1 September 1941 its structure included the 180th , 182nd , 183rd , 202nd , and 254th Rifle Division s , 21st Motor Rifle Regiment , 9 арт . бригада ПТО , 614th Corps Artillery Regiment , 698 ап ПТО , the 87th and 110th Independent Tank Battalions , 7th Mixed Aviation Division , and a number of separate formations . In 1942 and 1943 it participated in attacks against the Wehrmacht near Solzy and Staraya Russa and in operations around the Demyansk Pocket . In summer and fall 1943 it was part of the Western Front . In mid July 1943 the Army comprised the 53rd Rifle Corps , the 4th , 96th , 260th , 273rd and 323rd Rifle Division , the 225th Tank Regiment and other units . From July 30 11th Army joined the Bryansk Front , and fought in the Battle of Kursk . In December 1943 the 11th Army was dissolved , with the personnel being integrated into other Soviet armies . The commanders of the 11th Army were :