Historical Dictionary of the Russian Civil Wars, 1916-1926

Georgia: Uniforms of the tsarist era predominated in the forces of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia from 1918 to 1921, although some cavalry regiments wore national dress: fur hat (papakha), cloak (burka), long, high-waisted coat (cherkeska), and undercoat (beshmet), with soft leather breeches and heel-less leather boots. Epaulettes and cockades were in the national colors (dark red, black, and white) and bore various Georgian devices (including the Maltese cross).

Armenia: No regular new uniform was developed in the Democratic Republic of Armenia. Rather, units wore uniforms from the tsarist era that they had inherited from the stores of the Caucasian Front of the First World War, but replaced the imperial stars on the epaulettes with small crosses.

Azerbaijan: In the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, Imperial Russian Army uniforms predominated throughout the civil-war period, decorated with a yellow metal star and crescent cap-badge.

UNIFORMS (RED ARMY). Throughout 1918 and much of 1919, the Red Army (like the Whites and various nationalist forces) wore uniforms inherited from the tsarist era, customized with ranks and insignia and, with increasing frequency, revolutionary symbols, such as the red star. On 25 April 1918, a Commission on the Elaboration of Uniform was established by the People’s Commissariat for Military Affairs, which on 7 May 1918, announced a competition to design a new uniform for the Red Army. The results were announced on 18 December 1918 and officially adopted by the Revvoensovet of the Republic on 16 January 1919, although shortages of materials meant that very few kranoarmeitsy (“Red Armymen”) would have received their full kit until at least 1920.

Branch-of-service colors were crimson (infantry), blue (cavalry), orange (artillery), black (engineers), light blue (air force), and light green (border guards). Badges depicting the branch of service (to be worn on the left sleeve) were added on 3 April 1920. The essential elements of the uniform were as follows.

Helmet: After a 1918 design by the historical artist Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov, this consisted of a blunt-pointed, peaked broadcloth helmet (shlem sukonnyi), with flaps that could be folded down and tied under the chin for warmth. On the front of the helmet was stitched a broad red (or sometimes black) stripe, and on it was a five-pointed cloth star, in branch-of-service color. The small, metal (usually tin) red star that had been adopted in July 1918 was pinned to the cloth star. The helmet was intended for winter use and could be worn under a metal helmet. It was modified, in April 1919, to include a peak at the front and a roll-up neck covering at the rear, with a stiffener in the peak to keep it erect. It was at first nicknamed the bogatyrka, after the warrior-knight heroes of Russian medieval legend (the Bogatyrs), who were depicted as wearing similarly shaped metal helmets in a famous 1898 painting (“The Bogatyrs”) by Vasnetsov; or a frunzevka (because the men of M. V. Frunze’s army group on the Eastern Front were among the first to wear it); but by 1920 came to be known universally as the budenovka, after S. M. Budennyi, as the design proved particularly popular with the men of his 1st Cavalry Army.

Greatcoat: Again based on an historical precedent, in this instance the uniform of a 17th-century Russian musketeer (strelets), the Red Army greatcoat (kaftan) was introduced on 8 April 1919. It was made of khaki cloth and for fastening had three distinctive cloth tabs (razgovory)—double-bastion shaped and in branch-of-service colors—across the chest. The kaftan had two vertical side pockets. The collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps were of darker khaki cloth and piped in branch-of-service colors.

Shirt: A smock-like, khaki cotton blouse (gimnasterka) with a two-inch standing collar with two hooks and two buttons on the cuffs for fastening was worn. The collar and the front of the shirt were decorated with pairs of razgovory in branch-of-service colors.

Breeches: A variety of types of trousers were in use, but most common were breeches (sharovari) of light gray cotton in summer and of dark gray cloth in winter (sometimes reinforced with leather for cavalry and horse artillery units).