Page "Soviet westward offensive of 1918–1919" Paragraph 11

The newly formed Red Army was growing in personnel, and Lenin could gather enough strength to replace withdrawing Western curtain forces (" Западная завеса ") by solid military and re-take the lands lost by Russia in 1917 by simply following the withdrawing German army.

Upon the news about the German Revolution, on November 13, 1918 the Soviet government annulled the Treaty of Brest Litovsk and issued orders to the Red Army to move in the direction of Belarus, Ukraine and Baltic States in order to establish Soviet governments there.

The move of the newly created ( on November 16 ) Western Army that started at night of November 17, 1918 in the operational vacuum created by the withdrawing German army, in the geneal direction of Belarus, Ukraine and Poland ( parts of the latter within the Imperial Russia were referred to as " Privislinsky Krai " ), According to N. Davies, was code-named Target-Vistula.