Bolshevik Enlisted - Circa 1920

These are Enlisted members of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army fighting for the Bolshevik cause during the Russian Civil War. 

The first man is wearing a Bolshevik "Gimnastyorka" basically meaning Tunic, introduced in 1919 by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic № 628 on April 8th, 1919 along with the overcoat. The Bolsheviks wanted to create a uniform different to traditional Russian Tsarist uniform used by the White Army as well as different from foreign militaries and so the basic layout of the 1911 Tsarist Gimnastyorka was edited, adding certain changes and insignia, one of the main changes is the iconic coloured tabs on the chest and collar, for the army they used the Magenta colour (Which would continue to be used as the Infantry colour throughout WWII), also pockets were added below the waist. The overcoat was similar to the Tsarist 1909 Overcoat however with some drastic changes, first a different coloured collar and cuffs, removal of the 6 breast buttons in the middle and replaced with a curved coloured tab button system and again, pockets were added which were also differently coloured. They are both wearing the Budenovka introduced by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic № 116 on January 16th, 1919. The Budenovka is a famous piece of Soviet headwear, originating in 1918 (Although some sources claim the original design was an Imperial design from 1915 to be worn on a Victory Parade through Berlin or Constantinople as the Allies must have been confident of an early victory in WWI) it became iconic as a symbol of the Bolshevik forces in the Red Army in the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks wanted to create a uniform different to traditional Russian uniform used by the White Army as well as different from foreign militaries. By order of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs of the Russian Federation on May 7th, 1918 they announced a competition for new uniform designs and on December 18th, 1918 on the basis of submitted designs the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic approved a new type of winter headgear, the Budenovka, a winter cloth hat which the shape resembles a medieval "Erihonka" or "Shelom" helmets which was part of the armor epic Russian heroes called "Bogatyrs" for which it was first nicknamed the "Bogatyrka" at first, It was also called a "Frunzevka" named after Red Army leader Mikhail Frunze and the Budenovka named after Cavalryman Semyon Budyonny, this is the name that stuck after it's use by the 1st Cavalry Army under Budyonny's command, the 1st Cavalry played an important role in winning the war for the Bolshevik forces.

Here have some music to go with it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=USUe-H…