The Russian Revolution and Civil War
During the turmoil of the Russian Revolution of 1917 Chuikov became unemployed. Later the same year an elder brother arranged for Chuikov to be recruited to the Red Guards. The year after, in 1918, he joined the Red Army.
In October 1918 Chuikov saw active service when he was sent to the Southern Front as a deputy company commander to fight against the White Army. In the spring of 1919 he became commander of the 40th Regiment (later renamed the 43rd) as part of the 5th Army under Tukhachevsky facing the White Army at Kolchak in Siberia.
Chuikov's record of service during the Civil War was distinguished. In the fighting from 1919 to 1920 he received two awards of the Order of the Red Banner for bravery and heroism and he was wounded four times - one, in Poland in 1920, left a fragment in his left arm that could not be operated on. It led to partial paralysis and caused him to lose temporary use of his arm. Chuikov carried this war wound for the rest of his life, and it eventually lead to septicaemia which broke out in 1981, causing a nine-month illness and finally to his death.
Read more about this topic: Vasily Chuikov
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