Soviet tank armies were born out of chaos and confusion of the Russian Revolution. In November 1917, the Bolshevik Party under Lenin carried out a successful coup and seized power in Petrograd. Bolsheviks helped numerous anti-government-minded military units and poorly trained workers and vooruzhennnye units, called Red Guards. January 28, 1918, these forces were renamed the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army, which was ordered to defend the revolution from the right-wing anti-Bolshevik forces, known now as white. July 4, 1920, in the midst of the Civil War (1919-1921.), The Red Army first used tanks in battle. 2nd Panzer detachment participated in the battle with the armored train number 8 and the 14th squad of armored vehicles. Newborn Soviet tank armies consisted of a small number of British tanks 'Mark V' and 'Medium In Whippet' and French tanks 'Renault FT'.

These machines were originally put a white Western powers as military aid to fight the Bolsheviks. Those able to capture some of them and turned against their former masters. In the Civil War, the role of tanks was low for both sides the obvious reason – they were too small. By its own estimates, the British and the French have put no more than 130 tanks and armored vehicles were delivered at significantly more. Tanks themselves were slow, unreliable, for they lacked the first- ryuchego and spare parts. Consequently, they are completely unsuitable for widespread use, along with significantly faster in the mobile cavalry operations specific to the Civil War.