It was first formed in November 1920 from the 1st Siberian Rifle Division, and fought in the Russian Civil War in Siberia.

As part of the 6th Mechanized Corps, the division was destroyed in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, in late June 1941.

The 29th was reformed from the 7th Moscow People's Militia Division in July, but destroyed in the Battle of Vyazma in October.

A third 29th was formed in Kazakhstan in December and converted to the 72nd Guards Rifle Division for its actions in the Battle of Stalingrad in the spring of 1943.

Postwar, it was withdrawn to the Volga Military District and reduced to a brigade, which became the 63rd Mechanised Division in 1953.

The 4th Rifle Division was formed from local guard battalions and other units from Omsk, Semipalatinsk, and Novonikolayevsk in accordance with an order of the troops in Siberia of 28 September 1920, part of the 5th Army.

In 1922, the 29th fought in the suppression of the West Siberian revolt, a series of peasant uprisings against Soviet rule.

[2] It was then recreated from the 7th Moscow People's Militia Division in July 1941, and again wiped out at Vyazma in October 1941.

On December 5, 1941, recreation of the 29th Rifle Division began in Akmolinsk, Kazakhstan, and its organization was completed on January 16, 1942.

The division was held in reserve until June 1942, when its men were deemed to have received sufficient training.