The history of the 35th Rifle Division's first formation began in August 1918 when the Kamyshin front troops of the North Caucasus Military District were formed.

On 4 April, the 35th Rifle Division began forming in the Volga Military District at Kazan from parts of the brigades of the poor and railway defense regiments.

The division covered the southern flank of the 5th Army's strike group as it advanced on Petropavlovsk, and participated in the recapture of the city.

In July, the division's 104th Rifle Regiment defeated von Ungern-Sternberg's army at the battle of Lake Gusinoye.

[1] On 22 June 1941, when Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began, the division was part of the Far Eastern Front.

On 30 August 1943, the 35th was awarded the Order of the Red Star in commemoration of its 25th anniversary for "outstanding success in combat and political training, and direct participation in the battles for the Motherland".

[3] In August 1945, just before the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, the 35th was part of the 5th Separate Rifle Corps, directly subordinated to the 2nd Far Eastern Front.

When the invasion began on 9 August, the division attacked across the Ussuri into the Raohe Fortified Region in the corps' second echelon.