Curtain forces (Russian: Отряды завесы, войска завесы, завеса) were military forces created soon after signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk by Soviet Russia in 1918 to protect the inner regions of the state and initially served as border troops.
[1] The Curtain was a defense system created according to the March 5, 1918 directive of the Revolutionary Military Council to guard "the interior regions of the state against possible invasion of Germans" and for guarding the demarcation line established by the Brest Peace Treaty.
[2] The Russian Army officers developed the concept of the Curtain during its efforts to defend Petrograd against the February 1918 German offensive initiated by Erich Ludendorff.
[5] The Southern Region of Curtain Forces was created by the August 11, 1918 directive of the Supreme Military Council.
[6] The Curtain was disbanded by a September 11, 1918 Decree of the Revolutionary Military Council, which established Fronts, as well as the Western Defense Region in place of it.