14th Army (German Empire)

Flag of a staff of an army high command (1871-1918)

The 14th Armies / Army High Command 14 (AOK 14) was a major unit and the associated command authority of the German Army during the First World War (1914-1918). It comprised several army or reserve corps as well as numerous special troops. On February 1, 1918, the 14th Army was transferred to the Western Front and renamed the 17th Army .

history

Commander in chief General of the Infantry Otto von Below (from September 9, 1917) Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen (from September 9, 1917) First general staff officer Major i. G. Friedrich Wilhelm von Willisen

The Battle of Good Friday October / November 1917

After the eleventh battle on the Isonzo , the Austro-Hungarian army on the Italian front was severely weakened. The general staff feared that they would no longer be able to cope with another Italian offensive. Therefore the German Supreme Army Command was asked for help. This feared a military collapse of the Italian front and therefore provided seven divisions, 540 artillery pieces, 216 mine throwers and about 100 aircraft, which were withdrawn from the western and eastern fronts. From these troops a new 14th Army was drawn together between Tolmein and Flitsch under General of the Infantry Otto von Below . For the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo on October 24, 1917, AOK 14 was also subordinate to three Austro-Hungarian divisions. The Army High Command 14 was formed from the staff of the previous Scheffer Army Department .

The headquarters of the Army High Command was first in Krainburg and then from November 10, 1917 in Vittorio . After the successful offensive, the front froze again soon in trench warfare . The German Supreme Army Command therefore decided to withdraw their forces and use them in the other theaters of war. First, on January 23, 1918, Army High Command 14 was recalled. A few weeks later, this high command was renamed Army High Command 17 and relocated to the Western Front. The German troops on the Italian front came under the command of General Command 51 and were finally relocated in February 1918.

Troops

14th Army deployments

• Left:

  "Group Scotti" with 1. (kuk) InfTrpDiv near Selo, followed by the 5th Infantry Division

  "Berrer Group" with 200th Infantry Division in the southern part of the Tolmein bridgehead, behind it the 26th Infantry Division (1st Royal Württemberg)

• Center:

  “Gruppe Stein” ( Royal Bavarian III. Corps ) with Alpine Corps in the northern part of the bridgehead, 12th Infantry Division north of Tolmein , 50th (kuk) InfTrpDiv to the Krn. Behind the Alpine Corps east Sela the 117th Infantry Division

• Right:

  Krauss group: (I. kuk Corps) with 55th (kuk) InfTrpDiv to the Flitsch basin, 22nd (kk) SchtzDiv in the Flitsch basin, kuk Edelweiss division to the Rombon. Behind it, northeast of Soca, the German Jäger Division .

• Army reserves:

  Behind the left wing in the depths: 13th (kk) SchtzDiv, 4th (kuk) InfTrpDiv and 33. (kuk) InfTrpDiv

References

→ Main article: Army (German Empire)

Web links

• The highest command posts of the army on www.deutsche-kriegsgeschichte.de (as of April 19, 2010)
• Organization of the 14th Army on the Isonzo Front, 1917

literature

• Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World War 1914–1918 . Military publisher Karl Siegismund, Berlin 1937 ( History of the Royal Prussian Army and the German Imperial Army, Volume 5).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937, p. 399
2. ^ Helmut Otto, Karl Schmiedel: The First World War. Berlin (East) 1977, p. 338f.
3. ↑ Saul David: The Greatest Failures in Military History. Munich 2001, p. 331.
4. ^ Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937, p. 79
5. Jump up ↑ Infantry Division
6. ^ First commanded by Albert von Berrer , after his death before Udine by Eberhard von Hofacker
7. ^ The kk rifle divisions were called kk Landwehr divisions until 1917
8. ↑ 3. InfTrpDiv