2nd Army (Russian Empire)

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2nd Army

Russian coa 1825.png

Coat of arms of the Imperial Russian Army
active 1914 to 1918
Country Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Russian Empire
Armed forces Russian Empire 1721Russian Empire Imperial Russian Army
Type army
Butcher First World War
Battle of Tannenberg
Battle of the Vistula
Battle of Lake Narach

The 2nd Army of the Russian Empire was an army that was used on the Eastern Front during World War I, 1914–1918 .

history

1914

The 2nd Army under General Alexander Samsonov was mobilized in July 1914 after Russia entered the First World War, with Major General Postovsky serving as Chief of Staff. From August 17 to September 14, 1914, the 2nd Army advancing on the Narew as part of the Northwest Front (General Jakow Schilinski ) together with the 1st Army and the later 10th Army of the Imperial Russian Army tried in vain to enter the German province of East Prussia under their control. The 2nd Army advanced about 60 kilometers between Soldau - Neidenburg - Ortelsburg across the southern border of East Prussia. The 2nd Army counted 10½ infantry and 3 cavalry divisions (166 battalions and 141 squadrons) with around 191,000 men and 612 artillery pieces.

  • XV. Army Corps under Lieutenant General Klujew (6th and 8th Divisions)
  • XXIII. Army corps under General of the Infantry Kondratowitsch (2nd Division and 3rd Guard Division)
  • I. Army Corps under General Artamonov (22nd and 24th Divisions)
  • XIII. Army corps under General of Infantry Martos (1st and 36th Divisions)
  • VI. Army Corps under General Blagoveshchensky Infantry (4th and 16th Divisions)
  • 4th, 6th and 15th Cavalry Divisions

Since August 22nd, the German XX. Army Corps before the overwhelming power of the Russian XIII. and XV. Corps returned to the northwest via the Usdau-Neidenburg line. On the evening of August 23rd, the first fighting broke out between Lahna and Orlau.

On August 26, 1914, the Battle of Tannenberg began , which led to the almost complete encirclement of the 2nd Army by the German 8th Army under General von Hindenburg . General Samsonov had the further course of action in his mid-XV. and XXIII. Corps - arranged in the direction of Neidenburg . The 1st Corps covered its own left flank at Mława and initially stopped at the border. The XIII. Corps swung to Allenstein and occupied this city without a fight. Against the retreating German troops, the VI. Corps proceed via Passenheim on to Bischofsburg. The preceding Blagoweschtschenski's troops were surprisingly attacked from the north by two German corps ( I. Res.-K. and XVII. AK ) and thrown back. On August 28, an attack from the west by the German IAK broke through to the east. The Russian 2nd Army, which was supposed to cut off the assumed retreat of the Germans, was thereby itself enclosed. Smaller units attempted to break out spontaneously, so that 10,000 men were able to escape through the thin line of German forces. The bulk of the 2nd Army surrendered on August 30, disorganized and demoralized with around 92,000 prisoners. General Samsonov committed suicide in this desperate situation.

In the middle of September, the reorganization of the 2nd Army began in the Pultusk area . The Russian commander-in-chief Nikolai Nikolajewitsch set up his headquarters in Brest-Litovsk and took command of the Russian Western Front during the Battle of the Vistula . The defense in the Warsaw area and north of the Vistula to Novo-Georgiewsk took over the 2nd Army under General Sergei Michailowitsch Scheideman . Across from the southern border of East Prussia, the Narew group remained under General Nikolai Bobyr , which in turn was replaced in mid-October 1914 by the 1st Army under General von Rennenkampff , brought in from Lithuania . The 2nd Army was increased significantly to defend Warsaw and finally had seven corps in mid-October 1914:

On October 3rd, duties from the 1st Army followed:

  • II Corps under General of the Infantry Tschurin (26th and 43rd Divisions)
  • XXIII. Corps under Lieutenant General Danilow (3rd Guard Division, a brigade of the 2nd Division, 1st Rifle Brigade)

Until October 10th, reinforced by charges from the 10th Army:

  • II. Siberian Corps under General of the Infantry Sychevsky
  • IV Corps under General Aliyev Artillery (30th and 40th Divisions)
  • VI. Siberian Corps under General Wasiliev (13th and 14th Siberian Rifle Division)

By October 30, the Germans were repulsed by counter-attacks on Silesia. In the Battle of Łódź , the 2nd and 5th Armies played the central role in the defense of the industrial city encompassed by the German 9th Army from November 20, 1914 . General Scheideman's perseverance in Lodz forced the withdrawal of the already cut off German XXV. Reserve Corps , which was only able to break out due to insufficient intervention by the Russian 1st Army connected to the north . Successes of the Austrians in Galicia forced the Russian army command to surrender troops, which is why the position in Russian Poland that was exposed far to the west was abandoned. The 2nd Army was on December 6, Lodz voluntarily and went in late December 1914, the north-standing first army behind the Bzura back to the trench warfare move.

1915

As a result of the German Narew offensive in July 1915, the position of the 2nd Army in the rear was threatened. On August 5, 1915 Warsaw was surrendered to the German 9th Army, the Great Retreat brought the 2nd Army to new defensive positions in the Lithuanian lake area in the Smorgon area .

1916

For the spring offensive of 1916 between Narotsch and Postawy, the 2nd Army was increased to 350,000 men and was divided into three attack groups for the attack. General Smirnov, overwhelmed by the pressure from headquarters, reported sick in time for the offensive, and on March 11th General Alexander Ragosa was entrusted with the supreme command of the attack. For the purpose of better conduct of operations, the 2nd Army also subordinated the bulk of the 5th Army (General Vasili Gurko), so that around 350,000 men in three attack groups were involved in the offensive:

For the purpose of better conduct of operations, the 2nd Army was also subordinated to the bulk of the 5th Army (General Wassili Gurko ), so that around 350,000 men in three attack groups were involved in the offensive:

Northern Army Group Pleschkow (parts of the 5th Army), deployed between Tveretsch and Postawy:

Medium army group Sirelius between Postawy and Lake Narotsch:

Southern Baluev Army Group south of Lake Naroch to north of Smorgon :

  • V Corps under General Pyotr Baluyev with the 7th and 10th divisions
  • 3rd Siberian Corps under General Vladimir Trofimov with the Siberian 7th and 8th Divisions
  • XV. Corps under Lieutenant General Fedor Torklus with the 6th and 8th divisions
  • XXXVI. Corps under Lieutenant General Nikolaj Korotkewitsch with the 25th and 68th Divisions
  • Reserve: XXXV. Corps under Lieutenant General Pawel Parchewski with the 55th and 67th Divisions

The Russian attacks were successfully repulsed by the German 10th Army in March 1916 in the Battle of Lake Narotsch . The 2nd Army suffered heavy losses from its mass storms in open terrain.

Commanders

literature

  • Reichsarchiv II. Volume: The Liberation of East Prussia , Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1925
  • Reichsarchiv V. Volume: The autumn campaign 1914 , Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1929

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Victories and Defeats of the Russian Army: 1914 , accessed on June 28, 2015 (English)
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv: The Autumn Campaign 1914 Mittler and Son, Berlin 1929, pp. 414–500