Armata a 2-a Română
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Armata a 2-a Română |
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|---|---|
 Arms of the Armata Română |
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| active | 1916 to 1947 |
| Country |
 Romania
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| Armed forces |
Armata Română
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| Type | army |
| Butcher |
World War One World War II |
The Armata a 2-a Română ( German 2nd Army ) was a military association of the armed forces of the Kingdom of Romania during the First and Second World Wars . The army was established in 1916 and was disbanded in 1947.
First World War
1916
The Romanian 2nd Army under General Crăiniceanu broke from the south up to 80 kilometers deep into southern Hungary at the end of August 1916 and occupied Kronstadt (Brașov). In Transylvania , the newly formed Austro-Hungarian 1st Army (General Arz von Straussenburg ) faced a superior force of around 420,000 Romanians. To reinforce Austria-Hungary, the German 9th Army under General von Falkenhayn also intervened in the fighting. General Crainicianu, whose 2nd Army deployed on a 67 km long front, proposed a joint offensive of the 2nd and 4th (Northern) Armies on September 24th . The plan was canceled because the Romanian 1st Army on the right wing of the front had been defeated in the Battle of Sibiu , the 2nd Army had to return to the Héviz — Oit Bogát — Sárkány — Persiani line on September 29th. On October 5, 1916, the already receding rearguards of the Romanians in the Geisterwald were attacked and forced to retreat from October 7 to 9 in the battle of Kronstadt in a tough house-to-house battle. The Austro-Hungarian 71st Infantry Division under Major General Goldbach had pushed the retreating enemy back to the Oituz Pass , between October 8 and 10 there were heavy mountain battles around the Törzburger Pass and Predeal .
After the defeat at Rimnicul-Sarat, the Romanian troops flooded back to the Moldavian border on December 28th . In the retreat, eight of their 22 remaining divisions were lost. In view of this catastrophe, the Russian Chief of Staff Alexejew sent further troops to prevent Army Group Mackensen from advancing into southern Russia. The advance of the Central Powers towards Moldova was hampered by the weather and poor infrastructure, which is why hostilities did not resume until the summer of 1917.
1917
After the Battle of Putna , the new front stabilized at the beginning of January 1917 on the Eastern Carpathian- Focsani - Galatz line . The Romanian 2nd Army was reorganized and trained in modern attack techniques by the French General Berthelot . In the summer of 1917, a double offensive by the Romanian 1st Army in the Nămoloasa area and by the 2nd Army at Mărăşti to break through the Mackensen Army Group should be scheduled.
In the battle of Mărăşti (July 22 and August 1, 1917) the 2nd Army under General Alexandru Averescu was successfully deployed to storm the enemy positions between Poiana-Încărcătoarea-Răcoasa.
Outline on July 22, 1917
- IV Army Corps (General Gheorghe Văleanu)
- 8th Infantry Division
- 11th Infantry Brigade (from 6th Division)
- Vânători Infantry Regiment
- 24th Infantry Regiment
- II Army Corps (General Artur Văitoianu )
- 6th Infantry Division
- 3rd Infantry Division
- Reserve: 1st Infantry Division
During the first phase (August 6-12) the Romanians, together with Russian troops, succeeded in stopping the first enemy attack and forcing the Germans to change the direction of attack to the northwest. In the second phase (August 13-19) General Averescu himself took over the command and on August 19 achieved the complete repulsion of the enemy. In the third phase (August 20 - September 3) the German attempt to at least improve the lost positions in view of a new offensive failed. At the end of September 1917 an approximately 30 km wide and 20 km deep incursion at the front of the German 9th Army had been reached, Field Marshal von Mackensen launched a counterattack on August 6, 1917, which led to the battle of Mărăşeşti (August 6 - September 8 1917) led. On August 8, the new fighting on the Mărăşeşti front began with an Austro-Hungarian-German offensive on the Oituz sector. The opposing Romanian troops held their lines against superior enemy forces until August 30th, only after that the Gerok group was able to break through the front of the Romanian 2nd Army at a width of 18 kilometers, about 2–6 km deep. The Romanians lost more than 27,000 men, including 610 officers, and the German and Austrian troops around 47,000 men. The cessation of the heavy losses offensive of the Central Powers on the Romanian front on September 3, 1917 meant a strategic defeat and a considerable weakening of their armed forces on the Romanian theater of war .
Commander in chief
- Alexandru Averescu (August 15, 1916 - August 25, 1916)
- Grigore C. Crăiniceanu (August 25, 1916 - September 25, 1916)
- Alexandru Averescu (September 25, 1916 - June 1, 1918)
literature
- Rudolf Kiszling : The campaign in Transylvania from Austria-Hungary's last war 1914–1918: Volume V , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930, pp. 250–260 and 298 f.