200th Division (German Empire)

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200th division

active August 7, 1916 to February 1919
Country German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire
Armed forces Prussian Army
Type Infantry division
structure See: Outline
First World War Eastern Front

Italian front

Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo

Western front

Great battle in France
Battle of the Marne
Commanders
Please refer: List of commanders

The 200th Division was a major unit of the Prussian Army as part of the German army in the First World War .

structure

Organization of the 200th Infantry Division on August 7, 1916

Division of War of February 8, 1918

history

The large unit was set up as the 200th Jäger Division on the Eastern Front , but received the official name of the 200th Infantry Division on August 7, 1916. When Romania entered the war, the Carpathian front of the Austro- Hungarian 7th Army was threatened on three sides by the Russian (see Brusilov offensive ) and Romanian opponents. The division was used in the Ludowa area and was subordinate to the Carpathian Corps under the commanding general von Conta . In August 1916 defensive battles followed near Jablonitza and in the Skupowo area. After one wing of the division lost contact with its neighbor, it had to step back a little. In the September battle in the Ludowa area, the division regained lost sections of the front. On September 29, 1916, there was a new, wide gap in the front towards the Michalewy Valley, which could be closed, however, in the Ludowa area renewed trench warfare followed.

To celebrate the birthday of the German Emperor Wilhelm II on January 27, 1917, a field service followed by a parade was held in Burkut , in which Austro-Hungarian troops also took part. Colonel Ernst von Below was doing to Major General , Lieutenant Colonel Thümmel to colonel promoted . After defending against the Russian Kerensky offensive in the summer of 1917, the division advanced from the lower Czeremosztal to the Sereth and conducted new positional battles on the eastern border of the regained Bukovina .

In mid-September 1917, the 200th Division was transferred to the Italian front , where it acted as an independent association of the "Berrer Group" with the 14th Army . The division entered the Tolmein bridgehead on October 24 during the 12th Isonzo battle with the task of taking the 929 m high Jeza. The Jäger Battalion 18 had orders to descend into the Cosizzatal in order to occupy the ridge of the Castel del Monte from there. During the successful storming of Jeza Mountain, thousands of prisoners, 99 artillery pieces, 75 machine guns, 45 mine and grenade launchers, three large searchlights and many other pieces of armament, equipment and clothing were brought in. On October 27th, parts of the Azzida division took part, on October 28th Udine was taken and the pursuit of the Italians continued as far as the Piave , where the offensive again turned into trench warfare. On November 3, 1917, the division was replaced by troops from the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Isonzo Army and was transferred from the "Berrer Group" ( General Command 51 ), now called "Hofacker Group" , to the "Stein Group" ( III. Bavarian Corps ) and used here initially as an army reserve. As an army reserve, the division crossed the Tagliamento on November 9, followed by fighting on the Fontana Serra.

At the beginning of February 1918, the 200th Division was transported to the western front and unloaded at the terminus in Mörchingen (Lorraine). There the division, which was already one of the better shock divisions, was being prepared for the spring offensive . At the end of March 1918, the division was part of the 2nd Army in the " Michael Offensive " on the Avre at General Command 51 south-east of Amiens near Moreuil . Relocated to Le Quesnoy to prepare for the battle of Flanders , deployments as a reserve on the Matz section followed in June. Then they were assigned to the 7th Army , which carried out the last German attack battle west of Reims in mid-July . The 200th Division was assigned to the planned capture of Reims, but was then followed by the VIII Reserve Corps . They marched on July 14 in the Forêt de Ris on both sides of Tréloup for the battle of the Marne . It was one of the eight German divisions that stood briefly on July 16 in the southern Marne bridgehead near Dormans . After the French counterattack on July 18, it became necessary to retreat to Vesle . Position battles followed in Champagne at the beginning of August and end of September. After the retreat to the Siegfried Line , defensive battles followed in front of and in the Hermann position. The war ended in November 1918 for the division in front of the Antwerp- Maas position.

Battle calendar

1916

  • 0August 1st to 26th - Fights for Baba-Ludowa and at Jablonitza
    • 0August 2nd - Storming of Hala-Mihailewa and Hala-Lukawiec
    • 0August 3rd - Storming of Watonarka and Ludowa
    • 04th to 6th August - persecution on Jablonitza
    • 0August 6th - on Plaik
  • 0August 7th to September 2nd - fights near Jablonitza and in the Skupovo region
    • August 11 - Skupova
    • August 11th to 31st - fighting on the Tatar Pass and in the Ludowa area
  • August 17th to September 5th - Fights at Pnewie
    • August 19-20 - Storming of Crete and Stepansky
    • August 21 to September 2 - fighting for Munczel and Gora-Piaskowa
    • August 27th to September 8th - fights near Listowaty
  • 0September 1st to 29th - September battle in the Carpathian Mountains
    • 0September 3-29 - Battle of the Ludowa area
  • from October 1st - trench warfare in the Western Carpathians

1917

  • until July 24th - trench warfare in the Western Carpathians
  • July 25th to August 10th - Liberation of Bukovina
  • August 11th to September 16th - trench warfare on the eastern border of Bukovina
  • September 16-20 - Transport from Galicia to Northern Italy
  • September 20 to October 2 - Deployment behind the Isonzo front
  • 0October 3rd to 23rd - Trench warfare on the Isonzo
  • October 24th to 27th - breakthrough through the Julian Alps
    • October 24th - Storming of the Jeza
  • October 28th to November 3rd - Battle of Udine
    • October 28th - capture of Udine
  • 0November 4th to 11th - pursuit from Tagliamento to Piave
  • from October 12th - trench warfare on the lower Piave

1918

  • until January 22, 1918 - trench warfare on the lower Piave
  • January 23 to February 3 - training period behind the k. and k. Southwest Front in Friuli and Veneto , transport to Lorraine
  • 0February 4th to March 27th - Trench warfare in Lorraine
  • March 30th to April 6th - Great Battle of France
  • 0April 7th to June 10th - Fights on the Ancre , Somme and Avre
  • June 12th to July 5th - fighting on the Avre and Matz
  • 0July 5th to 14th - Trench warfare between Aisne and Marne
  • July 15-17 - Battle of the Marne and Champagne
  • July 18-25 - Defensive battle between Soissons and Reims
  • July 26th to August 3rd - Mobile battle between Marne and Vesle
  • 0August 7th to September 25th - Trench warfare in Champagne
  • September 26th to October 7th - defensive battle in Champagne and on the Meuse
  • 0October 8th to 9th - fighting in front of the Siegfried Front
  • October 10-12 - Fighting on the Hunding and Brunhild fronts
  • October 13th to 18th - fights in the dog position
  • October 19 to November 4 - Fights in front of and in the Hermann position
  • 0November 5th to 11th - fighting in retreat in front of the Antwerp- Maas position
  • from November 12th - evacuation of the occupied territory and march home

Commanders

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General Bernhard Boeß 0August 7, 1916 to April 8, 1917
Lieutenant General Karl Kreyenberg September 10-14, 1917
Major general Ernst von Below September 14, 1917 to April 8, 1918
Major general Karl von Kleinhenz 0April 9 to May 28, 1918
Major general Ernst von Below May 29, 1918 to February 6, 1919

literature

  • Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 74, 164.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Jäger Regiment 3 , consisting of four battalions, had been transferred from the Alpine Corps as a whole.
  2. ↑ Gustav Stoffleth : History of the Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 18. Verlag Bernard & Graefe, Berlin 1937.
  3. ↑ Walter Holste: Goslarer Jäger in the world wars. III. Volume: The Reserve-Jäger-Battalion No. 23. Buchdruckerei August Lax, Hildesheim 1934.
  4. ↑ Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , p. 151.