5th Army (German Empire)

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

The 5th Army / Army High Command 5 (AOK 5) was a large 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.

history

Commander in chief
Chief of Staff

As on August 2, 1914 German Empire , the mobilization took place, were from the eight existing Army Inspections eight armies formed. One of them was the Army High Command 5 in Koblenz . The units of the 5th Army gathered in the Saarbrücken - Luxembourg area . In August 1914 the army consisted of the following units:

The 5th Army , together with the 4th Army, formed the middle group of the German Western Army, which, according to the Schlieffen Plan , was intended for the offensive against France. At the end of August 1914, both armies fended off an advance by the French army on the Meuse and the Ardennes (→ Battle of Neufchâteau and Battle of Longwy ) and then pushed the opposing troops back behind the Aisne . When the German right wing armies ( 1st  and 2nd Army) withdrew as a result of the defeat in the Marne Battle at the beginning of September 1914 , the 4th Army also had to be withdrawn. The 5th Army therefore remained in the positions it had reached before Verdun . Here the front froze in trench warfare . Since February 21, 1916, the 5th Army was heavily involved in the Battle of Verdun . In 1918, the troops of the large association were involved in the battle of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne offensive , among other things .

From September 13, 1914, the headquarters of Army High Command 5 was in Stenay and from December 4, 1916 in Montmédy . It withdrew on November 2, 1918 and finally reached Bad Nauheim on November 30 .

See also

literature

  • Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World War 1914–1918. Siegismund, Berlin 1937 ( History of the Royal Prussian Army and the German Imperial Army 5).
  • Field newspaper of the 5th Army. 1915–1918 ( LLB Detmold )

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937, p. 396
  2. ^ Hermann Stegemann: History of the war . Vol. 1, Stuttgart / Berlin 1917, p. 103
  3. Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937, p. 77