12th Army (German Empire)

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

The 12th Army / Army High Command 12 (AOK 12) 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 General of the Artillery Max von Gallwitz (from February 9, 1915) General of the Infantry Max von Fabeck (from September 22, 1915) Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Konrad von Redern (from February 9, 1915) Colonel Marquard (from March 18, 1915) Lieutenant General Hermann von Kuhl (from September 22, 1915) Major General Walter von Bergmann (from November 24, 1915)

Shortly after the start of the war, the border guard troops in the Graudenz region were combined into an army group . This was taken over on February 9, 1915 by General der Artillerie Max von Gallwitz , who had previously commanded the Guard Reserve Corps . The now called "Army Group Gallwitz" was subordinate to the Ober Ost and was continuously deployed on the Eastern Front. The "Army Group Gallwitz" was reinforced in the course of 1915 and was therefore given the new name 12th Army on August 7, 1915 .

From February 20 to 27, Gallwitz pushed the Russian 1st Army under General Alexander Litwinow back at times in the battle of Przasnysz , after which he achieved a great success on the Narew in the summer campaign of 1915 against them . The headquarters were in Grodno . But just a few weeks later, a reorganization took place. The Army High Command 12 was posted on September 22, 1915 due to a transfer of the Supreme Command of Serbia shifted to where the German troops of the former 11th Army to take over. Henceforth it was called Army High Command 11. It was replaced on the Eastern Front by the Army High Command of the recently disbanded 1st Army . From September 29, 1915, the headquarters of the new Army High Command 12 was in the city of Lida . It was subordinate to Army Group Hindenburg, from August 1916 to Army Group Woyrsch .

On October 9, 1916, the 12th Army was disbanded and the Scheffer Army Division was formed in its place. The former AOK 12 took over as the new Army High Command 8 the troops of the 8th Army , whose old high command had been sent to the front in Macedonia as Army Group Command Below .

See also

• Army (German Empire)

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} Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World Wars 1914–1918. Berlin 1937, p. 399.
2. ^ Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914-1918. Berlin 1937, p. 83 f.
3. ^ ^{A b} Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World Wars 1914–1918. Berlin 1937, p. 79.