Army Group Linsingen

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The Army Group Linsingen was a German Army Group from the First World War that was deployed on the Eastern Front from September 1915 to March 1918 .

history

Commander in chief
Chief of Staff
High command of the Bug Army / Army Group Linsingen, approx. 1916. To the left of von Linsingen (marked with a white cross) Emil Hell.

After the dissolution of the former Army Group Mackensen , previously the bug offensive had led and organizationally with the high command of the 11th Army was associated, on 18 September 1915, the High Command of the formed in July 1915 Army of the Bug under Infantry General Alexander von Linsingen with entrusted the leadership of the German-Austrian troops in Volhynia and was given the new name of Army Group Linsingen . In addition to the Bug Army , it also included the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army under Archduke Joseph Ferdinand . The Army Group Command was nominally subordinate to the Austro-Hungarian Army High Command , it was initially located in Jabłoń in Eastern Poland .

With the formation of the Army Group, the Bug Army was divided into two "groups", the Gronau group ( XXXXI. Reserve Corps ) in the Pinsk area and the Gerok Group ( XXIV. Reserve Corps ) on the Styr in the Rafalowka area . After the end of the failed campaign to Rovno , the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army stood further south along the Kormin and Putilowka rivers . The Corps Gerok was handed over to the Battle of Verdun in April 1916 , the Austro-Hungarian Cavalry Corps Hauer with the Polish Legion and the Austro-Hungarian Corps Fath remained with the Bug Army . The Army Group Linsingen was connected to the Prince Leopold Army Group to the north and to the Austro-Hungarian Army Group Böhm-Ermolli to the south .

The Austro- Hungarian 4th Army was hit particularly hard by the Brusilov offensive of the Russian army, which began on June 4, 1916, and which was a resounding success. On the 4th day of the offensive the city of Lutsk was recaptured by the Russian 8th Army under Alexei Kaledin . Joseph Ferdinand was released from his command on the same day and replaced by Karl Tersztyánszky . In the meantime, the Bernhardi group had been formed with German reinforcements, which were originally intended to counterattack, but which did not come about due to the daily worsening situation. The Bug Army was tied up by diversionary attacks by the Russian 3rd Army , the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army under Colonel General Paul Puhallo , which had been in command of the Army Group since June 15, was to be prevented from extending its front northwards by attacks by the Russian 11th Army . The goal of the Russians was to recapture the important traffic junction Kovel , where the headquarters of the Army Group Linsingen was relocated in mid-June. With the help of further German reinforcements ( Marwitz group with the X. Army Corps ), the situation in front of Kovel could be stabilized for the time being, although the hoped-for recapture of Lutsk failed. At the beginning of July 1916 the Bug Army had to withdraw from attacks by the Russian 3rd Army on the Stochod . In August the attacks by the Russians against the front of Army Group Linsingen came to a halt and were finally stopped.

At the end of July 1916, Army Group Linsingen was subordinated to the German High Command on the Eastern Front under Paul von Hindenburg (replaced by Prince Leopold of Bavaria in August ). The expanded army groups "von der Marwitz" and "Bernhardi" were placed directly under the Linsingen Army Group, and the Austro-Hungarian 1st Army was dissolved. The Gronau Army Group joined Woyrsch Army Group . The Army Group Command moved from Kowel to Chełm at the end of October .

In April 1917, Army Group Linsingen was structured from north to south as follows:

  • Korps Hauer (Austro-Hungarian 9th Cavalry Division, German 1st Landwehr Division )
  • Section Kovel ( Gen. Kdo. 55 )
  • Austro-Hungarian 4th Army (Austro-Hungarian VIII, X and VI Corps)
  • Section Lipa (Gen. Kdo. XXII. RK )

The Gronau Army Division (Gen. Kdo. XXXXI. RK ) later rejoined Army Group Linsingen, as did the Slonim section (Gen. Kdo. XXXX. RK ). The war year 1917 was largely calm overall.

In 1918, Army Group Linsingen directed operations in Ukraine during Operation Faustschlag and was involved in the capture of Kiev and Gomel . By the time the operation was completed, Odessa , Kherson and Kharkov were also captured. Colonel-General Linsingen was then designated by the German side as commander-in-chief of the allied occupation forces in the Ukraine, based in Kiev. He was replaced on March 28 by General Field Marshal Hermann von Eichhorn , after the Austro-Hungarian leadership had entrusted the higher-ranking General Field Marshal Boehm-Ermolli with the leadership of their occupation troops. The Army Group was subsequently dissolved and the "Eichhorn Army Group (Kiev)" was formed in its place.

literature

  • Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World War 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937.
  • Reichsarchiv (Ed.): The World War 1914 to 1918 , 1925 ff.
  • Edmund Glaise von Horstenau (Ed.): Austria-Hungary's Last War 1914–1918 , Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1930 ff.

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