1st Division (German Empire)

1st Division (1. Division); in 1870–1871 and from August 2, 1914, 1st Infantry Division (1. Infanterie-Division)
Active 1818–1919
Country Prussia/Germany
Branch Army
Type Infantry (in peacetime included cavalry)
Size Approx. 10,000
Part of I. Army Corps (I. Armeekorps)
Garrison/HQ Königsberg (1818–1919)
Engagements

Austro-Prussian War

Franco-Prussian War

World War I

Commanders
Notable
commanders		 August Wilhelm Graf von Kanitz
August von Stockhausen
Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz
Julius von Verdy du Vernois

The 1st Division (1. Division) was a unit of the Prussian/German Army.[1] It was formed in Königsberg in March 1816 as a Troop Brigade (Truppen-Brigade).[2][3] It became the 1st Division on September 5, 1818.[4] From the corps' formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to I Army Corps (I. Armeekorps).[5] The 1st Division was disbanded in 1919, during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

The 1st Division and its regiments fought in the Austro-Prussian War against Austria in 1866, including the Battle of Königgrätz.[6] The division then fought in the Franco-Prussian War against France in 1870–71. Its regiments saw action in the Battle of Noisseville, the Battle of Gravelotte, the Siege of Metz, the Battle of Amiens, the Battle of Hallue, and the Battle of St. Quentin, among other actions.[7]

In World War I, the division initially served on the Eastern Front, seeing action at the battles of Stallupönen, Gumbinnen, and Tannenberg, and the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. The division then fought in the Battle of Łódź and in the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive of 1915. In March 1916, the 1st Infantry Division was transferred to the Western Front. One month later, it entered the Battle of Verdun. After several months' hard fighting around Fort Vaux, the division was withdrawn from the line and returned to the Eastern Front, where it arrived in August 1916. It then participated in the invasion of Romania, which had entered the war in 1916 on the Allied side. The division returned to Verdun at the end of 1917. In 1918, it took part in the Spring Offensive, which the Germans referred to as the Kaiserschlacht, the Second Battle of the Marne, and the Battle of the Hindenburg Line.[8]

1870 organization

During wartime, the 1st Division, like other German divisions, was redesignated an infantry division. The organization of the 1st Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows:[9]

Pre-World War I organization

Many regiments were renamed and assigned to different divisions during the period from 1871 to 1914. In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 1st Division was as follows:[10]

August 1914 organization

On mobilization in August 1914, at the beginning of World War I, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 1st Division was again renamed the 1st Infantry Division. Its initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows:[7]

Late World War I organization

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became triangular - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "square division"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 1st Infantry Division's order of battle on February 19, 1918 was as follows:[7]

Notable commanders

References

Notes

  1. ↑ From the late 1800s, the Prussian Army was effectively the German Army, as during the period of German unification (1866–1871) the states of the German Empire entered into conventions with Prussia regarding their armies and only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous.
  2. ↑ Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815–1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, p. 90.
  3. ↑ Claus von Bredow, bearb., Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deutschen Heeres (1905), p.232
  4. ↑ Wegner, p. 90.
  5. ↑ Wegner, p. 43.
  6. ↑ Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935)
  7. 1 2 3 Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle
  8. ↑ 1. Infanterie-Division
  9. ↑ A. Niemann, Der französische Feldzug 1870–1871 (Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Hildburghausen, 1871), p. 37
  10. ↑ Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee (1914), pp. 53–54
  11. ↑ Despite the name, a Prussian unit.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 2/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.