Oberste Heeresleitung
The ''Oberste Heeresleitung'' (, "Supreme Army Command", OHL) was the highest echelon of command of the army (''Heer'') of the German Empire. In the latter part of World War I, the Third OHL assumed dictatorial powers and became the ''de facto'' political authority in the Empire. Formation and operation After the formation of the German Empire in 1871, the Prussian Army, Royal Saxon Army, Army of Württemberg and the Bavarian Army were autonomous in peacetime, each kingdom maintaining a separate war ministry and general staff to administer their forces. On the outbreak of war, the Constitution of the German Empire made the German Emperor commander-in-chief of the combined armies (''Oberster Kriegsherr'', "supreme warlord"). The Emperor's role as commander-in-chief was largely ceremonial and authority lay with the Chief of the German General Staff, who issued orders in the Emperor's name. The pre-war Chief of the General Staff was Colonel General Helmuth von Moltke and the ' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seekriegsleitung
The ''Seekriegsleitung'' or SKL (Maritime Warfare Command) was a higher command staff section of the Kaiserliche Marine and the Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ... of Germany during the World Wars. World War I The SKL was established on August 27, 1918, on the initiative of Admiral Reinhard Scheer, who became its first commander, simultaneously to being the Chief of the German Imperial Admiralty Staff. It led the planning and execution of naval combat and directed the distribution of naval forces. Up to this point, that was done by several staffs and the individual theater commanders. When the war ended, the SKL was absorbed into the admiralty. World War II The SKL was reestablished in 1937 and deeply linked in the Naval High Command, the Commander-i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Race To The Sea
The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from 17 September to 19 October 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German Empire, German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was followed by the First Battle of the Aisne a Franco-British counter-offensive. The term describes reciprocal attempts by the Franco-British and German armies to envelop the northern flank of the opposing army through the provinces of Picardy, Artois and Flanders, rather than an attempt to advance northwards to the sea. The "race" ended on the North Sea coast of Belgium around 19 October, when the last open area from Diksmuide to the North Sea was occupied by Belgian troops who had retreated after the Siege of Antwerp (1914), Siege of Antwerp (28 September – 10 October). The flanking maneuver, outflanking attempts had resulted in a number of meeting engagement, encounter battles but neither side was able to gain a decisi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hugo Von Freytag-Loringhoven
Hugo Friedrich Philipp Johann Freiherr von Freytag-Loringhoven (May 20, 1855 – October 19, 1924) was a Prussian general and a writer on military matters, being awarded the Pour le Mérite in 1916 for his work as a historian. Biography He was born on May 20, 1855, in Copenhagen, Denmark, the son of a diplomat, Karl von Freytag-Loringhoven (1811–1882). His family was Baltic German and originated in Westphalia. He entered the Imperial German Army in 1877, a few years after German unification, as a lieutenant. From 1887 to 1896 he taught military history at the Prussian Military Academy in Berlin. He then worked for a while for Alfred von Schlieffen, later being described as "Schlieffen's favorite disciple", and in 1907 took command of the 12th Regiment of Grenadiers at Frankfurt an der Oder. In 1910 he became ''Oberquartiermeister'', and in December 1913 took command of the 22nd Division at Cassel. With the mobilisation of troops in 1914 for World War I, he became f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Adolf Wild Von Hohenborn
Heinrich Adolf Wild von Hohenborn (8 July 1860 – 25 October 1925) was an Imperial German Army officer who served as a general and Prussian Minister of War during World War I. Life During his term as minister of war, from 21 January 1915 to 29 October 1916, he was critical of Paul von Hindenburg and particularly his 'Arbeitspflichtprogramm' (forced labour program). Wild von Hohenborn promulgated the Judenzählung on 11 October 1916 but did not remain in office long enough to implement it as on 29 October he was dismissed from the High Command by Wilhelm II at Hindenburg's request. He continued to serve in the field as commander of the XVI Corps and retired on 3 November 1919 with the character of a General der Infanterie. Awards * Pour le Mérite: 2 August 1915 ** Oak Leaves: 11 October 1918 * Iron Cross (1914), 1st and 2nd Classes *Order of the Red Eagle *House Order of Hohenzollern The House Order of Hohenzollern ( or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the Hous ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Erich Von Falkenhayn
Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was a German general and Ottoman Field Marshal who served as Prussian Minister of War and Chief of the German General Staff during the First World War. Falkenhayn replaced General Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September 1914 after his invasion of France was stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was in turn removed on 29 August 1916 after the failure of his offensive strategy in the west at the Battle of Verdun, the opening of the Battle of the Somme, the Brusilov Offensive and the Romanian entry into the war. Having planned to win the war before 1917, the German army was reduced to hanging on. Falkenhayn was given important field commands in Romania and Syria. As a commander in the Middle East, he prevented a planned Ottoman deportation of Jews from Palestine. His reputation as a war leader was attacked in Germany during and after the war, especially by the faction supporting Field ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aisne (river)
The Aisne ( , , ; Picard language, Picard: ''Ainne'') is a river in northeastern France. It is a left tributary of the Oise River, Oise. It gave its name to the French departments of France, department of Aisne. It was known in the Roman period as Axona. The river rises in the forest of Argonne, at Rembercourt-Sommaisne, near Sainte-Menehould. It flows north and then west before joining the Oise near Compiègne. The Aisne is long. Its main tributaries are the Vesle, the Aire (Aisne), Aire and the Suippe. The Battle of the Axona was fought between the Romans and the Belgae near the Aisne in 57 BC. Three Battles of the Aisne were fought in the Aisne valley during the First World War. Places along the river Departments and towns along the river include: * Meuse (department), Meuse * Marne (department), Marne: Sainte-Menehould, Sainte-Ménehould * Ardennes (department), Ardennes: Vouziers, Rethel * Aisne: Soissons * Oise: Compiègne * Aisne: Berny-Rivière Navigation The rive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2nd Army (German Empire)
The 2nd Army () was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilization in August 1914 from the III Army Inspection. The army was disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war. History The 2nd Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914. Commanded by General Karl von Bülow, the 2nd Army's mission was to support the 1st Army's sweep around the left flank of the French Army and encircle Paris, bringing a rapid conclusion to the war. The 2nd Army laid siege to, and took the Belgian fortresses around Namur, and fought General Charles Lanrezac's French 5th Army at the Battle of Charleroi on 23–24 August 1914 and again at St. Quentin on 29–30 August 1914. 2nd Army bore the brunt of the Allied attack in the Battle of the Somme. It had grown to such an extent that a decision was made to split it into two still-powerful armies. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1st Army (German Empire)
The 1st Army () was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilization in August 1914 from the VIII Army Inspectorate. The army was dissolved on 17 September 1915, but reformed on 19 July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. It was finally disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war. History First formation The 1st Army during World War I, fought on the Western Front and took part in the Schlieffen Plan offensive against France and Belgium in August 1914. Commanded by General Alexander von Kluck, the 1st Army's job was to command the extreme right of the German forces in attacking the left flank of the French Army and encircling Paris, bringing a rapid conclusion to the war. His army had the greatest striking power of the offensive, a density of about 18,000 men per mile of front (about 10 per metre). The First Army captured Brussels on 20 August and was almost successful in defeating France but was halted just 13 miles ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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First Battle Of The Marne
The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by occupying Paris and destroying the French and British armies. The Germans had initial successes in August. They were victorious in the Battles of Mons and the Frontiers and overran a large area of northern France and Belgium. In what is called the Great Retreat the Germans pursued the retreating French and British forces more than southwards. The French and British halted their retreat in the Marne River valley while the Germans advanced to from Paris. With the battlefield reverses of August, Field Marshal John French, commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), lost faith in the French and began to plan for a British retreat to port cities on the English Channel for an evacuation to Britain. The French commander Joseph Joffr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of The Frontiers
The Battle of the Frontiers (; ; ) comprised battles fought along the eastern frontier of French Third Republic, France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategy, military strategies of the French Chief of Staff General Joseph Joffre with Plan XVII and an offensive adaptation of the German Empire, German deployment plan by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The German concentration on the right (northern) flank, was to wheel through Belgium and attack the French in the rear. The German advance was delayed by the movement of the French Fifth Army (General Charles Lanrezac) towards the north-west to intercept them and the presence of the British Expeditionary Force (World War I), British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the French left. The Franco-British troops were driven back by the Germans, who were able to invade northern France. French and British rearguard actions delayed the Germans, allowing the French t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gerhard Tappen
Dietrich Gerhard Emil Theodor Tappen (3 July 1866 – 28 May 1953) was a German World War I general. Born in Esens, Tappen joined the Prussian Army in 1885 and became career officer with the artillery. At the start of the First World War, Tappen was a colonel in the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL) in Koblenz, where he led the operations section which coordinated the German battle strategy. In September 1914 Tappen reported from a tour of inspection at the front that the French were too exhausted to begin an offensive, that a final push would be decisive and that more withdrawals would compromise the morale of the German troops, after the defeat on the Marne.Foley, R. T. (2007) 005 German Strategy and the Path to Verdun : Erich Von Falkenhayn and the Development of Attrition, 1870–1916, Cambridge: CUP. , p.99-100. In March 1915 Tappen served as chief of staff of the 7th Army under Josias von Heeringen, but soon returned to OHL. On 26 June 1915 Tappen was promoted to major-gene ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |