The Twentieth Army Corps () was a formation of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

that was first raised in 1899, and most famous for fighting on the Eastern Front in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, most notably during the

Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes or Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, known in Germany as the Winter Battle in Masuria and in Russia as the Battle of Augustowo,Benninghof, p. 5. was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on ...

. Before World War I, the 20th Corps was stationed in the Vilna Military District with its headquarters in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. At the outbreak of the war, the corps consisted of two infantry divisions and a number of independent battalions and brigades. Many

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

served in this unit with the 28th Division having particularly many Lithuanians, especially in the 109th and 111th Infantry Regiments. Some regiments in this Corps were 80% Latvian. The corps was demobilized in April 1917.

Formation

In 1899, the corps was formed from the 29th and 45th Infantry Divisions. It was under the command of

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Richard Troyanovich Meves. Ostfront 18021915

World War I

During the

, the 20th Army Corps was led by General Pavel Illyich Bulgakov. On February 7, in the middle of a snowstorm,

Fritz von Below Fritz Theodor Carl von Below (23 September 1853 – 23 November 1918) was a Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian general in the German Army (German Empire), German Army during the World War I, First World War. He commanded troops during the Battle of th ...

's German Eighth Army launched a surprise attack, advancing within one week. They inflicted severe casualties on the

, resulting in its disorderly withdrawal with many of its soldiers being imprisoned. The greatest loss came when the 20th Army Corps was surrounded by the German Tenth Army in the

Augustów Forest Augustów is a town in north-eastern Poland. It lies on the Netta River and the Augustów Canal. It is the seat of Augustów County and of Gmina Augustów in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Augustów has an area of , and as of June 2022 it has a pop ...

. Although many fought their way out, the Corps' remnants surrendered on February 21. A large number of Latvian soldiers were killed, wounded or captured during this battle. This influenced the decision of the

to establish the

Latvian Riflemen The Latvian Riflemen (; ) were originally a military formation of the Imperial Russian Army assembled starting 1915 in Latvia in order to defend Baltic governorates against the German Empire in World War I. Initially, the battalions were forme ...

.WWI Centennial: Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Posted 9 February 2015.

Composition

Shortly before the outbreak of World War I, on 1 January 1913, the 20th Army Corps comprised the following units: At different times during the war, the 20th Corps was part of several different

field armies A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and fleets ...

, including the

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

, 3rd,

4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

, and 10th.

Commanders

The 20th corps was led by the following commanders throughout its existence:

Citations

Notes

References

* {{Russian Empire Ground Forces Corps of the Russian Empire