- 1st Army (Germany)
The 1st Army (German: "1. Armee") was a
World War I andWorld War II field army.First World War
The 1st Army during
World War I , fought on theWestern Front and took part in theSchlieffen Plan offensive againstFrance andBelgium in August1914 . Commanded by GeneralAlexander von Kluck , the 1st Army's job was to command the extreme right of the German forces in attacking the left flank of theFrench Army and encirclingParis , 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 meter). The First Army capturedBrussels onAugust 20 and was almost successful in defeatingFrance but was halted just 13 miles outside the French capital in theFirst Battle of the Marne that took place in early September. Von Kluck was replaced in 1915 after getting seriously wounded in the leg.Commanders
* General
Alexander von Kluck (1914 –1915 )
* GeneralMax von Fabeck (1915 –1916 )
* GeneralFritz von Below (1916 –1918 )econd World War
The 1st Army was activated on
August 26 ,1939 with GeneralErwin von Witzleben in command. Its primary mission was to guard the western defences ofGermany against Allied forces along theMaginot Line . The army participated in the final breach of the line's defences and spent until mid-1944 protecting theAtlantic coast of France from a possible seaborne incursion. Following theNormandy invasion in 1944, the army reorganized in Lorraine after a hasty retreat with the rest of the German forces across France in August 1944. During the battles along the German frontier, the First Army attempted to prevent theThird United States Army from crossing theMoselle River and capturingMetz while also attempting to hold the northernVosges Mountains against theSeventh United States Army .In November 1944, both defensive lines were broken and the First Army retreated to the German border and defended the
Saarland of Germany, an important industrial region. With the Third U.S. Army engaged to the north against the GermanArdennes Offensive , the 1st Army attacked the Seventh U.S. Army on New Year's Day1945 inOperation Nordwind , causing the Americans to give ground and inflicting significant casualties where Seventh U.S. Army defensive lines were stretched taut by the length of frontage they had to cover. With the failure of "Nordwind" in late January, the 1st Army was first pushed back to theSiegfried Line and then forced to retreat across theRhine River when the Allies pierced the German fortifications. Thereafter, the First Army made an ordered withdrawal to theDanube River before surrendering near the Alps on May 6, 1945.Commanders
* General
Erwin von Witzleben (August 26 1939 –October 23 1940 )
* GeneralJohannes Blaskowitz (October 24 1940 –May 2 1944 )
* GeneralJoachim Lemelsen (May 3 1944 –June 3 1944 )
* GeneralKurt von der Chevallerie (June 4 1944 –September 5 1944 )
* GeneralOtto von Knobelsdorff (September 6 1944 –November 29 1944 )
* GeneralHans von Obstfelder (November 30 1944 –February 27 1945 )
* GeneralHermann Förtsch (February 28 1945 –May 4 ,1945 )References
*Tuchman, Barbara W. "
The Guns of August " Ballantine Books- New York 1962 ISBN 0-345-38623-X
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