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43-817: XXXXVI Panzer Corps (46th) was a tank corps of the German Army during World War II that participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia . The Corps was created as the XXXXVI Army Corps and converted to a Panzer Corps on 21 June 1942. The Panzer Corps took part in Operation Barbarossa and fought in Kiev, Putyvl , Vyazma and Volokolamsk. It later fought in Rusa-Volokolamsk, Rzhev, Vyazma and Yelnya before taking part in Operation Zitadelle (Kursk). It retired to

86-570: A more traditional organisational doctrine like the American one; while this was ultimately offset by the Allies' superior numerical and materiel advantage, Visser argues that it allowed the German Army to resist far longer than if it had not adopted this method of organisation and doctrine. Peter Turchin reports a study by US colonel Trevor Dupuy that found that German combat efficiency was higher than both

129-567: A national, rather than NATO, responsibility. The two formations were the Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) and the Central Army Group (CENTAG). By World War II and previous standards, these two formations were only armies, as they contained four corps each. NORTHAG consisted, from north to south, of I (Netherlands) Corps (I (NE) Corps), I German Corps (I (GE) Corps), I (BR) Corps , and I Belgian Corps (I (BE) Corps). Its commander

172-555: A new style of warfare described as Blitzkrieg (lightning war) for its speed and destructive power. The Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) was Nazi Germany's Army High Command from 1936 to 1945. In theory, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) served as the military general staff for the Reich's armed forces, co-ordinating the Wehrmacht 's ( Heer , Kriegsmarine , Luftwaffe , and

215-502: Is a military organization consisting of several field armies , which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organization handled by a single commander – usually a full general or field marshal – and it generally includes between 400,000 and 1,000,000 soldiers. In the Polish Armed Forces and former Soviet Red Army an army group

258-505: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . German Army (Wehrmacht) Only 17 months after Adolf Hitler announced the German rearmament programme in 1935, the army reached its projected goal of 36 divisions . During the autumn of 1937, two more corps were formed. In 1938 four additional corps were formed with the inclusion of the five divisions of the Austrian Army after

301-430: Is also translated to English as army group , describes more temporary groupings of army-sized units, where the command of one of its composite units formed the grouping's command structure. These groupings were usually named after the commander of the unit in question, for example Armeegruppe Weichs, part of Army Group B during Operation Blau in 1942. During World War II there were six general armies: In April 1945,

344-599: The Boei So-Shireibu (translated as "general defense command" or "home defense general headquarters" and similar names) was split into three general armies: By August 1945, these comprised two million personnel in 55 divisions and numerous smaller independent units. After the surrender of Japan , the Imperial Japanese Army was dissolved, except for the Dai-Ichi So-Gun , which existed until 30 November 1945 as

387-511: The Waffen-SS ) operations. In practice, the OKW acted in a subordinate role to Hitler's personal military staff, translating his ideas into military plans and orders, and issuing them to the three services. However, as World War II went on, the OKW found itself exercising an increasing amount of direct command authority over military units, particularly in the west. This meant that by 1942, the authority of

430-519: The Battle of France also suggest that the actions of either Erwin Rommel or Heinz Guderian or both of them (both had contributed to the theoretical development and early practices of what later became Blitzkrieg prior to World War II), ignoring orders of superiors who had never foreseen such spectacular successes and thus prepared much more prudent plans, were conflated into a purposeful doctrine and created

473-646: The Canadian First Army and the US Ninth Army . In both Commonwealth and U.S. usage, the number of an army group is expressed in Arabic numerals (e.g., "12th Army Group"), while the number of a field army is spelled out (e.g., "Third Army"). The French Army formed a number of groupes d'armées during the First World War. The German Army formed its first two Heeresgruppen in 1915, to control forces on

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516-754: The Normandy invasion when Allied air power devastated the French rail network north of the Loire . Panzer movements also depended on rail, since driving a tank long distances caused serious wear. Contrary to popular belief, the German Army in World War II was not a mechanised juggernaut as a whole. In 1941, between 60 and 70 percent of their forces were not motorised, relying on railroad for rapid movement and on horse-drawn transport cross country. The percentage of motorisation decreased thereafter. In 1944 approximately 85 percent of

559-521: The annexation of Austria by Germany in March. During the period of its expansion under Hitler, the German Army continued to develop concepts pioneered during World War I , combining ground and air units into combined arms forces. Coupled with operational and tactical methods such as encirclements and " battle of annihilation ", the German military managed quick victories in the two initial years of World War II,

602-465: The 1st Demobilization Headquarters. The Soviet Army was organized into fronts ( фронт , pl. фронты ) which were often as large as an army group. (See List of Soviet fronts in World War II .) Some of the fronts contained Allied formations raised in exile. For example, the Polish First Army was part of the 1st Belorussian Front . The Western Allies established six separate army groups during

645-647: The 5th Army and Army Group German Crown Prince from August 1915 to November 1916. All eight German army groups were named after their commanders. The Ottoman Army had three army groups: A Chinese "army group" was usually equivalent in numbers only to a field army in the terminology of other countries, as the regimental level was sometimes omitted. The German Army was organized into army groups ( Heeresgruppen ). Some of these army groups included armies from several Axis countries. For example, Army Group Africa contained both German and Italian corps. A separate and distinct German military unit ( de:Armeegruppe ), which

688-781: The Allies set up a seventh, fictitious First United States Army Group . During the Cold War, NATO land forces in what was designated the Central Region (most of the Federal Republic of Germany ) would have been commanded in wartime by two army groups. Under Allied Forces Central Europe and alongside air force elements, the two army groups would have been responsible for the defence of Germany against any Soviet/ Warsaw Pact invasion. These two principal subordinate commanders had only limited peacetime authorities, and issues such as training, doctrine, logistics, and rules of engagement were largely

731-518: The Army High Command (OKH) was limited to the Eastern Front . The Abwehr was the army intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr (German for "defence", here referring to counterintelligence ) had been created just after World War I as an ostensible concession to Allied demands that Germany's intelligence activities be for defensive purposes only. After 4 February 1938,

774-546: The Army was not motorised. The standard uniform used by the German Army consisted of a Feldgrau (field grey) tunic and trousers, worn with a Stahlhelm . Nazi propaganda had told German soldiers to wipe out what were variously called Jewish Bolshevik subhumans, the Mongol hordes, the Asiatic flood, and the red beast. While the principal perpetrators of the killings of civilians behind

817-588: The British and US armies – if a combat efficiency of 1 was assigned to the British, then the Americans had a combat efficiency of 1.1 and the Germans of 1.45. This would mean British forces would need to commit 45% more troops (or arm existing troops more heavily to the same proportion) to have an even chance of winning the battle, while the Americans would need to commit 30% more to have an even chance. The military strength of

860-480: The German Army focused on achieving high combat performance rather than high organisational efficiency (like the US Army). It emphasised adaptability, flexibility, and decentralised decision making. Officers and NCOs were selected based on character and trained towards decisive combat leadership. Good combat performance was rewarded. Visser argues this allowed the German Army to achieve superior combat performance compared to

903-652: The German Army was managed through mission-based tactics ( Auftragstaktik ) rather than detailed order-based tactics, and rigid discipline. Once an operation began, whether offensive or defensive, speed of response to changing circumstances was considered more important than careful planning and co-ordination of new plans. In public opinion, the German military was and is sometimes seen as a high-tech army, since new technologies that were introduced before and during World War II influenced its development of tactical doctrine. These technologies were featured by Nazi propaganda , but were often only available in small numbers or late in

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946-623: The OKW adopted was to separate the Field Army (OKH) from the Home Command ( Heimatkriegsgebiet ) and to entrust the responsibilities of training, conscription, supply, and equipment to Home Command. The German Army was mainly structured in army groups ( Heeresgruppen ) consisting of several armies that were relocated, restructured, or renamed in the course of the war. Forces of allied states, as well as units made up of non-Germans, were also assigned to German units. For Operation Barbarossa in 1941,

989-605: The Second World War, although no more than five existed simultaneously. The army groups were subordinate to the Allied theatre supreme commanders. Led by British and American officers, they included troops from numerous allied nations; the British–American 15th Army Group also included Canadian and Polish corps , divisions from Brazil, India, New Zealand and South Africa and a Greek brigade . As part of Operation Quicksilver ,

1032-722: The Svin area in September 1943 and to Mozyr in December. It was transferred to the southern sector in January 1944 and fought at Vinnitsa and later on the Dniester. It withdrew to Poland and ended the war in Pomerania by surrendering to British forces, by which point it only had the 547th Volksgrenadier Division and the 2nd Naval Division under its command. This article about a specific German military unit

1075-664: The army forces were assigned to three strategic campaign groupings: Below the army group level forces included field armies – panzer groups, which later became army level formations themselves, corps, and divisions. The army used the German term Kampfgruppe , which equates to battle group in English. These provisional combat groupings ranged from corps size, such as Army Detachment Kempf , to commands composed of companies or even platoons . They were named for their commanding officers. The German operational doctrine emphasized sweeping pincer and lateral movements meant to destroy

1118-416: The concentrated "fast formations" was no longer possible to defend against the expected Allied invasion of France, because they could no longer move quickly enough to reach the threatened locations due to the expected interdiction of all routes by Allied fighter-bombers. He therefore suggested scattering these units across the front just behind the infantry. His commanders and peers, who were less experienced in

1161-488: The eastern front. A total of eight army groups would ultimately be raised – four for service on each front, with one of the eastern front army groups being a multinational German and Austro-Hungarian formation. Originally the Imperial German army groups were not separate formations, but instead additional responsibilities granted to certain army commanders. Crown Prince Wilhelm for instance, was simultaneously commander of

1204-399: The effect of Allied air power, disagreed vehemently with his suggestion, arguing that this would violate the prime principle of concentration of force. The infantry remained foot soldiers throughout the war, and artillery remained primarily horse-drawn. The motorized formations received much attention in the world press in the opening years of the war, and were cited as the main reason for

1247-543: The enemy forces as quickly as possible. This approach, referred to as Blitzkrieg , was an operational doctrine instrumental in the success of the offensives in Poland and France. Blitzkrieg has been considered by many historians as having its roots in precepts developed by Fuller, Liddel-Hart, and Hans von Seeckt , and even having ancient prototypes practised by Alexander the Great , Genghis Khan , and Napoleon . Recent studies of

1290-493: The first archetype of Blitzkrieg , which then gained a fearsome reputation that dominated the Allied leaders' minds. Thus 'Blitzkrieg' was recognised after the fact, and while it became adopted by the Wehrmacht , it never became the official doctrine nor got used to its full potential because only a small part of the Wehrmacht was trained for it and key leaders at the highest levels either focused on only certain aspects or even did not understand it. Max Visser argues that

1333-483: The following infantry, as the infantry were considered a prerequisite for protecting the fast formations' flanks and rear and enabling supply columns carrying fuel, petrol, and ammunition to reach them. In defensive operations the infantry formations were deployed across the front to hold the main defense line and the mobile formations were concentrated in a small number of locations from where they launched focused counterattacks against enemy forces which had broken through

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1376-768: The front lines amongst German armed forces were the Nazi German "political" armies (the SS-Totenkopfverbände , the Waffen-SS , and the Einsatzgruppen ), the army committed and ordered war crimes of its own (e.g. the Commissar Order ), particularly during the invasion of Poland and later in the war against the Soviet Union. The German Army was extensively promoted by Nazi propaganda. Army group An army group

1419-408: The infantry defense belt. In autumn 1942, at El Alamein , a lack of fuel compelled the German commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, to scatter his armoured units across the front in battalion-sized concentrations to reduce travel distances to each sector, rather than hold them concentrated in one location. In 1944 Rommel argued that in the face of overwhelming Allied air power the tactic of employing

1462-555: The men marched on foot or rode bicycles . At the height of motorisation only 20 per cent of all units were fully motorised. The small German contingent fighting in North Africa was fully motorised (relying on horses in the desert was near to impossible because of the need to carry large quantities of water and fodder), but the much larger force invading the Soviet Union in June 1941 numbered only some 150,000 trucks and some 625,000 horses (water

1505-596: The name Abwehr was changed to the Overseas Department/Office in Defence of the Armed Forces High Command ( Amt Ausland/Abwehr im Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ). Germany used a system of military districts (German: Wehrkreis ) in order to relieve field commanders of as much administrative work as possible and to provide a regular flow of trained recruits and supplies to the field forces. The method

1548-522: The number they had at the beginning of the campaign, to mechanical wear and tear and combat damage. Most of these were lost during the retreat in the face of the Soviet counteroffensive from December 1941 to February 1942. Another substantial loss was incurred during the defeat of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942–1943. These losses in men and materiel led to motorised troops making up no more than 10% of total Heer forces at some points of

1591-410: The path of the mobile formations, mopping-up, widening the corridor manufactured by the breakthrough attack and solidifying the ring surrounding the enemy formations left behind, and then gradually destroying them in concentric attacks. One of the most significant problems bedeviling German offensives and initially alarming senior commanders was the gap created between the fast-moving "fast formations" and

1634-658: The success of the German invasions of Poland (September 1939), Denmark and Norway (1940), Belgium , France , and the Netherlands (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941), and the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941). However, their motorised and tank formations accounted for only 20% of the Heer' s capacity at their peak strength. The army's lack of trucks and fuel to run them severely limited infantry movement, especially during and after

1677-405: The war, as overall supplies of raw materials and armaments became low. For example, lacking sufficient motor vehicles to equip more than a small portion of their army, the Germans chose to concentrate the available vehicles in a small number of divisions which were to be fully motorised. The other divisions continued to rely on horses for towing artillery, other heavy equipment, and supply wagons, and

1720-403: The war. In offensive operations the infantry formations were used to attack more or less simultaneously across a large portion of the front so as to pin the enemy forces ahead of them and draw attention to themselves, while the mobile formations were concentrated to attack only narrow sectors of the front, breaking through to the enemy rear and surrounding him. Some infantry formations followed in

1763-442: Was abundant and for many months of the year horses could forage, reducing the burden on the supply chain). However, the production of new motor vehicles by Germany, even with the exploitation of the industries of occupied countries, could not keep up with the heavy loss of motor vehicles during the winter of 1941–1942. From June 1941 to the end of February 1942 German forces in the Soviet Union lost some 75,000 trucks, approximately half

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1806-646: Was known as a Front . The equivalent of an army group in the Imperial Japanese Army was a "general army" ( Sō-gun ( 総軍 ) ). Army groups may be multi-national formations. For example, during World War II , the Southern Group of Armies (also known as the U.S. 6th Army Group) comprised the U.S. Seventh Army and the French First Army ; the 21st Army Group comprised the British Second Army ,

1849-759: Was the British commander of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). CENTAG consisted, from north to south, of III (GE) Corps , V US Corps , VII (US) Corps , and II (GE) Corps in the extreme south of the Federal Republic of Germany . The commander of the U.S. Seventh Army commanded CENTAG. In November 1991, the NATO heads of state and government adopted the "New Strategic Concept" at the NATO Summit in Rome. This new conceptual orientation led, among other things, to fundamental changes both in

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