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The Western Front was one of the main theatres of war during the First World War. Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The German advance was halted with the Battle of the Marne. Following the Race to the Sea, both sides dug in along a meandering line of fortified trenches, stretching from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France, which changed little except during early 1917 and in 1918.
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the six-divisions the British Army sent to the Western Front during the First World War. Planning for a British Expeditionary Force began with the 1906–1912 Haldane Reforms of the British Army carried out by the Secretary of State for War Richard Haldane following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
The Brusilov offensive, also known as the "June advance", of June to September 1916 was the Russian Empire's greatest feat of arms during World War I, and among the most lethal offensives in world history. The historian Graydon Tunstall called the Brusilov offensive the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary and the Triple Entente's greatest victory, but it came at a tremendous loss of life. The heavy casualties eliminated the offensive power of the Imperial Russian Army and contributed to Russia's collapse the next year.
The Eastern Front or Eastern Theater of World War I was a theater of operations that encompassed at its greatest extent the entire frontier between Russia and Romania on one side and Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and Germany on the other. It stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, involved most of Eastern Europe, and stretched deep into Central Europe as well. The term contrasts with the Western Front, which was being fought in Belgium and France.
The Oberste Heeresleitung 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.
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The 5th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed twice. The division was formed in 1918, initially as the 2nd Penza Infantry Division. After becoming the 5th Rifle Division a month later, it fought in the Counteroffensive of Eastern Front in spring 1919 and later operations in Siberia. In the spring of 1920, the division was relocated west and fought in the Polish–Soviet War, participating in the Battle of Warsaw. The division was awarded the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner for its actions during the wars in 1929. In September 1939, it fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland and was then sent to Lithuania under the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty. After Operation Barbarossa, the division fought in the Baltic Operation and the Leningrad Strategic Defensive. During the winter of 1941-1942, it participated in the Battle of Moscow, fighting in the Kalinin (Tver) area. During the summer of 1942, the division fought in the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive and became the 44th Guards Rifle Division for its actions there on 5 October.
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The 15th Reserve Division was a unit of the Prussian Army within the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 as part of VIII Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Prussian Rhine Province. At the beginning of the war, it formed the VIII Reserve Corps with the 16th Reserve Division.
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The 53rd Reserve Division was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed in September 1914 and organized over the next month, arriving in the line in October. It was part of the first wave of new divisions formed at the outset of World War I, which were numbered the 43rd through 54th Reserve Divisions. The division was initially part of XXVII Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in September 1918 and its assets distributed to other units. The division was recruited in the Kingdom of Saxony.
The 58th Infantry Division was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on March 6, 1915, and organized over the next two months. It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915 and was originally formed from troops from the Kingdom of Saxony and the Kingdom of Württemberg, but became a fully Saxon division by 1916. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 105th Infantry Division was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed on May 5, 1915, and organized over the next few weeks. It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
The 21st Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and then the Soviet Union's Red Army, active between 1918 and 1945.
The XXVII Reserve Corps was a corps-level command of the German army during World War I.
The Lehr Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Imperial German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilisation of the German Army in August 1914 and served with the 3rd Guards Division through to the end of the war.
The 51st Corps was a corps formation of the German Army in World War I. It was formed in September 1916 and was still in existence at the end of the war.
The 4th Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, which was formed 4 times between the beginning of March 1918 and March 1921.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Einsatz bei der 18. Infanterie-Division (mot.)", Herr Oberleitnant, det lohnt doch nicht!, Wien: Böhlau Verlag, pp. 243–251, 2013-02-28, doi:10.7767/boehlau.9783205789727.243, ISBN 978-3-205-78891-1 , retrieved 2023-03-19
- ↑ Shepherd, Ben (2012). Terror in the Balkans : German armies and partisan warfare. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06943-5. OCLC 794004256.