XVII Corps (German Empire)

XVII Army Corps XVII. Armee-Korps
Flag of the Staff of a Generalkommando (1871–1918)
Active	1 April 1890 (1890-04-01)–1919 (1919)
Country	German Empire
Type	Corps
Size	Approximately 44,000 (on mobilisation in 1914)
Garrison/HQ	Danzig\Elisabethwall 2
Shoulder strap piping	Yellow
Engagements	World War I Battle of Gumbinnen Battle of Tannenberg (1914) First Battle of the Masurian Lakes Battle of the Vistula River German summer offensive 1915 Bug–Narew Offensive Second battle of Przasnysz Narew Offensive
Insignia
Abbreviation	XVII AK

The XVII Army Corps / XVII AK (German : XVII. Armee-Korps) was a corps level command of the German Army before and during World War I.

As the German Army expanded in the latter part of the 19th century, the XVII Army Corps was set up on 1 April 1890 in Danzig as the Generalkommando (headquarters) for West Prussia. It took command of two divisions formed on the same date: 35th Division and 36th Division. It was assigned to the I Army Inspectorate, ^[1] which became the 8th Army at the start of the First World War.

XVII Corps served on the Eastern Front from the start of the war. It was still in existence at the end of the war ^[2] in the 7th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front. ^[3] In 1919, the corps served with the Grenzschutz Ost (border protection east) in Danzig, West Prussia.

Formation

By a law of 27 January 1890, it was decided to separate the Province of West Prussia from the Province of East Prussia in military affairs. It stipulated that, from 1 April 1890, the entire power of the Army of the German Empire should be 20 army corps (Guards, I - XVII, I and II Bavarian).

The All-highest Cabinet Order (Allerhöchste Kabinettsorder, AKO) of 1 February 1890 authorised the formation of the XVI and XVII Army Corps. The latter was assigned to the I Army Inspectorate and included the territory of the Landwehr districts Schlawe, Stolp, Konitz, Thorn, Graudenz, Danzig, Preußisch Stargard, Neustadt, Osterode, Deutsch-Eylau and Marienburg.

Later, the districts of Osterode, Deutsch-Eylau and Marienburg would be reassigned to the XX Corps.

Peacetime organisation

The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. ^[4] Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:

V, VI, VII, IX and XIV Corps each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)

II, XIII, XVIII and XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment

I, VI and XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments)

the Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades). ^[5]

Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more

Foot Artillery Regiment

Jäger Battalion

Pioneer Battalion

Train Battalion

Peacetime organization of the Corps ^[6]

Corps	Division	Brigade	Units	Garrison
XVII Corps	35th Division	70th Infantry Brigade	21st (4th Pomeranian) Infantry "von Borcke"	Thorn
			61st (8th Pomeranian) Infantry "von der Marwitz"	Thorn
		87th Infantry Brigade	141st (Kulm) Infantry	Graudenz, III Bn in Strasburg in Westpreußen
			176th (9th West Prussian) Infantry	Kulm, II Bn in Thorn
		35th Field Artillery Brigade	71st Field Artillery "Grand Komtur"	Graudenz
			81st (Thorn) Field Artillery	Thorn
		35th Cavalry Brigade	5th (Pomeranian) Hussars "Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt"	Stolp
			4th Jäger zu Pferde	Graudenz
	36th Division	69th Infantry Brigade	129th (3rd West Prussian) Infantry	Graudenz
			175th (8th West Prussian) Infantry	Graudenz, II Bn in Schwetz
		71st Infantry Brigade	5th (4th East Prussian) Grenadiers "King Frederick I"	Danzig
			128th (Danzig) Infantry	Danzig, II Bn in Neufahrwasser
		36th Field Artillery Brigade	36th (2nd West Prussian) Field Artillery	Danzig
			72nd Field Artillery "Grand Master"	Marienwerder, Preußisch Stargard
		Leib Hussar Brigade	1st Life Hussars "Totenkopf"	Danzig-Langfuhr
			2nd Life Hussars "Queen Victoria of Prussia"	Danzig-Langfuhr
	Corps Troops		2nd (Pomeranian) Jäger Battalion "Fürst Bismarck"	Kulm
			4th Machine Gun Abteilung	Thorn
			3rd Fortress Machine Gun Abteilung	Graudenz
			4th Fortress Machine Gun Abteilung	Graudenz
			5th Fortress Machine Gun Abteilung	Thorn
			11th (1st West Prussian) Foot Artillery	Thorn
			17th (2nd West Prussian) Foot Artillery	Danzig, Pillau
			17th (1st West Prussian) Pioneer Battalion	Thorn
			5th Telegraph Battalion	Danzig, Berlin, Schneidemühl
			1st (Fortress-)Telephone Company	Thorn
			2nd (Fortress-)Telephone Company	Graudenz
			17th (West Prussian) Train Battalion	Danzig
	Graudenz Defence Command (Landwehr-Inspektion)			Graudenz

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. The Leib Hussar Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the 2nd Cavalry Division ^[7] and the 35th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, XVII Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.

Initial wartime organization of the Corps ^[8]

Corps	Division	Brigade	Units
XVII Corps	35th Division	70th Infantry Brigade	21st Infantry Regiment
			61st Infantry Regiment
		87th Infantry Brigade	141st Infantry Regiment
			176th Infantry Regiment
			2nd Jäger Battalion [9]
		35th Field Artillery Brigade	71st Field Artillery Regiment
			81st Field Artillery Regiment
			4th Jäger zu Pferde Regiment
			1st Company, 17th Pioneer Battalion
			35th Divisional Pontoon Train
			2nd Medical Company
	36th Division	69th Infantry Brigade	129th Infantry Regiment
			175th Infantry Regiment
		71st Infantry Brigade	5th Grenadier Regiment
			128th Infantry Regiment
		36th Field Artillery Brigade	36th Field Artillery Regiment
			72nd Field Artillery Regiment
			5th Hussar Regiment
			2nd Company, 17th Pioneer Battalion
			3rd Company, 17th Pioneer Battalion
			36th Divisional Pontoon Train
			1st Medical Company
			3rd Medical Company
	Corps Troops		I Battalion, 11th Foot Artillery Regiment [10]
			17th Aviation Detachment
			17th Corps Pontoon Train
			17th Telephone Detachment
			17th Pioneer Searchlight Section
			Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, XVII Corps was assigned to the 8th Army to defend East Prussia, while the rest of the Army executed the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914. It took part in the battles of Gumbinnen, Tannenberg and 1st Masurian Lakes. Immediately after the latter, it joined the 9th Army in Lower Silesia, where it fought at the Battle of the Vistula River.

Commanders

The XVII Corps had the following commanders during its existence: ^{[11] [12] [13]}

Dates	Rank	Name
24 March 1890	General der Infanterie	August von Lentze
3 April 1902	General der Infanterie	Georg von Braunschweig
27 January 1908	General der Kavallerie	August von Mackensen
2 November 1914	General der Infanterie	Günther von Pannewitz
7 September 1916	Generalleutnant	Paul Fleck
19 February 1918	Generalleutnant	Richard von Webern
23 June 1918	Generalleutnant	Günther von Etzel
27 August 1918	Generalleutnant	Axel von Petersdorff
13 December 1918	General der Infanterie	Otto von Below
27 June 1919		Johannes von Malachowski

See also

• Germany portal

• German Army order of battle (1914)
• German Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
• List of Imperial German infantry regiments
• List of Imperial German artillery regiments
• List of Imperial German cavalry regiments
• Order of battle at Tannenberg

References

1. Cron 2002 , p. 395
2. Cron 2002 , pp. 88–89
3. Ellis & Cox 1993 , pp. 186–187
4. Haythornthwaite 1996 , pp. 193–194
5. They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army.
6. War Office 1918 , p. 256
7. Cron 2002 , p. 300
8. Cron 2002 , pp. 312–323
9. With a machine gun company
10. 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers)
11. German Administrative History Accessed: 8 April 2012
12. German War History Accessed: 8 April 2012
13. The Prussian Machine Archived April 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Accessed: 5 June 2012

Bibliography

• Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914–18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle [first published: 1937]. Helion & Co. ISBN   1-874622-70-1.
• Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN   1-85410-766-6.
• Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1996). The World War One Source Book. Arms and Armour. ISBN   1-85409-351-7.
• Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914–1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919. The London Stamp Exchange. 1989 [1920]. ISBN   0-948130-87-3.
• The German Forces in the Field; 7th Revision, 11th November 1918; Compiled by the General Staff, War Office. Imperial War Museum, London and The Battery Press, Inc. 1995 [1918]. ISBN   1-870423-95-X.