XVII Corps (German Empire)

The XVII Army Corps / XVII AK () 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, 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 in the 7th Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front. 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. 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).They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army. 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 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) InfantryGraudenz, III Bn in Strasburg in Westpreußen 176th (9th West Prussian) InfantryKulm, II Bn in Thorn 35th Field Artillery Brigade 71st Field Artillery "Grand Komtur"Graudenz 81st (Thorn) Field ArtilleryThorn 35th Cavalry Brigade 5th (Pomeranian) Hussars "Prince Blücher of Wahlstatt"Stolp 4th Jäger zu PferdeGraudenz 36th Division 69th Infantry Brigade 129th (3rd West Prussian) InfantryGraudenz 175th (8th West Prussian) InfantryGraudenz, II Bn in Schwetz 71st Infantry Brigade 5th (4th East Prussian) Grenadiers "King Frederick I"Danzig 128th (Danzig) InfantryDanzig, II Bn in Neufahrwasser 36th Field Artillery Brigade 36th (2nd West Prussian) Field ArtilleryDanzig 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 ArtilleryThorn 17th (2nd West Prussian) Foot ArtilleryDanzig, Pillau 17th (1st West Prussian) Pioneer BattalionThorn 5th Telegraph BattalionDanzig, Berlin, Schneidemühl 1st (Fortress-)Telephone CompanyThorn 2nd (Fortress-)Telephone CompanyGraudenz 17th (West Prussian) Train BattalionDanzig 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 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 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 BattalionWith a machine gun company 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 Regiment4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers) 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:German Administrative History Accessed: 8 April 2012German War History Accessed: 8 April 2012The Prussian Machine Accessed: 5 June 2012

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

XVII Corps (German Empire)

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