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Hans Von Guretzky-Cornitz
Hans Karl von Guretzky-Cornitz (1855–1917) was a German army general of the First World War. He was commander of the 9th Reserve Division during the early part of the war. He is noted for an incident during the 1916 Battle of Verdun when he falsely reported capturing Fort Vaux and was awarded the Pour le Mérite. Biography Guretzky-Cornitz was born in 1855. By 1904 he was a colonel and chief of staff of the IX Army Corps. During the early part of the First World War Guretzky-Cornitz commanded the 9th Reserve Division. The division took part in the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and seized the village of Vaux-devant-Damloup from French troops in early March. On 9 March Guretzky-Cornitz received reports that his troops had captured the key French fortification of Fort Vaux. It was believed that the French had abandoned the post as they did earlier at Fort Douaumont. The report had come from a forward infantry officer. The brigade commander raised doubts but apparent confi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising France, Russia, and Britain) and the Triple Alliance (containing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Tensions in the Balkans came to a head on 28 June 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
9th Reserve Division (German Empire)
The 9th Reserve Division (''9. Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the Imperial German Army, in World War I. The division was formed on the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was disbanded during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was a reserve division of the V Reserve Corps and was raised primarily in the Province of Posen and the Province of West Prussia. Combat chronicle The 9th Reserve Division began the war on the Western Front. It was part of the Fifth Army and pursued the Allies during the Great Retreat to the Woëvre region. It then participated in the Race to the Sea, seeing action in Flanders. It returned to the Woëvre region in December 1914, where it remained until early 1916. In 1916, it fought in the Battle of Verdun until June, and then went to the Champagne region to recover. It then saw action in the later phases of the Battle of the Somme. It remained in the Somme region and fought in the Battle of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun (RFV, ) and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry. Poor weather delayed the beginning of the attack until 21 February but the Germans captured Fort Douaumont in the first three days. The advance then slowed for several days, despite inflicting many F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Vaux
Fort Vaux (french: Fort de Vaux), in Vaux-Devant-Damloup, Meuse (department), Meuse, France, was a polygonal fort forming part of the ring of 19 large defensive works intended to protect the city of Verdun. Built from 1881 to 1884 for 1,500,000 francs, it housed a garrison of 150 men. Vaux was the second fort to fall in the Battle of Verdun after Fort Douaumont, which was captured by a small German raiding party in February 1916 in the confusion of the French retreat from the Woëvre plain. Vaux had been modernised before 1914 with reinforced concrete top protection like Fort Douaumont and was not destroyed by a German heavy artillery fire, which had included shelling by howitzers. The superstructure of the fort was badly damaged but the garrison, the deep interior corridors and stations were intact when the fort was attacked on 2 June by German Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany), Stormtroops. The defence of Fort Vaux was marked by the heroism and endurance of the garrison, incl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pour Le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Order of the Red Eagle and the House Order of Hohenzollern, among the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia. The order of merit was the highest royal Prussian order of bravery for officers of all ranks. After 1871, when the various German monarchy, kingdoms, grand duchy, grand duchies, duchy, duchies, principality, principalities and Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city states had come together under Prussian leadership to form the federally structured German Empire, the Prussian honours gradually assumed, at least in public perception, the status of orders, decorations, and medals of Imperial Germany, honours of Imperial Germany, even though many honours of the various German states continued to be awarded. The ' was an honour confe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IX Corps (German Empire)
The IX Army Corps / IX AK (german: IX. Armee-Korps) was a corps level command of the Prussian and German Armies before and during World War I. IX Corps was one of three formed in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War (the others being X Corps and XI Corps). The Corps was formed in October 1866 with headquarters in Altona. The catchment area included the newly annexed Province of Schleswig-Holstein, the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz and the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 2nd Army. The Corps was assigned to the III Army Inspectorate but joined the 1st Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I. Franco-Prussian War During the Franco-Prussian War, the corps formed part of the 2nd Army. The 17th Division was initially part of the rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaux-devant-Damloup
Vaux-devant-Damloup (, literally ''Vaux before Damloup'') is a former commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It had a population of 76 (2019). On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Douaumont-Vaux. 19 December 2018 is partially located within the territory of the commune (the other part is in Damloup). It was one of the French villages destroyed during , the new village was rebuilt near the old village. The old vill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Douaumont
Fort Douaumont (french: Fort de Douaumont) was the largest and highest fort on the ring of 19 large defensive works which had protected the city of Verdun, France, since the 1890s. By 1915, the French General Staff had concluded that even the best-protected forts of Verdun could not withstand bombardments from the German 420 mm (16.5 in) Gamma guns. These new super-heavy howitzers had easily taken several large Belgian forts out of action in August 1914. Fort Douaumont and other Verdun forts were judged ineffective and had been partly disarmed and left virtually undefended since 1915. On 25 February 1916, Fort Douaumont was entered and occupied without a fight by a small German raiding party comprising only 19 officers and 79 men, entering via an open window by the moat. The easy fall of Fort Douaumont, only three days after the beginning of the Battle of Verdun, shocked the French Army. It set the stage for the rest of a battle which lasted nine months, at enormous human cos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glacis
A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in bastion fort, early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More generally, a glacis is any slope, natural or artificial, which fulfils the above requirements. The etymology of this French word suggests a slope made dangerous with ice, hence the relationship with ''glacier''. A ''glacis plate'' is the sloped armour, sloped front-most section of the hull of a tank or other armoured fighting vehicle. Ancient fortifications A glacis could also appear in ancient fortresses, such as the one the ancient Egyptians built at Semna (Nubia), Semna in Nubia. Here it was used by them to prevent enemy siege engines from weakening defensive walls. Hillforts in Britain started to incorporate glacis around 350 BC. Those at Maiden Castle, Dorset, Maiden Castle, Dorset were high. Medieval fortifications Glacis, also call ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5th Army (German Empire)
The 5th Army (german: 5. Armee / Armeeoberkommando 5 / A.O.K. 5) was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilization in August 1914 seemingly from the VII Army Inspection. The army was disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war. History In August 1914 the command of 5th Army was assigned to Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, heir to the Hohenzollern throne, with General Schmidt von Knobelsdorf serving as his chief of staff, and would remain thus until late 1916. The opening hostilities on the Western Front saw the Crown Prince's 5th Army, along with the neighboring 4th Army (commanded by Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg), acting at the center of the Schlieffen plan attack into Belgium and France. On 21 August 1914, in what became known as the Battle of the Ardennes, 4th and 5th Armies advanced into the Ardennes to counter a thrust by the French 3rd and 4th Armies. Over the next two days 5th Army played a major part in hal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm II, German Emperor
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empire's position as a great power by building a powerful navy, his tactless public statements and erratic foreign policy greatly antagonized the international community and are considered by many to be one of the underlying causes of World War I. When the German war effort collapsed after a series of crushing defeats on the Western Front in 1918, he was forced to abdicate, thereby marking the end of the German Empire and the House of Hohenzollern's 300-year reign in Prussia and 500-year reign in Brandenburg. Wilhelm II was the son of Prince Frederick William of Prussia and Victoria, German Empress Consort. His father was the son of Wilhelm I, German Emperor, and his mother was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
