The 17th Army (german: 17. Armee / Armeeoberkommando 17 / A.O.K. 17) was an army-level command of the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

in World War I. It was formed in France on 1 February 1918 from the former

14th Army Fourteenth Army or 14th Army may refer to: * 14th Army (German Empire), a World War I field Army * 14th Army (Wehrmacht), a World War II field army * Italian Fourteenth Army * Japanese Fourteenth Army, a World War II field army, in 1944 converted ...

command. It served exclusively on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

and was dissolved on 19 January 1919.

History

17th Army was one of three armies (along with 18th Army and 19th Army) formed in late 1917 / early 1918 with forces withdrawn from the Eastern Front. They were in place to take part in Ludendorff's German spring offensive. The Germans had realised that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the overwhelming human and matériel resources of the United States could be deployed. They also had the temporary advantage in numbers afforded by nearly 50 divisions freed by Russia's withdrawing from the war ( Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). At the end of the war it was serving as part of . The Headquarters was located at St Amand until 6 April 1918, Douai until 1 May 1918, Denain until 18 October 1918 and

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

until start of the march back, reaching Zülpich for disbandment on 19 January 1919.

Order of Battle, 30 October 1918

By the end of the war, the 17th Army was organised as:

Commanders

17th Army had the following commanders:

Glossary

* or army detachment in the sense of "something detached from an army". It is not under the command of an army so is in itself a small army. * or army group in the sense of a group within an army and under its command, generally formed as a temporary measure for a specific task. * or

army group An army group 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 ...

in the sense of a number of armies under a single commander.

References

Bibliography