The 25th Reserve Division (''25. Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the Imperial German

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, in

World War I 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 fightin ...

. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 as part of XVIII Reserve Corps and was disbanded in October 1918, with its assets being distributed to other units.25. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914–1918)
/ref> The division was raised in the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

and the Prussian

Province of Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

, while its 83rd Reserve Infantry Regiment included troops from the

Principality of Waldeck The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and in 1 ...

Combat chronicle

The 25th Reserve Division began World War I on the Western Front, fighting through Belgium and France in what became known as the Allied

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fro ...

, culminating in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

. It then participated in the

Race to the Sea The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from about 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of the Marne and was followed by the ...

, fighting in Flanders and the Artois, including at Lille. In December 1914, it was sent to the Eastern Front. In 1915, it participated in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, including the battles at Lemberg (now

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

) and Brest-Litovsk. It then fought in the

Serbian campaign The Serbian campaign was a series of military expeditions launched in 1914 and 1915 by the Central Powers against the Kingdom of Serbia during the First World War. The first campaign began after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 J ...

. After this campaign, the division was transferred from Macedonia back to the Western Front. After several months' fighting in the Argonne Forest, the division entered the

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 ...

in July 1916, where it suffered heavy losses. It also faced the French offensive in August 1917 at Verdun, where it again suffered heavy losses. In 1918, the division faced Allied offensives at the

Battle of Cantigny The Battle of Cantigny, fought May 28, 1918 was the first major American battle and offensive of World War I. The U.S. 1st Division, the most experienced of the five American divisions then in France and in reserve for the French Army near the v ...

, Montdidier and Noyon, and in the

Somme Offensive The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place be ...

, again taking heavy losses. The division was dissolved on 20 October 1918. Until 1918, Allied intelligence rated the division as second class, but downgraded it based on its use by the German high command and performance in battle.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 25th Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *49. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 116 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118 *50. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **5. Großherzoglich Hessisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 168 **Kurhessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 83 *Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 4 *Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25 *1. Reserve-Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11 *2. Reserve-Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11

Order of battle on 13 February 1918

The 25th Reserve Division was triangularized in May 1915. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on 13 February 1918 was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *50. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Kurhessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 83 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118 **5. Großherzoglich Hessisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 168 *2.Eskadron/Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 4 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 127 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25 **II.Bataillon/Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 15 (from 27 April 1918) *Stab Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11 **1. Reserve-Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11 **2. Reserve-Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 225 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 425

References

25. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914/1918) – Der erste Weltkrieg
* Hermann Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee'' (Berlin, 1935) * Hermann Cron, ''Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914–1918'' (Berlin, 1937) * Günter Wegner, ''Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815–1939.'' (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1 * ''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'' (1920)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:25 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 1914 establishments in Germany