The 2nd Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

. The division was formed on November 27, 1815, as the Infantry Division of the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

General Command (''Infanterie-Division des Generalkommandos München.''). It was called the 2nd Army Division between 1822 and 1848, again between 1851 and 1859, and again from 1869 to 1872.Wegner, p. 661; Bredow, p. 1242. It was called the 2nd Infantry Division from 1848 to 1851 (as well as during wartime) and was named the

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

General Command from 1859 to 1869. From April 1, 1872, until mobilization for

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 ...

, it was the 2nd Division. In Bavarian sources, it was not generally referred to as a "Royal Bavarian" division, as this was considered self-evident, but outside Bavaria, this designation was used for it, and other Bavarian units, to distinguish them from similarly numbered Prussian units. The division was headquartered in

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from 1815 to 1817, in

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from 1817 to 1822, and in Augsburg from 1822 to 1919, except for the period 1871-1873, when it was part of the German occupation forces in France. The division was part of the I Royal Bavarian Army Corps.

Combat chronicle

The division fought against Prussia in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866, seeing action at

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, Helmstadt and Roßbrunn. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the division fought alongside the Prussians. It saw action in battles of

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and Sedan, the 1st and 2nd battles of Orleans, the battles of Loigny-Poupry and Beaugency-Cravant, and the siege of

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. During World War I, the division served on the Western Front. It fought in the

Battle of the Frontiers The Battle of the Frontiers (, , ) comprised battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategies of the French Chief of Staff ...

against French forces in the early stages, and 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 along the Somme. It remained in the trenchlines on the Somme until October 1915, and then went into the line in Flanders and the Artois until May 1916. In May 1916, the division went into 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 ...

. After Verdun, it fought in the later stages of the

Battle of the Somme 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 bet ...

. In May 1917, it fought in the

Second Battle of the Aisne The Second Battle of the Aisne (french: Bataille du Chemin des Dames or french: Seconde bataille de l'Aisne, 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the Germa ...

, also called the Third Battle of Champagne (and by the Germans, the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne). After a period in the reserve and in the trenchlines, it resisted the late 1917 French offensive at Verdun. In 1918, the division participated in the German spring offensive, fighting in the

First Battle of the Somme (1918) Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

, also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). It fought in the

Second Battle of the Marne The Second Battle of the Marne (french: Seconde Bataille de la Marne) (15 July – 18 July 1918) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First World War. The attack failed wh ...

, both in the initial German offensive and the Allied counteroffensive. Thereafter, it resisted various Allied attacks until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as one of the very best German shock divisions.

Pre-World War I peacetime organization

In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 2nd Royal Bavarian Division was as follows: *3. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Karl von Bayern **Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Franz *4. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 12. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Arnulf **Kgl. Bayerisches 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen *2. bayerische Kavallerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Chevaulegers-Regiment König **Kgl. Bayerisches 8. Chevaulegers-Regiment *2. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Feldartillerie-Regiment König **Kgl. Bayerisches 9. Feldartillerie-Regiment

Order of battle on mobilization

On mobilization in August 1914 at the beginning of World War I, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 2nd Bavarian Division was renamed the 2nd Bavarian Infantry Division. Its initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows: *3. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Karl von Bayern **Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Franz *4. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 12. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Arnulf **Kgl. Bayerisches 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen *Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Chevaulegers-Regiment König *2. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Feldartillerie-Regiment König **Kgl. Bayerisches 9. Feldartillerie-Regiment *2.Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Pionier-Bataillon

Late World War I organization

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became

triangular A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- collinea ...

- one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "

square division A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artillery, ...

"). The 2nd Bavarian Infantry Division was triangularized in April 1915, sending the 3rd Bavarian Infantry Regiment to the newly formed 11th Bavarian Infantry Division. An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, and the engineer contingent was increased. Divisional signals commanders were established to better control communications, a major problem in coordinating infantry and artillery operations during World War I. The division's order of battle on April 9, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle'' *4. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 12. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Arnulf **Kgl. Bayerisches 15. Infanterie-Regiment König Friedrich August von Sachsen **Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Franz **Kgl. Bayerische Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 2 *3.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 8. Chevaulegers-Regiment *Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 2 **Kgl. Bayerisches 9. Feldartillerie-Regiment **I. Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 3 *Kgl. Bayerisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 7 **Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 2 **Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 4 **Kgl. Bayerische Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 2 *Kgl. Bayerischer Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 2

References

2. Bayerische-Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1914/1918)
a
1914-18.info
* Claus von Bredow, bearb., ''Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deuschen Heeres'' (1905) * 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 1825-1939.'' (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993) * ''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:2nd Royal Bavarian Division Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations of Bavaria Military units and formations established in 1815 1815 establishments in Bavaria 1919 disestablishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1919