The 8th Division (''8. Division'') was a unit of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

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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 ...

. It was formed in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

in November 1816 as a brigade and became a division on September 5, 1818. The division was subordinated in peacetime to the IV Army Corps (''IV. Armeekorps''). The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...

, also known as Prussian Saxony and the smaller states of the German Empire around Prussian Saxony.

Combat chronicle

The division fought 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 ...

in 1866, including the

Battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königgrä ...

. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, the division saw action in the battles of

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

and Sedan, and in the Siege of Paris. The division was mobilized as the 8th Infantry Division in August 1914 and sent to the

west West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

for the opening campaigns of the war. It fought in the Battle of the Marne 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 ...

. The division then spent time in the trenches, and fought in 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 1916. During the German spring offensive of 1918, the division fought in the Battle of the Lys. The division was rated a first-class division with high morale by Allied intelligence.

Order of battle in the Franco-Prussian War

During wartime, the 8th Division, like other regular German divisions, was redesignated an infantry division. The organization of the 8th Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows: * 15. Infanterie Brigade ** Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 31 ** Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 * 16. Infanterie Brigade ** Füsilier-Regiment Nr. 86 ** Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 96 * Husaren-Regiment Nr. 12

Pre-World War I organization

German divisions underwent various organizational changes after the Franco-Prussian War. The 8th Division lost all of its original infantry regiments to other divisions and received replacement regiments. The organization of the division in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, was as follows: * 15.Infanterie-Brigade: ** Füsilier-Regiment General-Feldmarschall Graf Blumenthal (1. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 36 ** Anhaltisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 93 * 16.Infanterie-Brigade: ** 4. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 ** 8. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 153 * 8. Kavallerie-Brigade ** Kürassier-Regiment von Seydlitz (Magdeburgisches) Nr. 7 ** Thüringisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 12 * 8. Feldartillerie-Brigade ** Torgauer Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 74 ** Mansfelder Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 75 * Landwehr-Inspektion Haale an der Saale The 36th Fusilier Regiment and the 72nd Thuringian Infantry Regiment were recruited in Prussian Saxony. The 93rd Infantry was the regiment of the

Duchy of Anhalt The Duchy of Anhalt (german: Herzogtum Anhalt) was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the river Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House ...

. The 153rd Thuringian Infantry Regiment was the regiment of the

Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilomete ...

, but also included a battalion from Prussian Saxony.

Order of battle on mobilization

On mobilization in August 1914 at the beginning of

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 ...

, 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 8th Division was again renamed the 8th Infantry Division. Its initial wartime organization was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle'' * 15.Infanterie-Brigade: ** Füsilier-Regiment General-Feldmarschall Graf Blumenthal (1. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 36 ** Anhaltisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 93 ** Magdeburgisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 4 * 16.Infanterie-Brigade: ** 4. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 ** 8. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 153 * "1/2" Magdeburgisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 10 * 8. Feldartillerie-Brigade: ** Torgauer Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 74 ** Mansfelder Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 75 * 2./Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 * 3./Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 During the Battle of the Somme, the division was commanded by General der Infanterie Ernst II. Herzog von Sachsen-Altenburg.Sheldon Appendix 4

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, ...

"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 8th Infantry Division's order of battle on October 31, 1918, was as follows: * 16.Infanterie-Brigade: ** 4. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 ** Anhaltisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 93 ** 8. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 153 * 5.Eskadron/Magdeburgisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 10 * Artillerie-Kommandeur 8: ** Torgauer Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 74 ** I.Bataillon/Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1 * Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 118: ** 2./Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 ** 5./Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 ** Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 8 * Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 8

In fiction

The German troops in the film

Joyeux Noël :''Joyeux Noel means Merry Christmas in French. For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation) and Merry Christmas (disambiguation)'' ''Joyeux Noël'' ''('Merry Christmas')'' is a 2005 war drama film based on the Christmas truce of December ...

, about the 1914

Christmas Truce ckb: ئاگربەستی کریسماس The Christmas truce (german: Weihnachtsfrieden; french: Trêve de Noël; nl, Kerstbestand) was a series of widespread unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of the First World War around Christ ...

, are depicted as the 93rd Regiment, belonging to 8th Division.

Notes

References

8. Infanterie-Division - Der erste Weltkrieg
* Claus von Bredow, bearb., ''Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deutschen 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 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) {{DEFAULTSORT:8th Division (German Empire) Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1818 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919