The First Army was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

, active from 1916 to 2000.

World War I

The First Army took part in the Romanian Campaign 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 ...

. Its commanders during that time were : *

Divisional General Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army corps ...

Ioan Culcer Ioan Culcer (29 July 1853 – September 1928) was a Wallachian-born Romanian military leader and politician. Culcer served as a lieutenant during the Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878) and as a general during the Second Balkan War and Worl ...

: 15 August 1916 – 11 October 1916 *

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Ioan Dragalina: 11 October 1916 – 12 October 1916 * Brigadier General Nicolae Petala: 13 October 1916 – 21 October 1916 * Brigadier General Paraschiv Vasilescu: 21 October 1916 – 12 November 1916 * Brigadier General Dumitru Stratilescu: 13 November 1916 – 19 December 1916 * Divisional General Constantin Christescu: 11 June 1917 – 30 July 1917 * Divisional General

Eremia Grigorescu Eremia Teofil Grigorescu (28 November 1863 – 21 July 1919) was a Romanian artillery general during World War I, and Minister of War in the Constantin Coandă cabinet (October–November 1918). Early life Born in 1863 in the village Golăș ...

: 30 July 1917 – 1 July 1918

World War II

During

Operation München Operation München ( ro, Operațiunea München) was the Romanian codename of a joint German-Romanian offensive during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, with the primary objective of recapturing Bessarabia, Northern Bukov ...

, when

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on the side of the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

in June–July 1941, the First Army was in the interior of Romania while the

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and Fourth Armies formed the main Romanian assault force. The First Army comprised at the time the 1st Army Corps ( 2nd, 11th, 30th, 31st IDs, 6th Army Corps, and 7th Army Corps). (Romanian Artillery p. 117) In August 1944, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

entered Romania after driving back

Army Group South Army Group South (german: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland Army Group Sou ...

from the region. On August 23,

Marshal Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...

Ion Antonescu was dismissed by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Michael I Michael I may refer to: * Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767 * Michael I Rhangabes, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844) * Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantin ...

, and Romania declared war on

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

some days later. The

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

took control of the oilfields in the

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commu ...

area, and the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

was used to fight German forces on the Eastern Front. The First Army became one of the Romanian armies fighting for the

on the Eastern Front. In its campaign from August 1944 to May 1945, the Romanian Army lost some 64,000 men killed. At the

Battle of Debrecen The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the ''Debrecen Offensive Operation'', was a battle taking place 6–29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II. The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainian Front ...

in October 1944, where Romanian units played a key part in the overall Soviet offensive, the First Army consisted of the 4th Army Corps with the 2nd Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division, and the 7th Army Corps with the 9th Infantry Division and 19th Infantry Division. The 7th Army Corps, with the 2nd and 19th Infantry Divisions and what was reported as the 9th Cavalry Division, then took part in the

Siege of Budapest The Siege of Budapest or Battle of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet Union, Soviet and Kingdom of Romania, Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital (political), capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. Part of the b ...

as part of the Red Army's 3rd Ukrainian Front. The last offensive of World War II in which the First Army took part in was the Prague Offensive in May 1945. During this offensive, the First Army operated together with the

Romanian Fourth Army The Fourth Army (Armata a 4-a Română) was a field army (a military formation) of the Romanian Land Forces active from the 19th century to the 1990s. History World War I The Fourth Army fought under the name of "Northern Army" or "Army of ...

as part of the Soviet 2nd Ukrainian Front. The offensive started on May 6, a few days before the end of the war. German resistance in the east was now limited to small pockets scattered across

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. By May 11 and 12, all remaining German pockets of resistance in the east were crushed.

WW II Commanders

(23 March 1939 – 2 June 1940) *

Army Corps General An army corps general or corps general is a rank held by a General officer who commands an army corps. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. Normally, the rank is above the divisional ge ...

(2 June 1940 – 9 September 1940) * Divisional General (acting) (9 September 1940 – 25 March 1941) * Divisional General (25 March 1941 – 9 November 1941) * Army Corps General

Nicolae Macici Nicolae Macici (7 November 1886 – 15 June 1950) was a Romanian lieutenant general during World War II, when he commanded the Romanian First Army, first on the side of the Axis (1941–1944) and then on the side of the Allies (1944–1945). Con ...

(9 November 1941 – 12 February 1945) *

Army General Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.　 In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...

Vasile Atanasiu Vasile Atanasiu (April 25, 1886 – June 6, 1964) was a Romanian general in World War II. Biography He was born in Târgoviște, Romania in 1886, in a Greek-Romanian family, the son of Ștefan and Paulina Atanasiu. He graduated from the "Milit ...

(13 February 1945 – 30 April 1946)

After World War II

General

Ioan Mihail Racoviță Ioan Mihail Racoviță (7 March 1889, Bucharest – 28 June 1954, Sighet Prison) was a Romanian general during World War II, and Minister of Defense in the aftermath of King Michael's Coup of August 1944. Biography In 1906 he was admitted to ...

commanded the 1st Army from 20 May 1946 to 30 June 1947. In 1989, the order of battle of the First Army was as follows:{{cite web, url=https://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=530&st=30, title= Romanian Army in the Second World War * 1st Mechanised 'Tudor Vladimirescu' Division (Cat A) –

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

T-55A The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...

, TR-77, and

T-72 The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks ha ...

tanks, SU-100 SP ATG, TAB-71/-71M APCs, MLI-84 IFVs, S-60 57mm and Md.1980 30mm AA Guns, M-30 122mm and Md.1981 152mm howitzers, APR-40 40x122mm MRLs. *57th Tank Division (Cat A) – Bucharest: T-55A and

TR-85 The TR-85 is a third-generation main battle tank designed for the armed forces of Romania. Based on the TR-77-580, the TR-85 tank was developed from 1978 to 1985 and produced from 1986 until 1990. A modernization program was initiated in Marc ...

tanks, TAB-71/-71M APCs, Md.1980 30mm AA Guns, M-30 122mm and Md.1981 152mm howitzers, APR-40 40x122mm MRLs. *4th Mountain Brigade (Cat A) –

Curtea de Argeș Curtea de Argeș () is a municipality in Romania on the left bank of the river Argeș, where it flows through a valley of the Southern Carpathians (the Făgăraș Mountains), on the railway from Pitești to the Turnu Roșu Pass. It is part of ...

. The First Army was redesignated the 1st Territorial Army Corps in 2000 and the 1st Infantry Division (Romania) in 2008.

References

Field armies of Romania Military units and formations established in 1916 Military units and formations of Romania in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 2000