Boje Friedrich Nikolaus von Scholtz (born 24 March 1851 in

Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish, Low Saxon: ''Flensborg''; North Frisian: ''Flansborj''; South Jutlandic: ''Flensborre'') is an independent town (''kreisfreie Stadt'') in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of th ...

– died 30 April 1927 in Ballenstedt) was a German general, who served as commander of 20th Corps and the 8th Army of the German Empire on the Eastern Front in the

First World War 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 fighti ...

and later as commander of Army Group Scholtz on the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Ger ...

Early life

Growing up in Ballenstedt, Scholtz's military career began in 1870 in

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Eck ...

as a Gunner in the artillery and senior

officer cadet Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University A ...

. Later that year he volunteered for the Franco-Prussian War. After the war, he studied at the Military Academy in Potsdam and on 9 March 1872 he qualified as an artillery officer with the rank of lieutenant. Between 1874 and 1876, he studied at the artillery school in Berlin and in 1901 was promoted to colonel. In 1908, he was appointed to command the 21st Division of the Imperial Army and on 1 October 1912 was promoted to

General of the Artillery General of the Artillery is/was a general officer of artillery, and may be: *General of the Artillery (Germany) and Austria-Hungary *General of the Artillery (Imperial Russia) * General of the Artillery (Poland) *Feldzeugmeister (OF-8) of the Austri ...

and given command of XX Army Corps.

First World War

With the outbreak of the First World War, Scholtz was transferred together with his army corps to the Eastern Front where he took part in the

Battle of Tannenberg The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Ru ...

and the Battle of Lodz. He was appointed commander of the 8th Army, which figured in the Great Russian Retreat of 1915. On April 22, 1917, Scholtz was transferred to the Balkans, where he replaced General

Otto von Below Otto Ernst Vinzent Leo von Below (18 January 1857 – 15 March 1944) served as a Prussian general officer in the Imperial German Army during the First World War (1914–1918). He arguably became most notable for his command, along with the Aus ...

as commander of the army group consisting of the 11th German Army and 1st Bulgarian Army. His force was almost entirely made up of Bulgarian units, as most of the German forces had been pulled out of the Balkans. The 11th German Army was no exception, and by 1918 it had six Bulgarian infantry divisions and one infantry division with German staff but made up of Bulgarian units. Scholtz managed to coordinate the activities on the

and gained a good reputation with Germany's Bulgarian allies. In September 1918, Allied forces launched an offensive under the command of French General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey, an offensive along the valley of the river

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

against Army Group "Scholtz". The Allies managed to break through the lines of the 11th Army and to force Scholtz to order a retreat in the sector of Dobro Pole, but the Bulgarian First Army had achieved a victory at the Battle of Doiran. So now the Allied forces were advancing up the Vardar, but their flanks were exposed to a possible blow from the right wing of the 11th Army, which was still fighting in good order, and from the 1st Bulgarian Army. General Scholtz however thought that such an attack was not well enough prepared and preferred to order a general retreat of his army group, hoping that the situation would stabilize. His Army Group Headquarters was moved from

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

Jagodina ) , image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png , image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png , map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...

, but the situation continued to deteriorate, and some Bulgarian soldiers even mutinied and headed towards

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

. This forced the capitulation of Bulgaria on 29 September 1918. The news came as a shock to the Bulgarian officers who were serving in units on the right wing of the 11th Army, but eventually they obeyed the order to lay down their weapons. As a last gesture, some of them delayed the Allies long enough for the German soldiers and officers who were fighting with them to be able to retreat and escape being captured. The army group was now dissolved, and General Scholtz was sent to Romania to organize the defense there. With the end of the war, Scholtz was discharged from military service on January 24, 1919. He retired to civilian life and died eight years later at the age of 76 years.

References

Bibliography

* Ferdinand von Notz: ''General v. Scholtz- Ein deutsches Soldatenleben in großer Zeit'' *

Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First publis ...

, ''Adelslexikon'' Band XIII, Band 128 der Gesamtreihe, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2002, . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scholz, Friedrich Von 1851 births 1927 deaths People from Flensburg People from the Duchy of Schleswig German untitled nobility Generals of Artillery (Prussia) German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War German Army generals of World War I Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Military personnel from Schleswig-Holstein