Georg Cornelius Adalbert von der Marwitz (7 July 1856 – 27 October 1929) was a
Prussian
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 e ...
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
, who commanded several German
armies
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 ...
during 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 fightin ...
on both the Eastern and Western fronts.
Early military career
Marwitz was born in
Stolp (Słupsk) in the
Province of Pomerania and entered the
Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
in 1875. In 1881 he married Helene von Kameke, daughter of Prussian War Minister
Georg von Kameke
Arnold Karl Georg von Kameke (14 April 1817, in Pasewalk – 12 October 1893, in Berlin) was a Prussian General of the Infantry and Minister of War.
Life
Arnold Karl Georg von Kameke was a son of Prussian army officer Georg Christian Friedric ...
, with whom he had five children. From 1883 to 1886 he attended the
Prussian Military Academy
The Prussian Staff College, also Prussian War College (german: Preußische Kriegsakademie) was the highest military facility of the Kingdom of Prussia to educate, train, and develop general staff officers.
Location
It originated with the ''A ...
. Until 1900 he commanded a cavalry regiment, at which point he became chief of staff of XVIII Corps. Before the outbreak of the First World War he was the Inspector-General of Cavalry.
World War I
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1971-092-20, Frankreich, Kaiser Wilhelm II](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1971-092-20%2C_Frankreich%2C_Kaiser_Wilhelm_II.%2C_Begleitung.jpg)
Marwitz was assigned to the
Western Front in 1914 as commander of
II Cavalry Corps, and participated in the
Battle of Haelen. After this first battle Marwitz was transferred to the
Eastern Front to take command of the newly formed
XXXVIII Reserve Corps, which he led in the
Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915. The offensive was intended to advance beyond the V ...
in the early winter of 1915. He was then transferred south and fought with
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
against the
Russians
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, region1 =
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and was awarded the
Pour le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
on 7 March 1915.
After recovering from an illness in the fall of 1915, Marwitz served on the Western Front as the commander of the
VI Corps 6 Corps, 6th Corps, Sixth Corps, or VI Corps may refer to:
France
* VI Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry formation of the Imperial French army during the Napoleonic Wars
* VI Corps (Grande Armée), a formation of the Imperial French army du ...
, before returning to the Eastern Front until the successful halting of the Russian
Brusilov Offensive in June 1916. On 6 October 1916 he became adjutant to
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...
, a post that he left in December 1916 to take command of the
Second Army on the Western Front.
The German Army formed along the
Siegfried-Stellung line to Havrincourt Wood to la Vacquerie; a mile behind was the Hindenberg Support line. In front lay a strongly fortified line of trenches. Behind the Support Line was yet another system called the Beaurevoir-Masnieres-Marcoing Line. Each system was built with deep concrete bunkers, massed machine guns in cover, and as much as 50 yards of barbed wire in front. The planned Wotan Line to Cambrai, where Marwitz's Second Army was situated, was never completed. General Marwitz's command was four infantry divisions. Per instructions from his superior, Feld-Marschal Crown Prince Rupprecht, Marwitz sent out patrols into British trenches to take prisoners. When reporting on 18 November 1917, Marwitz thought troop dispositions unchanged. Despite statements by prisoners, the presence of camouflaged tanks, and air reconnaissance revealing a build-up in the rear, Marwitz concluded that an attack was unlikely.
As a result, Marwitz was still in bed at the le Cateau HQ when he first heard of the British tank offensive toward Bourlon Ridge, which they had identified as a vital strategic target. The surprise was disabling to his infantry, exacerbated by cut communication lines. The Crown Prince, in command of Northern Group, informed Berlin. Marwitz was forced to contemplate total withdrawal. The morning of 21 November, Fontaine had already fallen, but the Second Army knew the allied strength and its dispositions. They ordered up Reserves, the 214th, 119th and 3rd Guards Divisions, all from the north Aisne and Flanders. Rupprecht ordered even more to support Marwitz’s position. The
Battle of Cambrai ensued, which saw the most extensive use of tanks to date, more than twice the previous number in one engagement, as well as new
combined arms
Combined arms is an approach to warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme vio ...
tactics. As the British had not adequately prepared for the strength of German defenses, on the morning of 26 November 1917, Rupprecht and Marwitz planned at le Cateau the first counteroffensive against the British since April 1915. The following afternoon, they were joined by Lieutenant-General von Kuhl, Group Chief of Staff, at a special conference of all Group commanders. Marwitz, who was under pressure from Ludendorff, remained silent, subdued, still reeling and shocked by the unconventional speed of the Allied attack. Marwitz's stormtroops destroyed many hundreds of tanks, but the allies had thousands of them. However, by the end of the month, the attack had petered out, and the tanks went into winter quarters. Marwitz and staff immediately determined to proceed with a counter-attack, and they did their best to recover enemy machines. A severe blizzard finally halted the fighting on 7 December. Of 50,000 German casualties, over 10,000 were taken prisoner, many due to ammunition shortages prevalent since 1 December.
Command of the Second Army
At the time of this major allied offensive Marwitz was a highly experienced soldier, sporting a noticeable white moustache. Opposite British III Corps, he held a vital part of the line for the Germans from the town of Albert to Hargicourt, his command opposed both French and British divisions, was composed of three corps and fourteen divisions. However
Second Army was a 'paper' strength revealing serious manpower shortages. Its weakness lay in the fact that half the troops were inferior quality. The Germans had become restless, insubordinate, and mutinous. Its ground was not as well defended as it might have come to expect. The isolated positions did not possess deeply dug trenches. The communications were in 1918, permanently under bombardment. The German troops were losing confidence. By 9 August, his commanders advised retreat behind the line of the River Somme.
Crown Prince Rupprecht
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine by (the) Rhine (''Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand''; English: ''Robert Maria Leopold Ferdinand''; 18 May 1869 – 2 August 1955), was the last hei ...
warned only a complete retreat to reform in a stronger position alongside Ninth Army would suffice; but Ludendorff turned down flat any idea of it; the line was to be held at all costs. The Second Army's defeat on 11 August 1918 was attributed to the allied tanks. But OHL blamed Marwitz, and shifted the burden onto his chief of staff, Major-General
Erich von Tschischwitz. Marwitz's command was subjected to a reorganization with 18th and 9th Armies. The High Command threw every reserve into the Hindenburg Line. The Allies meanwhile planned 'masses of manoeuvre' to encircle Marwitz's Second Army from north and south to outflank the town of Montdidier in an elaborate pincer movement.
While the allies prepared for everything, Marwitz left much to chance, knowing his forces were over-stretched. One of the strongest positions held by the German forces was the village of Peronne: surrounded by marshes, Marwitz had ordered the destruction of all bridges in the sector. Monash arrived with his Australians on 26 August 1918 to launch and assault over open ground providing every opportunity for Marwitz's men. The attack began on 5 am on 30 August towards the heavily defended town on
Mont Saint Quentin. Elite German units in advanced trenches defended the pock-marked trenches. The
Kaiser Alexander Regiment held the hilltop with 600 men each in three battalions. A battalion of Australian veterans pushed the Germans out. The Germans had occupied the area since 1916, and Marwitz felt the defeat badly; it was a big dent to morale. The Germans had fought hard against the youthful Australians, but Marwitz's formations were facing attrition. But
2nd Guards Reserve Division and
4th Bavarian Division had long been in the line without relief; desperately tired, hungry, and without 2,800 reinforcements to make full complement. Desertion had become epidemic three battalions of 55 Infantry Regiment had 'melted away'. Marwitz told his diary the attrition was taking its toll. On 24 August, Marwitz had decorated one officer who killed 14 tanks. But tanks generally struck terror in the ranks, who bound grenades together in anticipation; rifles were abandoned for heavy machine-guns, leaving artillery unprotected in the rearguard.
On 26 August Marwitz summarised his complaints, the men had endured "unspeakably hard conditions for such a terribly long time". The rail connections had not been made, disrupted by allied bombing. Air attacks were a problem for Marwitz Second Army: he was a victim himself by an "army of fliers", his staff stood with the men; one dud bomb penetrating Staff HQ. Marwitz saw the suffering at first hand for himself. On one day alone 120 bombs fell on Cambrai occupied by Second Army. Marwitz was finally relieved of command on 22 September 1918. Marwitz was promoted to command Fifth Army consisting of nine divisions. He attempted to instill discipline in troops fleeing before allied tanks, "its just the fear of those things and not their actual effect", he wrote in his diary entry of 29 September. All along the Meuse-Argonne Front the Franco-American forces made progress north, supported by tanks; the Germans tried to reply with artillery and machine-gun fire proving stiff resistance.
Command of Fifth Army
On 3 October during the Argonne Offensive, Marwitz drove out to meet forward observation posts. His troops occupied the high ground. The US 1st Army faced an uphill climb from the plain into an area covered by woods, in which "are built-in machine guns, individual guns, mortars, surveillance posts..." concealing German troops. American artillery was ineffective. Although despondent, the Germans held their ground. US operations commenced at 5.30 am on 5 October from the east bank of the Meuse, but almost immediately they stalled in dark fog. The tactics had changed, the Germans were cheered by Group, but rumours of a possible peace sapped their morale.
By 1 November there were barely seven exhausted divisions on an 18 km front at Barricourt Heights. Marwitz's manoeuvrability was further hampered by shelled out roads and collapsed communications lines cutting off his HQ from front line commanders. Marwitz was in favour of withdrawing
Fifth Army behind the relatively safety of the east bank of the Meuse, to re-group and get some rest, but OHL refused, sending strict orders to stand and fight. On 2 November, the Americans soon punched through the German positions, and Marwitz's centre line broke. General
Hunter Liggett
Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett (March 21, 1857 − December 30, 1935) was a senior United States Army officer. His 42 years of military service spanned the period from the Indian campaigns to the trench warfare of World War I. Additionally, h ...
interpreted this as a weakness that had anticipated an attack on their right flank, but when it came in caused the line to collapse in depth. The capture of Barricount signalled a general rout. Marwitz issued an order that the Second Army must fight on, "The Fatherland Forever". Despite his unrealistic order, the armies began to disintegrate, at less than half battalions' fighting strength.
On 10 November, Marwitz left his post on the Meuse and called in to see
Gallwitz. He demanded an armistice; the loss of
Barricourt Heights, he told the Chief, had been the end. The French had reached Sedan on 6–7 November, and retreating Germans had left behind considerable quantities of equipment.
Postwar
After the war, Marwitz withdrew from public life. He died at
Wundichow in 1929 at the age of 73.
Decorations and awards
*
Order of the Crown, 1st class (Prussia)
* Knight of Justice of the
Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg)
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
*
Service Award
A Service award was awarded by a country to a soldier or civilian for long service. It is comparable to a service medal but can be awarded to civilians as well as soldiers.
Germany Kingdom of Bavaria
* Königliches Ludwigsorden for 50 years' ser ...
(Prussia)
* Commander of the Merit
Order of Philip the Magnanimous
The Order of Merit of Philip the Magnanimous (german: Verdienstorden Philipps des Großmütigen) was an order of chivalry established by Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse on 1 May 1840, the name day of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, in his honour to a ...
, 2nd Class, ''5 June 1907'' (Hesse and by Rhine)
* Honorary Grand Cross of the
House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis
The House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (German: ''Haus und Verdienstorden von Herzog Peter Friedrich Ludwig'') or proper German Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (German: ''Oldenburgische Haus- und Verdi ...
(Oldenburg)
* Commander of the
House Order of the White Falcon (Weimar)
* Merit Cross, 2nd class (
Waldeck)
*
Order of the Double Dragon
The Imperial Order of the Double Dragon () was an order awarded in the late Qing dynasty.
The Order was founded by the Guangxu Emperor on 7 February 1882 as an award for outstanding services to the throne and the Qing court. Originally it was aw ...
, 2nd level, first class (China)
* Commander of the
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus ( it, Ordine dei Santi Maurizio e Lazzaro) (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the wo ...
* Commander of the
Order of Franz Joseph
The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph (german: Kaiserlich-Österreichischer Franz-Joseph-Orden) was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne.
Classes
...
(Austria)
* Commander of the
Order of the Lion and the Sun
The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun (Persian language, Persian: نشان سلطنتی شیر و خورشید) was instituted by Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extend ...
(Persia)
* Commander Grand Cross of the Royal
Order of the Sword
The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the Or ...
, ''1911'' (Sweden)
* Commander of the
Order of the Crown of Thailand
The Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand ( th, เครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์อันมีเกียรติยศยิ่งมงกุฎไทย; ) is a Thai order, established in 1869 by King Rama ...
*
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...
of 1914, 1st and 2nd classes
*
Pour le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
, ''7 March 1915''; with Oak Leaves, ''14 May 1915''
* Grand Cross of the
Order of the Red Eagle
The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful se ...
with Oak Leaves and Swords
* Star of the Commander's Cross of the
House Order of Hohenzollern
The House Order of Hohenzollern (german: Hausorden von Hohenzollern or ') was a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Hohenzollern awarded to military commissioned officers and civilians of comparable status. Associated with the various ...
with Swords
References
;Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
;Articles
*
;Archives
* BA-MA Bundesarchiv-Militararchiv, Freiburg
* IWM Imperial War Museum
* JMO Journal de Marche et d'Operations (French Army war diaries)
* TNA The National Archives of the UK, Kew
External links
*
Georg von der Marwitz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marwitz, Georg Von Der
1856 births
1929 deaths
People from Słupsk
Cavalry commanders
Georg
German Army generals of World War I
People from the Province of Pomerania
Generals of Cavalry (Prussia)
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)
Commanders of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph
Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class