Hermann Friedrich Staabs, von Staabs (born March 11, 1859 in Aachen; died September 7, 1940 in Kassel) was a German infantry general in
World War I and commanding general of the
XXXIX. Reserve Corps.
Biography
As a second lieutenant, Staabs was transferred from the cadet corps to the
62nd (3rd Upper Silesian) Infantry Regiment 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 ...
on April 14, 1877. From October 1, 1879 to January 31, 1884 he served there as battalion adjutant and was then transferred to the
59th (4th Posen) Infantry Regiment. From October 1, 1885, Staabs attended the
Prussian Staff College for three years.
He spent most of his military career on the
Great General Staff
The German General Staff, originally the Prussian General Staff and officially the Great General Staff (german: Großer Generalstab), was a full-time body at the head of the Prussian Army and later, the German Army, responsible for the continuou ...
. Here he rose to head of the railway department. After the First World War he wrote a book in which he contradicted
Moltke's view that it would not have been possible to quickly shift the focus of the German deployment to the
Eastern Front.
On June 16, 1913, Staabs was raised to the hereditary
Prussian nobility on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the reign of Kaiser
Wilhelm II.
Even before the outbreak of
World War I, Staabs was the commander of the
37th Division. In August 1914, was his division of the in
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
with the
8th Army on the Eastern Front. His troops fought as part of the XX. Army Corps under
Friedrich von Scholtz in the
Battle of Tannenberg and in the
Battle of the Masurian Lakes. From June 15, 1915 to July 6, 1916, Staabs was the commander of the
3rd Division. His troops fought in the breakthrough
Battle at Przasnysz
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
in July 1915 and then pursued to the lower
Narew
The Narew (; be, Нараў, translit=Naraŭ; or ; Sudovian: ''Naura''; Old German: ''Nare''; uk, Нарва, translit=Narva) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland, which is also a tributary of the river Vis ...
. In September they advanced to Wolkowysk ago and went from 20 October between
Naroch and
Dryswjatysee for years of trench warfare until it was over. For his work he had received the swords of the
Order of the Red Eagle, II. Class and the royal crown in August 1915.
[''Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee und des XIII. (Königlich Württembergischen) Armeekorps für 1914'', Hrsg.: Preußisches Kriegsministerium, Kriegsministerium, Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1914, S. 82.]
On July 7, 1916, he succeeded
Otto von Lauenstein
Ernst August Anton Hermann Otto von Lauenstein (1 February 1857 – 3 October 1916) was a Prussian Generalleutnant who served during World War I. He was chief of staff of the 2nd Army and later commanded the XXXIX Reserve Corps.
Life
Lauenst ...
as commander of the XXXIX. Reserve Corps. The corps was transferred to the
Romanian theater of war after Romania declared war in August 1916.
[ Alexandru Ioanițiu (Lt.-Colonel), '' Războiul României: 1916-1918 '', vol. 1, Tipografia Geniului, București, 1929 ] As part of the 9th Army under the command of
Erich von Falkenhayn, his troops distinguished themselves especially in the
Battle of Kronstadt
The Battle of Kronstadt (russian: Красногорское сражение, translation=Battle of Krasnaya Gorka, italic=yes) was a naval battle fought in the Gulf of Finland west of Kronstadt on 3–4 June 1790. The Swedish naval forces sough ...
in early October.
[Erich von Falkenhayn, ''Campania Armatei a 9-a împotriva românilor și a rușilor'', Atelierele Grafice Socec & Co S.A., București, 1937][ Constantin Kirițescu, ''Istoria războiului pentru întregirea României'', vol. 1, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, București, 1989, ] Together with the I. Reserve Corps,
he held out against the Romanians on the ridge of the
Fagaras Mountains until the end of November. For participating in the occupation of
Ploesti and taking
Bucharest on December 6, 1916 he was awarded the
Pour le Mérite on December 11, 1916.
On December 3, 1917, Staabs was appointed
General of the Infantry General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to:
* General of the Infantry (Austria)
* General of the Infantry (Bulgaria)
* General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Impe ...
. The corps was involved in the
German spring offensive in 1918 as part of the
2nd Army. From March 17 to May 22, 1918 Staabs commanded both this corps and the
XIII (Royal Württemberg) Corps
The XIII (Royal Württemberg) Army Corps / XIII AK (german: XIII. (Königlich Württembergisches) Armee-Korps) was a corps of the Imperial German Army. It was, effectively, also the army of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which had been integrated in ...
. On May 15, 1918, he was also awarded the oak leaves for the
Pour le Mérite for the services of his troops.
[Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand and Christian Zweng, ''Die Ritter des Ordens Pour le Mérite des I. Weltkriegs'', Volume 1 ''A–G'', Osnabrück: Biblio, 1999, ISBN 9783764825058, pp. 481–82]
He was the father of Gerdhild von Staabs (1900–1970), the founder of the
Scenotest.
References
Bibliography
* Hans Friedrich Huebner: "Officer list of the 2nd Upper Rhine Infantry Regiment No. 99."
E.S. Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1906, p. 77.
* Falkenhayn, Erich von, ''9th Army Campaign against Romanians and Russians'', Atelierele Grafice Socec & Co S.A., Bucharest, 1937
* Kiritescu, Constantin, ''History of the war for the unification of Romania'', Scientific and Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1989
* Ioanițiu Alexandru (Lt.-Colonel), ''Războiul României: 1916-1918'', vol 1, Tipografia Geniului, București, 1929
* ''Romania in the World War 1916-1919, Documents, Annexes'', Volume 1, Official Gazette and State Printing Offices, Bucharest, 1934
* ''The General Headquarters of the Romanian Army. Documents 1916 - 1920 '', Machiavelli Publishing House, Bucharest, 1996
* ''Military history of the Romanian people'', vol. V, Military Publishing House, Bucharest, 1989
* ''Romania in the years of the First World War'', Militară Publishing House, Bucharest, 1987
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staabs, Hermann von
1859 births
1940 deaths
Generals of Infantry (Prussia)
German Army generals of World War I
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)
People from the Rhine Province
Military personnel from Aachen