The XI Army Corps / XI AK (german: XI. Armee-Korps) was a
corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
level command 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 ...
n and
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
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 ...
before and during
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 ...
.
XI Corps was one of three formed in the aftermath of 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 ...
(the others being
IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to:
France
* 9th Army Corps (France)
* IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Germany
* IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial Germ ...
and
X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to:
France
* 10th Army Corps (France)
* X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
Germany
* X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army
* ...
). The Corps was formed in October 1866 with headquarters in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
. The catchment area included the newly annexed Province of
Hesse-Nassau
The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944.
Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...
and the Thuringian principalities (
Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant bra ...
,
Saxe-Meiningen
Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia.
Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestin ...
,
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...
and
Waldeck).
During the
Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 3rd Army.
The Corps was assigned to the
VI Army Inspectorate but joined the predominantly Saxon
3rd Army at the start of 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 ...
. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the
6th Army, ''Heeresgruppe'' ''Kronprinz'' Rupprecht on the
Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after
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 ...
.
Franco-Prussian War
During the
Franco-Prussian War, the corps formed part of the 3rd Army. It participated in the battles of
Wissembourg
Wissembourg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Weisseburch'' ; German: ''Weißenburg'' ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
It is situated on the li ...
,
Wörth and
Sedan.
Between the wars
Initially, the Corps commanded the
21st Division in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and the
22nd Division in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
. In 1871 they were joined by the
Grand Ducal Hessian 25th Division in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...
. As the German Army expanded in the latter part of the 19th Century, a new
XVIII Corps was formed on 1 April 1899 and took command of the 21st and 25th Divisions. The
38th Division was formed at
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 ...
on the same date and joined the Corps.
The Corps was assigned to the
VI Army Inspectorate but joined the predominantly Saxon
3rd Army at the start of 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 ...
.
Peacetime organisation
The 25 peacetime
Corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...
of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two
divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:
:
V,
VI,
VII VII or vii may refer to: the Roman numeral 7
Art and entertainment
* The Vii, a video game console
* vii, leading-tone triad, see diminished triad
* ''VII'' (Blitzen Trapper album)
* ''VII'' (Just-Ice album)
* ''VII'' (Teyana Taylor album)
* ...
,
IX and
XIV Corps 14 Corps, 14th Corps, Fourteenth Corps, or XIV Corps may refer to:
* XIV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* XIV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World ...
each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)
:
II,
XIII
XIII may refer to:
* 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals
* 13th century in Roman numerals
* XIII (comics), ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance
** XIII (2003 video game), ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a ...
,
XVIII and
XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment
:
I,
VI and
XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments)
:the
Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades).
Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more
:Foot Artillery Regiment
:
Jäger Battalion
:
Pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...
Battalion
:
Train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
Battalion
World War I
Organisation on mobilisation
On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 38th Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the
8th Cavalry Division and the 22nd Cavalry Brigade was withdrawn to form part of the
3rd Cavalry Division. The
6th Cuirassiers, formerly of the
III Corps, was raised to a strength of 6 squadrons before being split into two half-regiments of 3 squadrons each. The half-regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to
22nd and
38th Divisions. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, XI Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 6 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
Combat chronicle
The Corps was assigned to the
VI Army Inspectorate in peacetime but joined the predominantly Saxon
3rd Army at the start of 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 ...
forming part of the right wing of the forces for the
Schlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on 4 ...
offensive in August 1914 on the
Western Front. It participated in the capture of
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Namu ...
and was immediately transferred to the
Eastern Front to join the
8th Army in time to participate in the
First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front 2–16 September 1914, during the second month of World War I. It took place only days after the Battle of Tannenberg where the German Eighth Army encircled an ...
. It was then transferred to the
9th Army and took part in the
Battle of the Vistula River
The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front during the First World War.
Background
By mid-September 1914 the Russians were driv ...
.
It returned to the Western Front at the end of 1915.
It was still in existence at the end of the war in the
6th Army, ''Heeresgruppe'' ''Kronprinz'' Rupprecht on the
Western Front.
Commanders
The XI Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
The Prussian Machine
Accessed: 19 May 2012
See also
*Franco-Prussian War order of battle This is an order of battle of the French and German Armies at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
France
Order of battle at the beginning of the war:
Army of the Rhine
Commander in Chief: Emperor Napoléon III
Chief of Staff: Mars ...
*German Army order of battle (1914)
This is the German Army order of battle on the outbreak of World War I in August 1914.
Commanders and locations of the German Army
The overall commander of the Imperial German Army was Kaiser Wilhelm II. The Chief of the General Staff was General ...
*German Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
This is the German Army order of battle on the Western Front at the close of the war.
The overall commander of the Imperial German Army was Kaiser Wilhelm II, but real power resided with The Chief of the General Staff, Generalfeldmarschall Paul ...
*List of Imperial German infantry regiments
This is a list of Imperial German infantry regiments before and during World War I. In peacetime, the Imperial German Army included 217 regiments of infantry (plus the instruction unit, ''Lehr'' Infantry Battalion). Some of these regiments had a ...
*List of Imperial German artillery regiments
This is a list of Imperial German artillery regiments before and during World War I. In peacetime, the Imperial German Army included 100 regiments of Field artillery (plus the Lehr instruction unit) and 24 regiments of Foot artillery (plus anoth ...
*List of Imperial German cavalry regiments
This is a List of Imperial German cavalry regiments before and during World War I. In peacetime, the Imperial German Army included 110 regiments of cavalry. Some of these regiments had a history stretching back to the 17th century but others w ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:11th Corps (German Empire)
Corps of Germany in World War I
Military units and formations established in 1866
Military units and formations disestablished in 1919