The XXXXI Reserve Corps (german: XXXXI. Reserve-Korps / XXXXI RK) 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
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
**Ger ...
Army
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 ...
in
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 ...
.
Formation
XXXXI Reserve Corps was formed in December 1914. It was part of the second wave of new Corps formed in the early stages of World War I consisting of XXXVIII - XXXXI Reserve Corps of 75th - 82nd Reserve Divisions (plus
8th Bavarian Reserve Division
The 8th Bavarian Reserve Division (''8. Bayerische Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed at the end of December 1914 and organized over the next month, arriving in the line in late Janu ...
). The personnel was predominantly made up of (wartime volunteers) who did not wait to be called up. It was still in existence at the end of the war.
Structure on formation
On formation in December 1914, XXXXI Reserve Corps consisted of two divisions. but was weaker than an Active Corps
*the divisions were organised as
triangular
A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC.
In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- collinea ...
rather than
square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...
divisions with three infantry regiments rather than four, but had a brigade of two field artillery regiments
*Reserve Infantry Regiments consisted of three battalions but lacked a machine gun company
*Reserve Cavalry Detachments were much smaller than the Reserve Cavalry Regiments formed on mobilisation
*Reserve Field Artillery Regiments consisted of two (1 gun and 1 howitzer) of three batteries each, but each battery had just 4 guns (rather than 6 of the Active and the Reserve Regiments formed on mobilisation)
In summary, XXXXI Reserve Corps mobilised with 18 infantry battalions, 2 cavalry detachments, 24 field artillery batteries (96 guns), 2 cyclist companies and 2
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 dev ...
companies.
On 2 May 1915 in preparation for the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive the corps consisted of 18 battalions, 4 squadrons, 43 machine guns and 108 guns. The corps was organized as follows:
Commanders
XXXXI Reserve Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
See also
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:41st Reserve Corps (German Empire)
Corps of Germany in World War I
Military units and formations established in 1914
Military units and formations disestablished in 1918