The XVI Army Corps / XVI AK (german: XVI. 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
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 ...
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 ...
before and during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
It was assigned to the
VII Army Inspectorate, which became the
5th Army at the start of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the
3rd Army, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
.
Formation
By a law of 27 January 1890, it was decided to separate
Alsace-Lorraine provinces in military affairs. It stipulated that from 1 April 1890 the entire power of the Army of the German Empire should be twenty army corps (Guards, I - XVII, I and II Bavarian). The All-highest Cabinet Order (''Allerhöchste Kabinettsorder'', AKO) of 1 February 1890 authorised the formation of the XVI and
XVII
17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number.
Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers.
In mathematics
17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...
Army Corps.
The XVI Army Corps was set up on 1 April 1890 in
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
as the ''Generalkommando'' (
headquarters) for
Lorraine. Its headquarters was in the
fortress of Metz. It took command of
33rd Division (formerly
30th Division of
XV Corps 15th Corps, Fifteenth Corps, or XV Corps may refer to:
* XV Corps (British India)
*XV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World War I
*15th Army Corps (Russian Empire), a unit in World War I
* XV Royal Bav ...
) and
34th Division formed on the same date. It was assigned to the
VII Army Inspectorate but joined the
5th Army at the start of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
.
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,
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 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 transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often ...
Battalion
World War I
Organisation on mobilisation
On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 33rd and 45th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the
6th Cavalry Division and the 34th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, XVI Corps mobilised with 24 infantry battalions, 8 machine gun companies (48 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
Combat chronicle
At the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the Corps was assigned to the
5th Army. It fought on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
in
Lorraine. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the
3rd Army, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
.
Commanders
The XVI Corps had the following commanders during its existence:
The Prussian Machine
Accessed: 12 May 2012
See also
*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 Genera ...
* German Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
*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
* List of Imperial German cavalry regiments
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:16th Corps (German Empire)
Corps of Germany in World War I
Military units and formations established in 1890
Military units and formations disestablished in 1919