The 3rd Division (''3. Division'') was a unit of the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n/ German

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

. It was formed in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

(now

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) in May 1816 as a Troop Brigade (''Truppen-Brigade''). It became the 3rd Division on September 5, 1818. From the corps' formation in 1820, the division was subordinated in peacetime to the II Army Corps (''II. Armeekorps''). The 3rd Division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The 3rd Division and its regiments fought in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

in 1866, distinguishing itself at the Battle of Königgrätz. The division then fought in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 1870-71. It saw action in the Battle of Gravelotte, the siege of Metz, and the siege of Paris, among other actions.Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle'' In World War I, the 3rd Division served initially on the Western Front, seeing action in the invasion of Belgium, the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...

and the

Race to the Sea The Race to the Sea (; , ) took place from 17 September to 19 October 1914 during the First World War, after the Battle of the Frontiers () and the German Empire, German advance into France. The invasion had been stopped at the First Battle of ...

. The division was then transferred to the Eastern Front, and remained there until the end of the war with Russia. It then served in occupation duty in Russia until October 1918, when it returned to the Western Front for the final few weeks of the war.

1870 organization

During wartime, the 3rd Division, like other regular German divisions, was redesignated an infantry division. The organization of the 3rd Infantry Division in 1870 at the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War was as follows: *5th Infantry Brigade (''5. Infanterie-Brigade'') **2nd Grenadier Regiment "King Friedrich Wilhelm IV" (1st Pomeranian) (''Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1. Pomm.) Nr. 2'') **42nd Infantry Regiment (5th Pomeranian) (''5. Pommersches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 42'') *6th Infantry Brigade (''5. Infanterie-Brigade'') **14th Infantry Regiment (3rd Pomeranian) (''3. Pommersches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 14'') **54th Infantry Regiment (7th Pomeranian) (''7. Pommersches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 54'') *2nd Jäger Battalion (''Jäger Bataillon Nr. 2'') *3rd

Dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

Regiment (''Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 3'')

Pre-World War I organization

Many regiments were renamed and assigned to different divisions during the period from 1871 to 1914. Among other changes, the 3rd and 4th Divisions swapped the Colberg Grenadiers and the 14th Infantry Regiment. In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 3rd Division was as follows:''Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee'' (1914), pp. 57-58 *5th Infantry Brigade (''5. Infanterie-Brigade'') **2nd Grenadier Regiment "King Friedrich Wilhelm IV" (1st Pomeranian) (''Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1. Pomm.) Nr. 2'') **9th Colberg Grenadier Regiment "Graf Gneisenau" (2nd Pomeranian) (''Colbergsches Grenadier-Regiment Graf Gneisenau (2. Pomm.) Nr. 9'') **54th Infantry Regiment "von der Goltz" (7th Pomeranian) (''Infanterie-Regiment von der Goltz (7. Pomm.) Nr. 54'') *6th Infantry Brigade (''5. Infanterie-Brigade'') **34th Fusilier Regiment "Queen Victoria of Sweden" (Pomeranian) (''Füsilier-Regiment Königin Viktoria von Schweden (Pomm.) Nr. 34'') **42nd Infantry Regiment "Prince Moritz of Anhalt-Dessau" (5th Pomeranian) (''Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau (5. Pomm.) Nr. 42'') *3rd Cavalry Brigade (''3. Kavallerie-Brigade'') ** 2nd

Cuirassier A cuirassier ( ; ; ) was a cavalryman equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as man-at-arms, men-at-arms and demi-lancers discarding their ...

Regiment "Queen" (Pomeranian) (''Kürassier-Regiment Königin (Pomm.) Nr. 2'') **9th

Uhlan Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Polis ...

Regiment (2nd Pomeranian) (''2. Pommersches Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 9'') *3rd Field Artillery Brigade (''3. Feldartillerie-Brigade'') **2nd Field Artillery Regiment (''1. Pommersches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 2'') **38th Hither Pomeranian Field Artillery Regiment (''Vorpommersches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 38'')

August 1914 organization

On mobilization in August 1914 at the beginning of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 3rd Division was again renamed the 3rd Infantry Division and the 54th Infantry was transferred to the 36th Reserve Division. The 3rd Infantry Division's initial wartime organization was as follows: *5.Infanterie-Brigade: **Grenadier-Regiment König Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1. Pommersches) Nr. 2 **Colbergsches-Grenadier-Regiment Graf Gneisenau (2. Pommersches) Nr. 9 *6.Infanterie-Brigade: **Füsilier-Regiment Königin Viktoria von Schweden (1. Pommersches) Nr. 34 **Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Moritz von Anhalt-Dessau (5. Pommersches) Nr. 42 *Grenadier-Regiment zu Pferde Freiherr von Derfflinger (Neumärkisches) Nr. 3 *3.Feldartillerie-Brigade: **1. Pommersches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 2 **Vorpommersches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 38 *1./Pommersches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 2

Late World War I organization

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became triangular - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "

square division A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artiller ...

"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 3rd Infantry Division was heavily reorganized by 1918, losing all of its prewar infantry regiments. These were replaced by lower grade infantry and ''Landwehr'' infantry regiments. The division was also weaker in artillery and engineers than most other divisions. These changes reflected the division's primary role as occupation troops late in the war. Its order of battle on January 10, 1918, was as follows: *6.Infanterie-Brigade: **Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 425 **Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 428 **Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 4 *3.Eskadron/Grenadier-Regiment zu Pferde Freiherr von Derfflinger (Neumärkisches) Nr. 3 *Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 87 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 112: **1.Landwehr-Kompanie/Schlesisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 6 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 3 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 3

References

;Sources
3.Infanterie-Division
a
1914-18.info
* Claus von Bredow, bearb., ''Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deutschen Heeres'' (1905) * Hermann Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee'' (Berlin, 1935) * A. Niemann, ''Der französische Feldzug 1870-1871'' (Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Hildburghausen, 1871) * Günter Wegner, ''Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939'', Bd. 1 (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993) * ''Rangliste der Königlich Preußischen Armee'' (1914) * ''Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919'' (1920) ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:3rd Division (German Empire) Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1818 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919