This is a list of German army groups during World War II. Some German formations during World War II were designated ''Heeresgruppe'' and others '' Armeegruppe''. Both terms are usually translated into English as "army group" but refer to different concepts.

Differences between ''Heeresgruppe'' and ''Armeegruppe''

Some German formations, such as

Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...

, were known as ''Heeresgruppe'', whereas others, such as Army Group Liguria, were known as ''Armeegruppe''. Both of these terms have, for a lack of alternatives, been translated into English as "army group". Generally, the major army groups were ''Heeresgruppen'', whereas the term ''Armeegruppe'' was used for formations that contained between two and three armies, initially reserved for those formations that included non-German armies. For instance, Army Group Balck contained the 6th German Army and the

3rd Hungarian Army The Hungarian Third Army () was a field army in the Royal Hungarian Army that saw action during World War II. Commanders * Lieutenant General Elemér Gorondy-Novák from 1 March 1940 to 1 November 1941 * Lieutenant General Zoltán Decleva from ...

''Heeresgruppen''

The ''Heeresgruppen''-type army groups of the ''Wehrmacht'' were: *

Army Group B Army Group B () was the name of four distinct German Army Group, army group commands that saw action during World War II. The first Army Group B was created on 12 October 1939 (from the former Army Group North) and fought in the Battle of France ...

Army Group C Army Group C () was an army group of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. In its first deployment between 1939 and 1941, its main assignment was the defense of the Franco-German border during the Phony War and the Western Campaign, after whi ...

Army Group D Army Group D () was a German Army Group which saw action during World War II. Army Group D was formed on 26 October 1940 in France, its initial cadre coming from the disbanded Army Group C. On 15 April 1941, the status of Army Group D was upgr ...

Army Group E Army Group E () was a German Army Group active during World War II. Army Group E was created on 1 January 1943 from the 12th Army. Units from this Army Group were distributed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean area, including Albania, Greece ...

Army Group F Army Group F () was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. The commander of Army Group F served also as the ''OB South East, Oberbefehlshaber Südost'' (Commander-in-Chief in the Southeast). Created 12 Augus ...

Army Group G Army Group G () fought on the Western Front of World War II and was a component of OB West. History Army Group G was initially deployed as an '' Armeegruppe''-type formation on 28 April 1944, but was later upgraded to ''Heeresgruppe''-type on 1 ...

Army Group H Army Group H () was a German army group during World War II, active between November 1944 and May 1945. It was deployed mainly in the German-occupied Netherlands. The staff was known as Supreme Commander North West () from 7 April. The army grou ...

Army Group Africa The Panzer Army Africa ( German: ''Panzerarmee Afrika''; Italian: ''Gruppo Corazzato Africa'') was a joint German-Italian field army that fought in the North African campaign during World War II. It consisted of one German corps and three Itali ...

(''Heeresgruppe Afrika'') *

Army Group Don Army Group Don () was a short-lived army group of the German Army during World War II. It existed between November 1942 and February 1943 and was primarily concerned with the Battle of Stalingrad, which was concurrently fought. History After a ...

Army Group Courland Army Group Courland () was a Nazi Germany, German Army Group on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front. It was created from remnants of the Army Group North, blockade, isolated in the Courland Peninsula by the advancing Soviet Army for ...

(''Heeresgruppe Kurland'') *

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

(''Heeresgruppe Mitte'') *

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

(''Heeresgruppe Nord'') *

Army Group North Ukraine The Army Group North Ukraine () was a major formation of the German army in World War II. History It was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group South under Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model. In April 1944 it consisted of 1st Panzer Arm ...

(''Heeresgruppe Nordukraine'') * Army Group Ostmark (''Heeresgruppe Ostmark'') *

Army Group South Army Group South () was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Ge ...

(''Heeresgruppe Süd'') *

Army Group South Ukraine Army Group South Ukraine (, ) was a joint German-Romanian group on the Eastern Front during World War II. Army Group South Ukraine was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group A. This army group saw action during the Jassy-Kishinev Operat ...

(''Heeresgruppe Südukraine'') * Army Group Upper Rhine (''Heeresgruppe Oberrhein'') *

Army Group Vistula Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similar ...

(''Heeresgruppe Weichsel'')

Continuities of the ''Heeresgruppen''

There were numerous redesignations applied to the ''Heeresgruppen''-type army groups, which often overlapped with each other. For instance, "Army Group South" of the Invasion of Poland became "Army Group A" of the Western Campaign, which became "Army Group Center" during Operation Barbarossa. "Army Group North" during the Invasion of Poland became "Army Group B" in the west and then "Army Group South" in the east. "Army Group C" during the Polish and French campaigns became "Army Group North" during the Soviet campaign. The following diagram attempts to show what ''Heeresgruppe'' was renamed how and when. The colors stand for the theaters of war:

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in pink,

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in blue, Balkans campaign in purple,

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

in orange, Eastern Front in red, Italian front in green, Western Front in yellow. ImageSize = width:1080 height:420 PlotArea = width:965 height:360 left:35 bottom:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy # European date format Period = from:01/01/1939 till:08/05/1945 # TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1939 ScaleMinor = grid:blue unit:month increment:3 start:01/09/1939 PlotData= color:pink width:15 bar:N from:01/09/1939 till:10/10/1939 text: AG North color:blue width:15 bar:N from:15/10/1939 till:17/06/1941 text: AG B color:red width:15 bar:N from:22/06/1941 till:20/01/1945 text: AG Center bar:N from:25/01/1945 till:08/05/1945 text: AG North color:pink width:15 bar:S from:01/09/1939 till:20/10/1939 text: AG South color:blue width:15 bar:S from:25/10/1939 till:17/06/1941 text: AG A color:red width:15 bar:S from:22/06/1941 till:04/07/1942 text: AG South bar:S from:09/07/1942 till:04/02/1943 text: AG B bar:S from:09/02/1943 till:01/04/1944 text: AG South bar:S from:06/04/1944 till:17/09/1944 text: N. Ukraine bar:S from:23/09/1944 till:20/01/1945 text: AG A bar:S from:25/01/1945 till:08/05/1945 text: AG Center color:red width:15 color:blue width:15 bar:C from:01/09/1939 till:17/06/1941 text: AG C color:red width:15 bar:C from:22/06/1941 till:20/01/1945 text: AG North bar:C from:25/01/1945 till:08/05/1945 text: AG Courland color:yellow width:15 bar:D from:26/10/1940 till:05/09/1944 text: AG D bar:D from:10/09/1944 till:17/04/1945 text:

OB West ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' ( German: initials ''OB West'') (German: "Commander-in-Chief n theWest") was the overall commander of the '' Westheer'', the German armed forces on the Western Front during World War II. It was directly subordinate to t ...

bar:D from:22/04/1945 till:08/05/1945 text: OB Süd color:red width:15 bar:A from:09/07/1942 till:01/04/1944 text: AG A bar:A from:06/04/1944 till:17/09/1944 text: S. Ukraine bar:A from:23/09/1944 till:27/03/1945 text: AG South bar:A from:01/04/1945 till:08/05/1945 text: AG Ostmark color:red width:15 bar:DON from:21/11/1942 till:12/02/1943 text: AG Don color:purple width:15 bar:E from:01/01/1943 till:08/05/1945 text: AG E color:orange width:15 bar:AFR from:01/02/1943 till:13/05/1943 text: AG Afrika color:green width:15 bar:ITA from:19/07/1943 till:21/11/1943 text: AG B bar:ITA from:26/11/1943 till:02/05/1945 text: AG C color:purple width:15 bar:F from:12/08/1943 till:25/03/1945 text: AG F color:yellow width:15 bar:B from:26/11/1943 till:17/04/1945 text: AG B color:yellow width:15 bar:G from:28/04/1944 till:05/05/1945 text: AG G color:yellow width:15 bar:H from:11/11/1944 till:04/05/1945 text: AG H color:yellow width:15 bar:U from:22/01/1945 till:29/01/1945 text: AG Upper Rhine color:red width:15 bar:V from:24/01/1945 till:08/05/1945 text: AG Vistula

''Armeegruppen''

'' Armeegruppen''-type "army groups" were frequently named after their commanding officer. The ''Armeegruppen'' of the ''Wehrmacht'' were: * Army Group Balck * Army Group Blumentritt * Army Group Dumitrescu * Army Group Felber * Army Group Fretter-Pico *

(formed on 28 April 1944 as ''Armeegruppe'', converted on 12 September 1944 into ''Heeresgruppe'') * Army Group Guderian * Army Group Heinrici * Army Group Liguria * Army Group Ruoff * Army Group Steiner * Army Group Student * Army Group Weichs * Army Group Wöhler

Brief history of German army groups (''Heeresgruppen'') during World War II

The development of German army groups can be briefly summarized as follows:{{Rp, page=7f., pages= * The

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

(September 1939) was conducted with two army groups:

and

. * At the same time,

was charged with the defense of the western border. * After the conclusion of the invasion of Poland in October 1939, Army Group North was reorganized into

and Army Group South was reorganized into

. * The

(May–June 1940) was conducted with three army groups: Army Group B on the right flank, Army Group A in the center, and Army Group C in a generally defensive stance on the left flank (opposite the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

). * To oversee the German occupation of France,

was formed on 25 October 1940. Its commander was additionally known as ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' after 15 March 1941. *

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

(June 1941) initiated the

German-Soviet War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

and was conducted by three army groups: Army Group North,

, and Army Group South. * For

Case Blue Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerb ...

(summer 1942), Army Group South was split into Army Groups A and B, with Army Group A facing the Caucasus and Army Group B covering the northern approach. * In November 1942,

was inserted between Army Groups A and B. It was dissolved, shortly after the end of the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, on 12 February 1943. * On 1 January 1943,

was formed to oversee the German occupation in the Balkans. * On 22 February 1943, the remnant German forces of the

North African campaign The North African campaign of World War II took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943, fought between the Allies and the Axis Powers. It included campaigns in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts (Western Desert campaign, Desert Wa ...

were briefly combined into Army Group ''Afrika''. It ceased to exist shortly after on 13 May 1943. * On 9 March 1943, Army Group B was renamed Army Group South. * On 17 July 1943, a new Army Group B was formed in southern Germany and northern Italy. It was later sent to German-occupied France on 1 December 1943. * On 26 July 1943, a new Army Group C was formed in Italy to manage the Italian campaign. * On 12 August 1943,

was formed in the Balkans. * On 31 March 1944, Army Group A was renamed

and Army Group South was renamed

. * On 28 April 1944,

was formed in German-occupied southern France. * On 20 September 1944, Army Group South Ukraine was renamed Army Group South and Army Group North Ukraine was renamed Army Group A. * On 11 November 1944,

was formed in the German-occupied Netherlands. * On 25 January 1945, several redesignations took place: Army Group A became Army Group Centre, Army Group Centre became Army Group North, Army Group North (now trapped in the

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket was a Pocket (military), pocket located on the Courland Peninsula in Latvia on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II from 9 October 1944 to 10 May 1945. Army Group North of the ''Wehrmacht'' were ...

) became

. A new army group,

, was inserted between Army Groups North (previously Army Group Centre) and Army Group Centre (previously Army Group A). * In April 1945, Army Group South was redesignated Army Group ''Ostmark''.

References

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 ...