17th Army (Wehrmacht)

Field army of Nazi Germany during WWII 17th Army de 17. Armee Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-219-0553A-17, Russland, bei Pokrowka, leichte Flak.jpg June 1943, German troops in Southern Russia 20 December 1940 – 7 May 1945 Nazi Germany 16px German army (16px Wehrmacht) Field army Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel Hermann Hoth Richard Ruoff Erwin Jänecke Karl Allmendinger Friedrich Schulz Wilhelm Hasse The German Seventeenth Army (de 17. Armee) was a field army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Operation Barbarossa On 22 June 1941, the 17th Army was part of Army Group South when Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the Soviet Union. From 1 July, the Hungarian "Mobile Corps" (Gyorshadtest) was subordinated to the 17th Army. Along with 1st Panzer Army, the 17th Army encircled Soviet forces in central Ukraine during the Battle of Uman. Approximately 100,000 Soviet troops were captured. The 17th Army participated in the Battle of Kiev. Army Group South was ordered to resume the offensive, with the objective of capturing Rostov-on-Don, the gateway to the Caucasus oil fields, and Kharkov, a major center of heavy industry for the Soviet Union. In October 1941, the army came under the command of Hermann Hoth, who was convicted post-war in the High Command Trial.Hebert 2010 213 Hoth was an active supporter of the war of annihilation (Vernichtungskrieg de Vernichtungskrieg) against the Soviet Union. He called upon his men to understand the need for "harsh punishment of Jewry". In support of the Severity Order issued by Walter von Reichenau in October 1941, in November 1941 Hoth issued the following directive to troops under his command:Burleigh 1997 69 Every sign of active or passive resistance or any sort of machinations on the part of Jewish-Bolshevik agitators are to be immediately and pitilessly exterminated ... These circles are the intellectual supports of Bolshevism, the bearers of its murderous organisation, the helpmates of the partisans. It is the same Jewish class of beings who have done so much damage to our own Fatherland by virtue of their activities against the nation and civilisation, and who promote anti-German tendencies throughout the world, and who will be the harbingers of revenge. Their extermination is a dictate of our own survival. Under Hoth's command, units of the 17th Army took part in the hunt for and murder of Jews in its territory of control.Hebert 2010 273 Battle of Stalingrad In 1942, Army Group South was to spearhead the German summer offensive in Russia known as Case Blue. The 17th Army was to give flank protection to 1st Panzer Army as it struck towards the Don River. From June to July, the German 17th Army, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia, and the Romanian 3rd Army were organized as "Army Group Ruoff". In August 1942, Hitler sub-divided Army Group South into two new army groups: Army Group A and Army Group B. Army Group A included the 17th Army, the 1st Panzer Army, and the 4th Panzer Army. Army Group B included the 2nd Army, the 6th Army, the Italian 8th Army, and the Hungarian 2nd Army. By October 1942, the Romanian 3rd Army and the Romanian 4th Army were added to further bolster Army Group B. While Army Group B struck towards Stalingrad, Army Group A and the 17th Army attacked towards the Caucasus oilfields in what was to be known as the Battle of the Caucasus. However, by December with Soviet forces en-circled the 6th Army at Stalingrad, Army Group A withdrew from Southern Russia but 17th Army was ordered to hold the Kuban bridgehead. Hitler demanded a three-mile road and rail bridge across the Strait of Kerch in spring 1943 to support a push through the Caucasus to Persia, although the Cable Railway (Aerial tramway) which went into operation on 14 July with a daily capacity of one thousand tons was adequate for the defensive needs of the 17th Army in the Kuban bridgehead. Because of frequent earth tremors, vast quantities of extra-strength girders would be required, and their transport would curtail shipments of military material to the Crimea.Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer, Chapter 19 (1969, English translation 1970) Crimea 17th Army 4 October 1943460 Army Group A Commander Crimea 156th Field Training Division 1st Slovak Inf. Div. 1st Romanian Mtn. Corps 1st Romanian Mtn. Div. 2nd Romanian Mtn. Div. 5th German Corps 3rd Romanian Mtn. Div. 6th Romanian Cav. Div. 10th Romanian Inf. Div. 49th German Mtn. Corps 4th German Mtn. Div. 97th German Jg. Div. 50th German Inf. Div. 98th German Inf. Div. 370th German Inf. Div. 19th Romanian Inf. Div.By October 1943, the 17th Army was forced to retreat from the Kuban bridgehead across the Kerch Strait to Crimea. During the following months, the Red Army pushed back the German forces in the southern Ukraine. In November 1943, they eventually cut off the land-based connection of 17th Army through the Perekop Isthmus. Hitler forbade a sea evacuation of 17th Army because he thought the Red Army could use the Crimean Peninsula to launch air attacks against Romanian oil refineries. By the end of 1943, the Soviet command began landing troops in Kerch Strait.17th Army 2 February 1944467 Army Group A 5th German Corps 98th German Inf. Div. 3rd Romanian Mtn. Div. 6th Romanian Cav. Div. 5th Corps Reserve 73rd German Inf. Div. "Group Conrad" 49th German Mtn. Corps 50th German Inf. Div. 336th German Inf. Div. 9th Romanian Cav. Div. Romanian Cavalry Corps 10th Romanian Inf. Div. 19th Romanian Inf. Div. 1st Romanian Mtn. Corps Fortress Commander Sevastopol 1st Romanian Mtn. Div. 2nd Romanian Mtn. Div. 17th Army Reserve 111th German Inf. Div.On 2 February 1944, the 17th Army trapped on Crimea consisted of the V Army Corps with the 73rd German Infantry Division, 98th German Infantry Division, 3rd Romanian Mountain Division and 6th Romanian Cavalry Division, the "Group Conrad" constructed around the German XXXXIX Mountain Corps and the Romanian Cavalry Corps with the 10th Infantry Division and 19th Infantry Division under the Cavalry Corps and the 50th German Infantry Division, 336th German Infantry Division and 9th Romanian Cavalry Division under the XXXXIX Corps, and finally the 1st Romanian Mountain Corps with Fortress Commander Sevastopol and the Romanian 1st Mountain and 2nd Mountain Divisions. Additionally, the 17th Army had the 111th Infantry Division in reserves.Schönherr Klaus Die Ostfront 1943/44: Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 2007 9783421062352 Frieser, Karl-Heinz Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 8 Munich 451–490 Der Rückzug der Heeresgruppe A über die Krim bis Rumänien et al.467 thumb|Wounded soldiers of the 17th Army taken prisoner during the liberation of Sevastopol By 10 April 1944, moving troops near the Sivash and together with an attack at the Perekop Isthmus forced 17th Army to fall back to Sevastopol. The German Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or OKW) intended to hold Sevastopol as a fortress, much as the Red Army had done during the first battle for the Crimea from 1941 to 1942. Inadequate repair to the defenses of Sevastopol made this impossible and, on 9 May 1944, Sevastopol fell in less than one month after the start of the battle. The Army lost much of its heavy equipment in the Crimea. Considerable losses were suffered in terms of men lost in battle and losses associated with the sea evacuation. The commander-in-chief of the 17th Army, General Karl Allmendinger, described the presentation of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Kriegsmarine officers commanding the sea evacuation as an outrage, believing the naval evacuation was poorly carried out because of the abandonment of some units.Forczyk 2014 336Brazier 2022 1965-1966 Historian Robert Forczyk noted that the German Army was quick to point to the Kriegsmarine and the Romanians as scapegoats during the final campaign in the Crimea, and that Allmendinger and the other commanders of the 17th Army had committed their own fair share of mistakes in Crimea and in the final weeks of fighting around Sevastopol.Forczyk 2014 336 Eastern Front mainland, 1944/45 The Army was subsequently reorganized and continued to fight on the Eastern Front, including in the Battle of Bautzen. On 1 January 1945, the 17th Army (then under Army Group A) contained the 78th, 320th, 544th and 545th Volksgrenadier Divisions as well as the 359th and 371st Infantry Divisions. These six divisions had a total strength of 57,088 men.Lakowski, Richard Die Militärische Niederwerfung der Wehrmacht Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt 2008 9783421062376 Müller, Rolf-Dieter Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg 10/1 München 491–681 de Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung zwischen Ostsee und Karpaten504 Subordinate foreign units Hungarian Mobile Corps - 1 July 1941 to 24 November 1941 Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia - 3 June to July 1942 Slovak Mobile Command (Pilfousek Brigade), reorganized in early August 1941 as Slovak 1st Division Commanders y y Commander y n n 1 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R63893, Carl Heinrich von Stülpnagel.jpg General der Infanterie Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel Stülpnagel, Carl 1886 1944 20 December 1940 4 October 1941 1940 12 20 1941 10 04 2 Hermann Hoth.jpg Generaloberst Hermann Hoth Hoth, Hermann 1885 1971 5 October 1941 19 April 1942 1941 10 05 1942 04 19 3 Hans von Salmuth.jpg Generaloberst Hans von Salmuth Salmuth, Hans 1888 1962 20 April 1942 31 May 1942 1942 04 20 1942 05 31 4 Adolf Hitler during a conference with officers on the Eastern Front (cropped).jpg Generaloberst Richard Ruoff Ruoff, Richard 1883 1967 1 June 1942 24 June 1943 1942 06 01 1943 06 24 5 Generaloberst Erwin Jaenecke Jaenecke, Erwin 1890 1960 25 June 1943 1 March 1944 1943 06 25 1944 03 01 6 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-L29176, Ferdinand Schörner.jpg Generalfeldmarschall Ferdinand Schörner Schörner, Ferdinand 1892 1973 2 March 1944 31 March 1944 1944 03 02 1944 03 31 (5) Generaloberst Erwin Jaenecke Jaenecke, Erwin 1890 1960 1 April 1944 28 April 1944 1944 04 01 1944 04 28 7 General der Infanterie Karl Allmendinger Allmendinger, Karl 1891 1965 1 May 1944 25 July 1944 1944 05 01 1944 07 25 8 General der Infanterie Friedrich Schulz Schulz, Friedrich 1897 1976 26 July 1944 30 March 1945 1944 07 26 1945 03 30 9 Wilhelm Otto Oswald Hasse.jpg General der Infanterie Wilhelm Hasse Hasse, Wilhelm 1894 1945 1 April 1945 7 May 1945 1945 04 01 1945 05 07 References Citations 25em Bibliography Brazier Kevin https://www.google.co.jp/books/edition/The_Complete_Knight_s_Cross/T_ShEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Schulz+brinkmann+allmendinger&pg=PA1965-IA6&printsec=frontcover The Complete Knight's Cross: The Years of Defeat 1944-1945 2022-12-14 Fonthill Media en Burleigh Michael Ethics and Extermination: Reflections on Nazi Genocide 1997 http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/twentieth-century-european-history/ethics-and-extermination-reflections-nazi-genocide?format=PB Cambridge Cambridge University Press 10.1017/CBO9780511806162 9780521588164 Citino Robert M. The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943 2012 https://kuecprd.ku.edu/~upress/cgi-bin/978-0-7006-1826-2.html University Press of Kansas Lawrence, KS 978-0-7006-1826-2 2016-07-08 https://web.archive.org/web/20161007091533/https://kuecprd.ku.edu/~upress/cgi-bin/978-0-7006-1826-2.html 2016-10-07 dead Forczyk Robert https://www.google.co.jp/books/edition/Where_the_Iron_Crosses_Grow/opCqCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941–44 2014-09-20 Bloomsbury Publishing 978-1-78200-975-7 336 en Hebert Valerie 2010 Hitler's Generals on Trial: The Last War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg Lawrence, Kansas University Press of Kansas 978-0-7006-1698-5 Hitler's Generals on Trial: The Last War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg Stahel David 2009 Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/history/military-history/operation-barbarossa-and-germanys-defeat-east Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-76847-4 Georg Tessin Die Landstreifkräfte 15–30 Ground forces 15 to 30 Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS 1939-1945 4 Osnabrück Biblio 1970 German 17 Category:Military units and formations established in 1940 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945