4th Army (German Empire)

The 4th Army (German: 4. Armee / Armeeoberkommando 4 / A.O.K. 4) was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilisation in August 1914 from the VI Army Inspection.^[1] The army was disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war.^[2]

History

At the outset of war, the 4th Army, with the 5th Army, formed the center of the German armies on the Western Front, moving through Luxembourg and Belgium in support of the great wheel of the right wing that was to pin down and defeat the French armies. The 4th Army defeated Belgian forces on the frontier, drove the French out of the Ardennes and then encountered the British Expeditionary Force in the "Race to the Sea" at the First Battle of Ypres. The 4th Army faced the British in Flanders for the rest of the war, notably defending in the Battle of Passchendaele (1917), attacking in the 1918 German spring offensive and finally being pushed back in the Hundred Days Offensive from August 1918.

At the end of the war it was serving as part of Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht.^[3]

Order of Battle, 30 October 1918

By the end of the war, the 4th Army was organised as:

Noteworthy individuals

Commanders

The 4th Army had the following commanders during its existence.^[5]

Others

The later World War II-era Wehrmacht general Heinz Guderian served as an assistant signals officer (initially as a lieutenant) at 4th Army HQ until his reassignment to the German general staff in 1918.^[6]

Glossary

Armee-Abteilung or Army Detachment in the sense of "something detached from an Army". It is not under the command of an Army so is in itself a small Army.^[7]
Armee-Gruppe or Army Group in the sense of a group within an Army and under its command, generally formed as a temporary measure for a specific task.
Heeresgruppe or Army Group in the sense of a number of armies under a single commander.

References

^ Cron 2002, p. 393
^ Cron 2002, pp. 79–80
^ Ellis & Cox 1993, p. 187
^ Ellis & Cox 1993, p. 186
^ Cron 2002, p. 394
^ Rauch, Stephen J. (2022). "Guderian, Heinz (1888–1953)". In Zabecki, David T. (ed.). Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History. Vol. 2. ABC Clio. pp. 571–572. ISBN 9781598849806.
^ Cron 2002, p. 84

Bibliography

Cron, Hermann (2002) [1937]. Imperial German Army 1914–18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle. Helion. ISBN 1-874622-70-1.
Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-766-6.