Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
history

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1st Army (Russian Empire)

Division of the Imperial Russian Army from 1914 to 1918


Division of the Imperial Russian Army from 1914 to 1918

FieldValue
unit_name1st Army
imageEmblem of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Empire.svg
datesJuly 1914 – beginning of 1918
countryRussian Empire
branch[[File:Lesser Coat of Arms of Russian Empire.svg20px]] Imperial Russian Army
typeField army
battles
notable_commandersGeneral Aleksei Brusilov
General Lavr Kornilov
General Paul von Rennenkampf
  • World War I
    • Eastern Front
      • Battle of Stallupönen
      • Battle of Gumbinnen
      • Battle of Tannenberg
      • First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
      • Battle of Łódź
      • Bug–Narew Offensive
      • Second battle of Przasnysz
      • Narew Offensive General Lavr Kornilov General Paul von Rennenkampf

The 1st Army () was an army-level command of the Russian Imperial Army created during World War I. The First Army, commanded by General Paul von Rennenkampf, invaded East Prussia at the outbreak of war in 1914 along with the Second Army commanded by General Alexander Samsonov. After declaring war on the German Empire, the Russian Empire had been able to mobilize very quickly. All Russian forces were put under the command of Grand Duke Nikolai and his Quartermaster General Yuri Danilov.

The invading forces made a determined and speedy attack on East Prussia. However, the First and Second Armies were stopped by the German Eighth Army, led by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and his chief of staff, General Erich Ludendorff. The German and Russian armies met at Tannenberg, where the Second Army was encircled and suffered complete destruction. Both the First and Second Armies suffered terrible casualties in one of the most comprehensive German victories of World War I. The First Army also suffered defeat at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes in September 1914, which led to Rennenkampf's dismissal and replacement by Litvinov. First Army served under Northwestern front for the remainder of the war. Litvinov was replaced by Sokovnin in April 1917. Vannovski replaced Sokovnin in July and the army's final commander, von Notbek, took over in September 1917.

Order of battle on formation

The First Army consisted of the following units in August 1914:

Organization of 1st Army in August 1914ArmyCorpsDivision
**1st Army**[2nd Army Corps](2nd-army-corps-russian-empire)[26th Infantry Division](26th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[43rd Infantry Division](43rd-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[3rd Army Corps](3rd-army-corps-russian-empire)[25th Infantry Division](25th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[27th Infantry Division](27th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[4th Army Corps](4th-army-corps-russian-empire)[30th Infantry Division](30th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[40th Infantry Division](40th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[20th Army Corps](20th-army-corps-russian-empire)[28th Infantry Division](28th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[29th Infantry Division](29th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
(Unattached)[56th Infantry Division](56th-infantry-division-russian-empire)
[1st Guards Cavalry Division](1st-guards-cavalry-division-russian-empire)
[2nd Guards Cavalry Division](2nd-guards-cavalry-division-russian-empire)
[1st Cavalry Division](1st-cavalry-division-russian-empire)
[2nd Cavalry Division](2nd-cavalry-division-russian-empire)
[3rd Cavalry Division](3rd-cavalry-division-russian-empire)

Military Fronts in which the 1st Army participated

  • Northwestern Front (July 1914 – August 1915)
  • Western Front (August 1915 – April 1916)
  • Northern Front (April 1916 – July 1917)
  • Southwestern Front (July – September 1917)
  • Northern Front (September 1917 – the beginning of 1918)

Engagements

  • Battle of Stallupönen (17 August 1914)
  • Battle of Gumbinnen (20 August 1914)
  • Battle of Tannenberg (23–30 August 1914)
  • First Battle of the Masurian Lakes (8–11 September 1914)
  • Battle of Łódź (11 November – 6 December 1914)

Commanders

The 1st Army had the following commanders until it was demobilized in 1918.

FromUntilRankName
19 July 191418 November 1914General of the CavalryPaul von Rennenkampf
5 December 19142 April 1917General of the CavalryAleksandr Litvinov
12 April 191725 April 1917Lieutenant GeneralIlya Odishelizde
22 April 191730 July 1917Lieutenant GeneralMikhail Sokovin
31 July 19179 September 1917Lieutenant GeneralGleb Vannovsky
9 September 1917November 1917Lieutenant GeneralVladimir von Notbek

References

References

  1. Patrick Murphy. (6 March 2006). "The Victories and Defeats of the Russian Army: 1914". MilitaryHistoryOnline.com.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1st Army (Russian Empire) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report