Georg von der Marwitz Biography

Appointed Inspector General of the Cavalry

The war on the Western Front, head of a group of cavalry divisions, does not lend itself well to cavalry as a form of offensive warfare, as he discovers at the Battle of Haelen in Belgium (the first cavalry engagement of the War). Advance squadrons of Georg von der Marwitzs cavalry corps prove unable to defeat a single Belgian cavalry division under de Witte guarding the Haelen bridge

The war on the Western Front, head of a group of cavalry divisions, does not lend itself well to cavalry as a form of offensive warfare, as he discovers at the Battle of Haelen in Belgium (the first cavalry engagement of the War)

Marwitzs cavalry protects the flank of First Army during its retreat in the wake of the First Battle of the Marne

Marwitzs cavalry protects the flank of First Army during its retreat in the wake of the First Battle of the Marne

Marwitz is dispatched to the Eastern Front in command of the newly-established XXXVIII Reserve Corps, where it was believed that the cavalry would fare better

Marwitz is dispatched to the Eastern Front in command of the newly-established XXXVIII Reserve Corps, where it was believed that the cavalry would fare better

Following action at the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes in February wins the prestigious Pour le Merite

Appointed Commander of the Second Army

Appointed Commander of the Second Army

Appointed Commander of the Second Army

20 divisions are deployed during the German counter-attack, the so-called Hutier infiltration tactics (named after the German commander who had first deployed them, Oskar von Hutier), within a week virtually all lost ground had been reclaimed

During the battle casualties were high, the Germans suffered losses of approximately 50,000 and the British 45,000.

In pressing home wave after wave of German counterattacks, starting 20 November, he worked to recover all ground lost to the British. Facing the British attack is the German Second Army led by Georg von der Marwitz.

Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war.

Within hours the lightly defended Germans are forced back 6 km to Cambrai, the three trench systems of the Hindenburg Line pierced for the first time in the war

Facing the British attack is the German Second Army led by Georg von der Marwitz

Resistance would grow 40 German divisions from the Army Groups of the Crown Prince and General Max Karl von Gallwitz, with the largest force the 5th Army of Group Gallwitz commanded by General Georg von der Marwitz

The Second Armys failure to secure the fall of Amiens (in particular the critically important railway junction) in the centre of the German line compromised the whole of Ludendorffs planned advance

The Second Armys failure to secure the fall of Amiens (in particular the critically important railway junction) in the centre of the German line compromised the whole of Ludendorffs planned advance

German Second Army absorbs the main shock of the Allied surprise offensive.

Commands German Second Army facing the Allied assault east of Amiens.

The British counter-attack of 8 August at the Battle of Amiens is spectacularly successful, and amounts to what Ludendorff termed "the black day of the German Army"

Jointly commands 35 divisions in the field, the Germans are driven back by the Allies