|
Georg
Kornelius Adalbert von der Marwitz
(07.07.1856 - 27.10.1929)
place of birth: Klein-Nossin, Pommern (Nozynko, PL)
Königreich
Preußen: Gen-Insp Kav, OBH, Generaladjutant SM, General
der Kavallerie
Prussian cavalry officer Georg
von der Marwitz was born to the family of Adalbert von der Marwitz,
landed aristocracy of the Stolp district of Pomerania (present-day
Slupsk, Poland). Young Georg found his career niche with the
Prussian cavalry, joining a Guard-Uhlan regiment fresh out of military
school. He served chiefly with cavalry regiments prior to the war, and
was the inspector general of cavalry as the war broke out.
Generalmajor von der Marwitz lead the 2nd Cavalry Corps
(HKK2) during Germany's early August invasion of Belgium.
This independent corps of three divisions were some of the first to
cross the frontier and participated in the war's initial engagement
involving cavalry troops at Haelen, Belgium. HKK2
was also involved in the First Battle of the Marne.
Imperial Germany's
Supreme Command quickly recognized that cavalry units would
not be effective on the static Western Front and in the face of modern
military tactics and weaponry; so in December 1914, HKK2 was dissolved
and von der Marwitz was transferred to East Prussia to command the
newly organized 38th Reserve Corps. His February 1915 victory during
the Winter Masurian battle earned him the Pour
le Merite. In March, von der Marwitz and his army
corps were sent to Miskolcz, Hungary where the 38th
became known as the Beskidenkorps, named after the
Beskid mountain range in the Carpathians. The Austrians had just lost
the Przemysl Fortress and during the Easter season, von der Marwitz
assembled his troops at Mezö
Laborcz (German: Laborcza Tal) to fight
off the Russians as they attempted to cross into Hungary. In heavy snow
over the next few weeks, the Germans countered and fought the Russians
to a stalemate in the Wirawa Gorge
area.
After being sent to fight with von
Gallwitz against the Serbs, Marwitz became very ill, to the point where
he a few weeks of convalescent in October and November 1915. Upon
recovering, he went to Macedonia to take charge of
VI. Army Corps which took part in Field Marshal von Mackensen's
December 1916 invasion of Romania. He then moved
back to the Western Front to receive command of the Second Army which
successfully held the line against BEF forces during the Battle
of Cambrai (November 1917). On 8 August 1918, however,
Marwitz' forces faced a massed tank attack at Amiens
where Germany experienced its "Black Day" - its
worst defeat of the war, losing over 30,000 casualties at Albert-Villers-Bretonneux.
He also commanded Germany's Fifth Army at Verdun
and the Champagne area until the Armistice in
November 1918. General der Kavallerie von der
Marwitz died on 27 October 1929 in Wundichow, Kreis Stolp.
|
