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2nd Army (Russian Empire)

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The Russian 2nd Army (2-я армия, 2А ) was an army-level command of the Imperial Russian Army in World War I . It was formed just prior to the outbreak of hostilities from the units of Warsaw Military District and was mobilized in August 1914. The army was effectively destroyed at Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. However, it was rebuilt soon thereafter and fought until almost the end of the war.

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37-645: The field headquarters of the 2nd Army was formed from the staff of the Warsaw Military District in July 1914. Towards the end of 1917, the staff was based in Slutsk , Belarus . It was dissolved in early 1918. In the beginning of World War I, the army included the 1st , VI, XIII, XV and XXIII army corps. Near the end of 1917, the army included: Prior to the outbreak of war, in which Russia would likely have to face both Germany and Austria-Hungary ,

74-456: A cavalry brigade each. Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule: Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more On mobilization on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. The Leib Hussar Brigade

111-458: A judge and a police officer. The riot, unprecedented in post-WW2 Soviet Belarus, was triggered by the conduct of a murder trial, which was perceived to be unjust by the local residents. The first indication of Jews in Slutsk is from 1583 when the city was part of Lithuania. Formal recognition came in 1601. By 1623, Jews owned 16 homes. In 1691, Slutsk became one of the five leading communities of

148-467: A perfect opportunity to pursue and cut the XX Corps off and so began moving the 2nd Army in a northwesterly direction, changing his direction of attack and not informing Rennenkampf in the process. Seeing this opportunity and feeling safe on his flanks, he transferred the bulk of his force to the northwest, leaving a single corps, VI Russian Corps , to simultaneously hold the right flank and swing north to

185-716: The German Army before and during World War I . As the German Army expanded in the latter part of the 19th century, the XVII Army Corps was set up on 1 April 1890 in Danzig as the Generalkommando ( headquarters ) for West Prussia . It took command of two divisions formed on the same date: 35th Division and 36th Division . It was assigned to the I Army Inspectorate , which became the 8th Army at

222-641: The Lake Naroch Offensive , which was unsuccessful and in which the army suffered heavy losses. Slutsk Slutsk ( Belarusian : Слуцк , romanized :  Sluck ; Russian : Слуцк ; Polish : Słuck , Lithuanian : Sluckas , Yiddish / Hebrew : סלוצק) is a town in Minsk Region , Belarus . It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District , and is located on the Sluch River 105 km (65 mi) south of

259-631: The Province of East Prussia in military affairs. It stipulated that, from 1 April 1890, the entire power of the Army of the German Empire should be 20 army corps (Guards, I - XVII, I and II Bavarian). The All-highest Cabinet Order ( Allerhöchste Kabinettsorder , AKO) of 1 February 1890 authorised the formation of the XVI and XVII Army Corps. The latter was assigned to the I Army Inspectorate and included

296-526: The 1st and then the 2nd Army crossed the border into East Prussia, meeting little to no resistance. The 1st Army would engage the Germans at the battles of Stallupönen and Gumbinnen while the 2nd Army had remained unengaged, advancing to the south of the 1st Army. Following the failed German counterattack at the Battle of Gumbinnen and the subsequent German withdrawal, the 1st Army did not press on, allowing

333-401: The 2nd Army had been intended to be a reserve formation, held back until either of the formations engaged against Germany and Austria-Hungary required reinforcements. Following the outbreak of war it was mobilised in early August and placed under the command of General Alexander Samsonov . Under pressure from their ally France , who was facing a powerful German invasion force in the west, it

370-540: The 2nd Army to catch up but due to a breakdown in communication (partly due to the animosity of the two commanders) the 2nd Army was not made aware of this and so it continued to march on, a fatal move that would eventually expose the right flank of the 2nd Army. The 2nd Army was also experiencing severe supply shortages and along with the 1st Army a worsening communication situation as both armies had outrun their secure telegraph lines, were short of experienced telegraph operators and lacked cryptographic equipment. The result

407-467: The 2nd Army's advance was relatively unopposed until 22 August when it encountered German forces all along its front. A number of successful thrusts were conducted, pushing the Germans back. On 23 August they succeeded in driving the German XX Corps back to a defensive line. A second push against the XX Corps on the 24th failed but the Germans withdrew to avoid being cut off. Samsonov saw this as

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444-610: The 2nd Army's left flank and had met the German XVII Corps that had continued in a southwesterly direction after breaking through the 2nd Army's right flank, cutting off the 2nd Army's route of retreat and pocketing it around Tannenberg. Throughout the 29th German artillery pounded the Tannenberg pocket and at some point on the 29th Samsonov shot himself. The shattered remnants of the 2nd Army surrendered on 30 August with some 90,000 Russian POWs being captured and with them

481-474: The Jewish community numbered 10,264 inhabitants, or 77% of the city population. They played a central role in the cities markets, particularly in agricultural produce. Slutsk was important in terms of Torah study. Among the rabbinic figures who served there were Yehudah Leib Pohovitser, Chayim ha-Kohen Rapoport, Yosef Dov Ber Soloveichik (1865–1874), and Isser Zalman Meltzer . The famous Slutsk-Kletsk Yeshiva

518-649: The Lithuanian 2nd Battalion, which was a German-sponsored Schutzmannschaft or Auxiliary Police formation established in Kaunas , soon after the Nazi occupation of Lithuania . A further massacre was carried out over several days during the spring of 1942, when the inhabitants of the "field ghetto" of Slutsk were taken to the forest near the village of Bezverkhovichi, 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Slutsk, where they were shot or murdered in gas vans. According to survivors,

555-497: The Lithuanian Jewish Council. By 1750 there were 1,593 Jewish people, accounting for one third of the population. In economic life, Jewish people were concentrated in commerce; three-fourths of the town's merchants were Jewish, and a similar share of people in the alcohol business were Jewish. After annexation by Russia in 1793, growth of the city slowed, in part due to it being bypassed by the railroad. By 1897

592-731: The Russian 2nd Army ceased to exist as an effective unit. However, not all of its units were destroyed, and the army remained in the line, participating in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes in early September, 1914. It continued to participate in the fighting on the Eastern Front until the dissolution of the Imperial Russian Army in early 1918. In March 1916 the 2nd Army was responsible for conducting

629-500: The Russian I Corps on the 2nd Army's left flank and threw it back. Samsonov diverted the Russian XIII Corps , which had been leading the northwestern thrust, to the southwest in an attempt to reinforce the 2nd Army's left flank but the decision came too late and like the right flank, the left flank was now exposed. Late on the 28th Samsonov finally realised the grave situation the 2nd Army was in with both flanks exposed. With

666-605: The capital Minsk . As of 2024, it has a population of 60,056. The city is situated in the south-west of Minsk Region, 26 km (16 mi) north of Salihorsk . Slutsk was first mentioned in writing in 1116. It was part of the Principality of Turov and Pinsk , but in 1160 it became the capital of a separate principality . From 1320–1330 it was part of the domain of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Casimir IV Jagiellon vested it with Magdeburg town rights in 1441. It

703-418: The centre also facing critical supply shortages the assault was halted before an order to retreat to the southeast was given. Samsonov then requested that the 1st Army break-off its assault on Königsberg and assist the 2nd Army by covering its retreat. The order to retreat and the request for assistance came too late to rescue the 2nd Army. The German I Corps had proceeded to move due east after breaking through

740-540: The former estate of Mokhart, popularly called Mokharty, 5 km (3.1 mi) east of Slutsk, where they were shot from behind in mass graves by personnel of the Minsk security police office. During the liquidation, some Jews fought back, shooting at the German and Latvian soldiers. In response, the Germans burnt the ghetto to the ground. Postwar court proceedings cite a minimum of 1,600 victims, of which 1,200 were murdered at

777-523: The graves at Mokharty, the rest in the ghetto itself. Slutsk is twinned with: Former twin towns: On 8 March 2022, the Polish city of Tczew ended its partnership with Slutsk as a response to the Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . XVII Corps (German Empire) The XVII Army Corps / XVII AK ( German : XVII. Armee-Korps ) was a corps level command of

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814-468: The largest single massacres occurred, known as the Slutsk affair , when Jews were herded towards pits in the Gorovakha ravine, approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) west of Slutsk, where they were shot. According to German sources the total number of victims was 3,400, while Soviet sources cite 8,000. These killings were carried out by two companies of the German 11th Reserve Order Police Battalion and

851-442: The now exposed left and right flanks of the 2nd Army. With no communication between the two Russian armies, unsafe broadcasting of orders and the decision to change his direction of attack, the 2nd Army would find itself outflanked and cut off from mutual support from the 1st Army. On 26 August the 1st Army approached Königsberg unopposed as the German forces had identified the 2nd Army as a more immediate threat and had withdrawn to

888-419: The objective of Seeburg and a single corps, I Russian Corps , to hold the left flank. Unbeknown to Samsonov, the German command, who had been receiving intercepted Russian orders involving troop movements, had already shifted forces to the south to check his advance and when further orders were intercepted with news that he had changed his direction, German forces were able to adjust their positions and threaten

925-477: The south in order to engage it. The VI Corps, whom Samsonov had left on its own to seize the objective of Seeburg, was met by the German XVII Corps around Seeburg and Bischofstein and was routed, exposing the 2nd Army's right flank and supply lines. Unaware that his right flank was now exposed, Samsonov pressed the 2nd Army on and repeatedly engaged the XX Corps. On the 27th the German I Corps engaged

962-686: The start of the First World War . XVII Corps served on the Eastern Front from the start of the war. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 7th Army , Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front . In 1919, the corps served with the Grenzschutz Ost (border protection east) in Danzig , West Prussia . By a law of 27 January 1890, it was decided to separate the Province of West Prussia from

999-630: The territory of the Landwehr districts Schlawe , Stolp , Konitz , Thorn , Graudenz , Danzig , Preußisch Stargard , Neustadt , Osterode , Deutsch-Eylau and Marienburg . Later, the districts of Osterode , Deutsch-Eylau and Marienburg would be reassigned to the XX Corps . The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and

1036-547: The town was known for its anti- hasidic misnagdim . The Haskalah and modern Jewish political parties also were represented among the population. During the German occupation of Slutsk, the Jewish inhabitants were systematically targeted for killing. The first Jewish victims were killed in the garden on Monakhov Street during the initial days immediately following the arrival of the Germans on 27 June 1941. The victims numbered between 70 and 120, according to different sources. Four months later, on 27 and 28 October 1941, one of

1073-477: The town. Following the 17th century, the city became famous for manufacturing kontusz belts , some of the most expensive and luxurious pieces of garment of the szlachta . Because of the popularity of the cloths made here, belts worn over the żupan were often called of Slutsk despite their real place of origin. In 1778, it became a county seat within the Nowogródek Voivodeship . Slutsk

1110-499: The victims were driven to the execution site in two to four trucks on Mondays and Saturdays. The last Jews of the field ghetto were murdered on the Passover , 2–3 April 1942. The total number of Jews murdered at Bezverkhovichi is estimated to have been between 3,000 and 4,000. One of the last significant massacres of Jews occurred on 8 February 1943, with the liquidation of the "town ghetto" of Slutsk. The Jews were driven in trucks to

1147-609: Was a private town , owned by the Olelkovich and Radziwiłł families, which transformed it into a center of the Polish Reformed Church with a gymnasium and a strong fortress. The first Jewish residents arrived by the late 1500s, expanding in population over the following centuries until the town was majority Jewish from the 1800s until World War II. In the In the mid-17th century, Scottish immigrants settled in

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1184-408: Was decided that the 2nd Army would join the 1st Army as part of General Yakov Zhilinskiy 's Northwestern Front where it would participate in the upcoming invasion of East Prussia . The combination of the 1st and 2nd Armies had a fatal flaw; Samsonov and the commander of the 1st Army, Paul von Rennenkampf , had had an antagonistic and hostile relationship since 1905. Between 7–9 August 1914 first

1221-604: Was founded in Slutsk in 1883 by Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky . Another outstanding scholar of learning in the Talmud and Torah who was also a Hebrew poet and became a Hebrew educator in the United States was Ephraim Eliezer Lisitzky , who was born and grew to his teens in Slutsk before emigrating to the U.S. According to legend the Baal Shem Tov visited Slutsk in 1733 at the invitation of Shmuel Ickowicz. Despite this,

1258-581: Was occupied by the German Army on 26 June 1941, and placed under the administration of Reichskommissariat Ostland . The period of German occupation ended on 30 June 1944, when troops of the 1st Belorussian Front recaptured the town during the Minsk Offensive of the Red Army . On 2 October 1967, a riot occurred during which the local court building was set on fire, resulting in the death of

1295-493: Was part of Russian Empire after Second Partition of Poland in 1793. It was occupied by Germany in 1918 and by Poland between 1919 and 1920 during Polish–Soviet War . In 1920, it was the centre of a major anti- bolshevik uprising known as the Slutsk defence action . Until World War II and the Slutsk Affair , the city was predominantly Jewish ; however, now the population includes no more than 100 Jews. Slutsk

1332-525: Was that the Russians were now broadcasting their orders on unsecure lines, which were being intercepted and translated by German operators. The 2nd Army was to continue its advance south of the 1st Army and German 8th Army before swinging north towards its objective of Seeburg , but with little to no effective communication there was little coordination between the two armies. While sluggish due to supply shortages, poor logistics, and misuse of railway lines,

1369-544: Was withdrawn to form part of the 2nd Cavalry Division and the 35th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, XVII Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment. On mobilisation, XVII Corps

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