The XXII (Motorized) Army Corps ( German : XXII. Armeekorps (mot.) ) was a German army corps during World War II .
124-627: The XIX Army Corps ( German: XIX. Armeekorps ) was an armored corps of the German Wehrmacht between 1 July 1939 and 16 November 1940, when the unit was renamed Panzer Group 2 (German: Panzergruppe 2 ) and later 2nd Panzer Army (German: 2. Panzerarmee ). It took part in the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France . It was formed in Vienna on 1 July 1939, the same day as
248-465: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
372-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
496-612: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
620-697: A Soviet POW and was eventually murdered in the Katyn massacre . On 17 September, the Soviet invasion of Poland began, as had been previously agreed upon in secret as part of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 23 August. XIX Army Group ceded Brest-Litowsk to the Red Army, as it was on the Soviet side on the country's division that the two nations had agreed to. Guderian had not been aware of the exact location of
744-620: A bit further. The signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union on 23 August 1939 created the immediate political prerequisites for Germany to launch its invasion. See also Causes of World War II and Events preceding World War II in Europe . During the Invasion of Poland , XIX Army Corps was part of 4th Army, which was itself subordinate to Fedor von Bock's Army Group North . 4th Army's task
868-982: A bridgehead on the Meuse , which allowed them to attack northward to the English Channel , and later southward to encircle Allied armies deployed in Belgium and the French forces along the Maginot Line . On 20 May, Amiens had been captured by 1st Panzer Division, to complete the XIX Army Corps' march to the English Channel. Germany won the Battle of Arras on the next day, which led the Allies to evacuate towards Calais and Dunkirk . XIX Army Corps continued northwards on 22 May then were reinforced by
992-544: A ceasefire with the Germans. A day later, the 29th Infantry Division reached the border of Switzerland , effectively encircling Allied soldiers on the Maginot Line. The XIX Army Corps campaign ended on 22 June, with the establishment of Vichy France . During its campaigns, the XIX Army Corps and Panzergruppe Guderian captured 250,000 prisoners. The XIX Army Corps was formed on 1 July 1939 in Vienna to group together
1116-559: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
1240-463: A joint parade to Semyon Krivoshein , the commander of the Soviet 29th Light Tank Brigade, Krivoshein had declined a full parade (citing the exhaustion of his soldiers as a reason). He instead chose to offer a Soviet military band to accompany the German parade exiting the city. The two commanders agreed to watch the exit of the German troops together, where they, together with Mauritz von Wiktorin, became
1364-458: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
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#17327724542641488-495: A plan devised by Erich von Manstein with consultation from Guderian in November 1939. One day in November, [Erich von] Manstein asked me to see him and offered his thoughts on a strong panzer attack through Luxembourg and southern Belgium against the extended Maginot Line at Sedan, to pierce that fortified front and to then complete the breakthrough through the French frontline. He asked me for an evaluation of his suggestion from
1612-696: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
1736-483: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
1860-496: A small token force using outdated FT-17 tanks. This obstacle too the XIX Army Corps overcame after some three days of delay actions by the Polish defenders. Plisowski's Polish soldiers, just like Raginis' units at Wizna, slowed down XIX Army Corps in spite of the crushing numerical and technological advantages on the German side. Plisowski abandoned the city near the end of the battle and retreated to other Polish lines. He would end up
1984-514: A supporter of a motorized style of warfare using armored vehicles and air support, a style that is often dubbed Blitzkrieg ('lightning warfare') in the English-speaking world, although German military officers like Guderian did not themselves use that term. He also had previous experience as a panzer leader in the context of bloodless invasion, as he was involved in guiding German panzer forces, specifically 2nd Panzer Division , through
2108-709: A supposed Polish attack. Walther Nehring was assigned to be XIX Army Corps' chief of staff. Germany's immediate preparations for the attack against its eastern neighbor had been ongoing since the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht issued the Directive for the Uniform Preparations of the Armed Forces for the War for 1939-40 between 3 April and 10 May 1939. The political background for the conflict goes quite
2232-601: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
2356-559: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
2480-558: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
2604-478: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
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#17327724542642728-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
2852-535: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
2976-611: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
3100-565: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
3224-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
3348-597: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
3472-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
3596-525: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
3720-578: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
3844-485: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
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3968-689: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
4092-416: The 2nd Panzer Division and the 4th Light Division , the latter of which became 9th Panzer Division on 3 January 1940. At its inception, the unit was not part of any particular Wehrkreis . The initial commander of XIX Army Corps was General der Panzertruppe (then equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general in the English-speaking world) Heinz Guderian . Guderian had previously made a name for himself as
4216-655: The 2nd Panzer Division , but was not assigned to any single military district . Commanded by General der Panzertruppe Heinz Guderian , it was stationed in Pomerania prior to taking part in the invasion of Poland. It was officially tasked with constructing fortifications in preparation for an attack from Polish forces, though in fact German preparations for the invasion were already well advanced. Subordinated within Army Group North (responsible for Poland's north-western Danzig Corridor region) and supplemented by
4340-464: The 3rd Panzer , 2nd Infantry , and 20th Infantry Divisions, XIX Army Corps was tasked to strike southwards towards the Vistula river and thereby prevent any eastwards retreat of Polish troops to its west. Operations began on 1 September 1939, beginning World War II in Europe. During the initial days of the Polish campaign, the XIX Army Corps captured the city of Pruszcz and a bridgehead east of
4464-639: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
4588-606: The Anschluss of Austria in March 1938. This was in spite of the fact that he had already officially been replaced as commander of that unit by Rudolf Veiel and was only ordered back to that post by Ludwig Beck for the purpose of the Anschluss. During that action, Guderian reported that more than 30% (70% according to Alfred Jodl ) of German panzer forces malfunctioned. For the overall makeup of German forces in preparation for
4712-498: The Battle of Chojnice and, bypassing Chojnice, captured Nowa Cerkiew . In the report by Army Group North command at 23:45, it was reported that most of the army group did not meet significant enemy resistance for most of the day, but that Polish presence strengthened in the sector of 4th Army against XIX Army Corps along the Osa river . On 2 September, the German forces gained a river crossing northeast of Chojnice, threatening to encircle
4836-873: The Brda river, inflicted massive casualties on the Polish Pomorska Cavalry Brigade (described by William L. Shirer as "sickening evidence of the carnage" and "symbolic of the brief Polish campaign"), prevented attempts by the Polish 9th Infantry Division and the Czersk Operational Group to recapture the Brda's east bank, was visited at the front by Adolf Hitler , Heinrich Himmler , and Erwin Rommel , and suffered casualties of 150 fatalities and 700 wounded. Moved to operating east of
4960-537: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
5084-480: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
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5208-522: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
5332-746: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
5456-666: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
5580-515: The Panzer I and Panzer II tank models that were at that point still in use in the Wehrmacht, including XIX Army Corps. Our conversation then transitioned to technical matters. Hitler inquired what aspects about our tanks had proven themselves and what aspects needed improvements. I explained that it was essential to get Panzer III and Panzer IV to the front at an accelerated speed and to increase
5704-735: The Semois river as the immediate operational objective for the following day, 12 May. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and
5828-536: The Soviet invasion of Poland , XIX Army Corps yielded control of the city to the Red Army, in line with the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , which they had unknowingly violated. XIX Army Corps then represented Germany in the subsequent German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk . The unit received several commendations after the Polish campaign ended on 6 October, with Guderian himself awarded the Knight's Cross of
5952-676: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
6076-422: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
6200-400: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
6324-430: The XIV Army Corps , and began the Siege of Calais on 24 May. A victory on 26 May saw XIX Army Corps take 20,000 Allied soldiers as prisoners of war , and the onset of the Battle of Dunkirk . Two days later soldiers of Leibstandarte killed 80 men of British 144th Infantry Brigade in the Wormhout massacre . The ensuing victory at Dunkirk ended the northward campaign of the XIX Army Corps on 29 May. On 1 June, Guderian
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#17327724542646448-408: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
6572-479: The sickle cut . Manstein, previously chief-of-staff for Army Group South, was replaced by Georg von Sodenstern and himself shipped off by Franz Halder , chief of Oberkommando des Heeres between 1938 and 1942, to command XXXVIII Army Corps , a newly formed corps that consisted of third wave recruits. According to Guderian, it took until wargames in February 1940 for the idea to be seriously considered once again. The commanders of Army Group A , which XIX Army Corps
6696-584: The 11th, extensive minesweeping operations had to be undertaken to enable 1st Panzer Division to advance further into Belgium. The division continued its march around noon, and attacked Neufchâteau , a fortified town defended by French cavalry and Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais . The defenders were routed, and 1st Panzer Division pursued them to Bouillon , taking Bertrix on the way. 2nd Panzer Division took Libramont , whereas 10th Panzer continued its attack on Habay-la-Neuve, suffering notable casualties. Rifle Regiment 69 lost its commander, Oberstleutnant Ehlermann, who
6820-487: The 3rd Colonial did not manage to significantly impede the 10th Panzer's advance. At 14:00, Halder notes in his diary that "Group Kleist seems to be getting on well". At 20:00, he makes an entry stating that "all Corps of [Army Group A] have well closed to Kleist". In the night from May 10 to May 11, Panzer Group Kleist's command warned of a possible French cavalry counter-attack and asked for 10th Panzer Division to be partially pulled back and turned towards Longwy to cover
6944-614: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
7068-414: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
7192-436: The German effort to trap the Allied troops with an attack through the Ardennes forest, devised by Erich von Manstein known as the sickle cut . The XIX Army Corps crossed into Luxembourg on 10 May, and progressed through southern Belgium supported by the German Third Air Fleet . Then Battle of Sedan was won by 15 May 1940 by the Germans, despite heavy losses to the French Char B1 bis tanks. The XIX Army Corps established
7316-417: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
7440-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
7564-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
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#17327724542647688-455: The Invasion of Poland, see also German order of battle for the invasion of Poland . Guderian was informed of Hitler's decision to invade Poland through his superior, Günther von Kluge , commander of 4th Army , on 22 August 1939. He was ordered to Pomerania, where 4th Army and with it XIX Army Corps were stationed, to join the Befestigungsstab Pommern ('fortification staff Pomerania') and to officially construct military fortifications against
7812-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
7936-449: The Iron Cross on 27 October. The XIX Army Corps was reorganized into the Western Campaign in May 1940, containing three Panzer Divisions. The 1st Panzer Division under Friedrich Kirchner , the 2nd Panzer Division under Rudolf Veiel , the 10th Panzer Division under Ferdinand Schaal , and the Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland joined the XIX Army Corps, now under the command of Panzer Group Kleist . The XIX Army Corps became part of
8060-757: The Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and the Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
8184-408: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
8308-446: The Polish Army. In May 1940, the High Command of the XXII Corps also received command over the XIV ( von Wietersheim ), XXXXI ( Reinhardt ) and XIX Army Corps ( Guderian ), and renamed as Panzer Group Kleist ( Panzergruppe Kleist ), was engaged in the Battle of France under command of Ewald von Kleist . It played a crucial role in the German victory, when it overwhelmed the French defenses at Sedan, and advanced west reaching
8432-402: The Polish commander, was killed in action on 10 September 1939 when he committed suicide with a hand grenade after giving his subordinates the order to surrender to the Germans. On 8 September, orders from OKH reached Guderian that XIX Army Corps was to continue its operation more conservatively, to stay close by 3rd Army's left flank and to not wander off too far to the east – incursions east of
8556-543: The Vistula in support of the 3rd Army's left flank after the Battle of Różan , they were positioned to join in attacking Warsaw from the north but were hampered by the slow progress of Army Group South . Von Bock instructed Guderian to set his sights onto Brest-Litovsk , deep in the Polish rear. Miscommunications with the infantry-based XXI Army Corps caused casualties and risked them being encircled by Polish forces. The Battle of Brest-Litovsk followed soon after, with XIX Army Corps troops slowed but emerging victorious. After
8680-556: The Vistula on any meaningful scale and had not yet conquered Warsaw. The southern armored divisions had met rougher hardships than Guderian's own units. 4th Panzer Division of XVI Corps within 10th Army had for example lost 57 out of 120 tanks, almost meeting a 50% casualty rate. With the threat of a Polish counter-offensive along the river Bzura , Fedor von Bock convinced OKH to allow XIX Army Corps to operate at its own pace on 3rd Army's left flank. Once more, Von Bock instructed Guderian to set his sights onto Brest-Litvosk, far east of
8804-399: The Vistula river to strike at Warsaw from the north. The advances made by the two German armies now threatened to encircle the Polish Modlin Army from both sides, but the Modlin Army was forced to hold the line to stop the Germans from reaching Warsaw too quickly and in order to keep the retreat routes for Polish units further east open – Army Poznan especially, which had been positioned
8928-720: The Vistula, was to cover the left flank of Von Küchler's 3rd Army. Küchler's forces had their main strength concentrated in the Nidzica - Wielbark area and had been met with fierce resistance by well-entrenched Polish defenders of the Modlin Army who benefitted from the swamps and forests north of Mława and Przasnysz . The Polish defensive line was taken on 6 September, crossing the Narew river at Różan (See also Battle of Różan ). The 3rd and 4th Armies were now to line up along
9052-493: The Wehrmacht had been reorganized. The four 'Light Divisions' that had operated during the Polish campaign had proven themselves too weak and were converted into full-strength Panzer Divisions. XIX Army Corps now contained three Panzer Divisions, 1st Panzer Division under Friedrich Kirchner , 2nd Panzer Division under Rudolf Veiel , and 10th Panzer Division under Ferdinand Schaal . These units were joined by Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland to complete XIX Army Corps. None of
9176-409: The armor's rear guard and were thus still in Polish hands. Guderian himself had to be evacuated out of the area by German motorcyclists to avoid capture by the Polish forces. XIX Army Corps reached Brest-Litovsk on 14 September 1939. The Battle of Brest-Litovsk between 14 September and 17 September 1939 saw the corps and 10th Panzer Division pitted against Konstanty Plisowski's Brześć defense group,
9300-592: The battered Polish Narew Operational Groups , supported by the Podlaska Cavalry Brigade , were now in XIX Army Corps' left rear, in the Grodno and Białystok areas. Guderian made a crucial tactical error when he moved the corps HQ across the river Narew too prematurely on 10 September, which made it difficult for the rest of his staff to fulfill their tasks. Several of the roads in the area had not yet been secured by German infantry units that served as
9424-506: The bitter resistance of some 700 to 1,000 Polish soldiers under leadership of Władysław Raginis , who managed to slow some 40,000 Germans down for three days at the Battle of Wizna . Multiple lines of bunkers were valiantly defended by the Polish soldiers, and it took the Germans careful maneuvering and a slow advance to eliminate the threat. Guderian refers to this battle as the Bunkerkampf bei Wizna , 'bunker combat near Wizna'. Raginis,
9548-456: The city and prompting Polish counter-attacks (see also Battle of Tuchola Forest ) . On the following day, September 3, 20 Infantry Division and 3rd Panzer Division had the support of 23rd Infantry Division to successfully encircle Polish infantry units in the forested battlefields. The Polish Pomorska Cavalry Brigade suffered massive casualties in the fight against 3rd Panzer Division. American writer and journalist William L. Shirer visited
9672-541: The demarcation line ahead of time and had thus unknowingly violated the treaty between Germany and the Soviet Union. XIX Army Corps was given until September 22 to vacate the area and cede control to the Soviets. XIX Army Corps then represented Germany in the subsequent German–Soviet military parade in Brest-Litovsk . The name "military parade" for this incident should not be misinterpreted: while Guderian had offered
9796-482: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
9920-456: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
10044-519: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
10168-453: The enemy north of Sępólno Krajeńskie when the German panzers were surprised by the sudden dissipation of the fog and subsequently found themselves opposite Polish anti-tank units. Ten German soldiers were killed. By the evening of 1 September 1939, XIX Army Corps had with its 3rd Panzer Division advanced through the city of Pruszcz and captured a bridgehead east of the river Brda . 20th Infantry Division, commanded by Mauritz von Wiktorin ,
10292-554: The enemy to the Channel coast. For me, of course, it was a great relief to know that my idea of pushing large numbers of tanks through such difficult country as the Ardennes was considered feasible by Guderian. Whatever Guderian's initial level of enthusiasm for Manstein's operational plan, he became supportive of the idea from November onwards, whereas much of the German supreme command did not initially share either man's optimism for
10416-548: The first day of the invasion, 1 September 1939. Although the Polish military had been aware of the German troop concentrations, the Germans were nevertheless able to seize the initiative with a surprise attack. Polish mobilization was not yet completed. While the Germans had a considerable manpower advantage as well (~1.5 million versus ~1 million), the main German military advantage were the numerical superiority in terms of equipment, including armored vehicles, field guns and military aircraft. Precise numbers are difficult to come by for
10540-537: The following day, 1 September 1939, and this time the order went through as planned, and World War II began in Europe. This decision was given out the day before in a document signed personally by Adolf Hitler, titled Weisung Nr. 1 für die Kriegsführung ('Directive No. 1 for the Conduct of the War'), justifying the war as the result of the exhaustion of political means and setting the day and time of attack to 04:45 on 1 September 1939. XIX Army Corps saw initial action on
10664-404: The furthest west out of any Polish army and which, although not under any major German attack, now had to scramble to fall back in line and close ranks with the retreating Pomorze Army and Lodz Army . From southern East Prussia, XIX Army Corps prepared to advance on Brest-Litovsk ( Polish : Brześć Litewski ) with the support of 10th Panzer Division from Army Group North's reserves. They met
10788-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
10912-540: The idea that the Ardennes woods and the Meuse River will shield Sedan and we assign entirely too much significance to these natural obstacles. The defenses in this sector are rudimentary, not to say embryonic. The attack began at 05:35 on 10 May 1940. Guderian personally attended the attack alongside 1st Panzer Division against Wallendorf in Luxembourg. Luxembourg, which had only maintained a token military force,
11036-481: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
11160-420: The invasion, numbering 391 tanks out of the German overall of 3195. Initially, the attack was planned to be launched on 26 August 1939, but in the night before the assault was to commence, the operation was abruptly cancelled due to diplomatic developments, causing a brief uncertainty whether the military campaign would take place at all. However, on 31 August 1939, the troops were once more called to action for
11284-460: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . Panzer Group Kleist The XXII (Motorized) Army Corps was created on 26 August 1939 in Wehrkreis X . The Corps participated the next month in the Invasion of Poland , during which it broke through the southern wing of
11408-409: The left flank of the French 2nd Army as the weakest part of the defensive line. Charles Huntziger , commander-in-chief of the French 2nd Army, said as late as 7 May 1940 that he did not believe "that the Germans will ever consider attacking in the region of Sedan". In fact, almost no French leader or politician foresaw the potential threat that was a German attack on the position of Sedan. The sector
11532-424: The line between Ostrów Mazowiecka and Warsaw were outright forbidden. Guderian and his superior, Army Group North's commander Fedor von Bock, protested against this restriction on the mobile forces. It turned out that Gerd von Rundstedt 's Army Group South was not progressing nearly as swiftly as Army Group North had anticipated; the southern forces, far stronger than their northern counterpart, had failed to cross
11656-431: The line between Ostrów and Warsaw previously given by OKH and deep in the Polish rear. Miscommunications with the infantry-based XXI Army Corps during their Narew crossing caused casualties; German infantry units, if unsupported by armored or air forces, had great trouble overcoming well-entrenched Polish defenders. On 12 September, XIX Army Corps was for the first time itself threatened by enemy encirclement. The remains of
11780-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
11904-653: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
12028-441: The only partially mobilized and bureaucratically ill-prepared Polish defenders. Guderian personally accompanied 3rd Panzer Brigade into action in heavy fog, including an incident where he fell under friendly fire by the artillery of 3rd Panzer Division. By 09:45, the XIX Army Corps was advancing along the railway line from then-German Sępólno Krajeńskie (Zempelburg) to Chojnice . The Army Corps saw its first notable engagement with
12152-608: The panzer group's left. Guderian asked for the order to be rescinded, fearing a temporary loss of a third of his strength, and Von Kleist eventually relented. The cavalry attack did not occur. Throughout the campaign towards the Meuse, XIX Army Corps was heavily supported by the German Third Air Fleet , which struck at French troop movements, infrastructure, railroad and rear guard communications at an exceptional operational depth of on average 76 kilometers per sortie. On
12276-482: The production of these models. For future developments it should be kept in mind that speed was sufficient, but that it was important to strengthen the armor, especially in the front, and to increase the range and piercing of the guns, thus larger barrels and projectiles with bigger loads. Same thing held true for the anti-tank guns. For the 1940 campaign against France and the Low Countries, the armored forces of
12400-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
12524-401: The river on the fifth. XIX Army Corps would be one of two major armored corps, the other being XIV Army Corps under Gustav Anton von Wietersheim , as had been envisioned by Manstein. In a secret command document of 7 November 1944, the German inspector-general of panzer forces is given the following recapitulation of the preparations for Case Yellow: Guderian and the staff of XIX Army Corps
12648-465: The river. The Polish 9th Division was almost completely destroyed as only 35th Infantry Regiment remained a cohesive unit. The Germans captured 100 heavy guns and took 16,000 prisoners. On 5 September, the corps was visited by Adolf Hitler and his entourage, including Heinrich Himmler and Erwin Rommel , at the front. Hitler inquired about the casualties suffered at that point in the campaign, to which Guderian reported 150 fatalities and 700 wounded. With
12772-489: The site of the skirmishes between the Pomorska Brigade and XIX Army Corps a few days later, describing it as "sickening evidence of the carnage" and "symbolic of the brief Polish campaign". By 5 September, XIX Army Corps had broken the enemy resistance and thwarted the attempts of the Polish 9th Infantry Division and the Czersk Operational Group to recapture the Brda's east bank and force the Germans back across
12896-617: The standpoint of a panzer man. After extended study of maps in combination with my own knowledge of this terrain from World War 1 I could give Manstein the assurance that the operation he envisioned could in fact be realistically executed. The only condition I had to offer was that a sufficient amount of armoured and motorized divisions was to be assigned to this plan - preferably all of them! This excerpt from Erinnerungen eines Soldaten implies immediate approval for Manstein's sickle cut idea on Guderian's part, whereas Manstein in his own memoirs suggests that Guderian at first had reservations about
13020-546: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
13144-464: The subjects of a famous photograph. Both Guderian and Krivoshein spoke French and could communicate with one another. After the conclusion of the campaign on October 6, the leadership of XIX Army Corps received several commendations for their service; Guderian was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 27 October 1939. The campaign had revealed more than ever the glaring weaknesses of
13268-454: The suggestion. Only when I had briefed [Guderian] on our Army Group's operational motives for seeking to shift the main weight of the entire offensive to the southern wing and drawn his attention to the alluring target of the Somme estuary in the enemy's rear did Guderian show unbounded enthusiasm for our plan. Ultimately it was his elan which inspired our tanks on their dash round the backs of
13392-500: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
13516-576: The units that had been part of the corps during the Invasion of Poland - 3rd Panzer as well as 2nd and 20th Infantry - were still part of the Army Corps. The Corps had been transferred from its previous command structure inside 4th Army to Panzer Group Kleist , the later 1st Panzer Army . XIX Army Corps was part of the effort to trap the Allied troops with a strong attack through the Ardennes forest,
13640-528: The victory at Tuchola Forest, the Danzig Corridor was broken through and the 3rd and 4th Armies could connect. XIX Army Corps now moved some 70 kilometers east, towards Kwidzyn , whereas 218th Infantry Division was called up from Army Group North's reserves to continue to fight the remaining Polish resistance in the Tuchola Forest. With that redeployment, XIX Army Corps, now operating east of
13764-555: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
13888-600: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
14012-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
14136-419: Was a part of, met on 15 March 1940 to discuss finalized operational goals. By now, Manstein's idea had been approved, and it thus became Guderian's task to cross the border to Luxembourg, advance towards southern Belgium and then Sedan, to cross the Meuse at Sedan and to erect a bridgehead of the river's left bank. Guderian estimated that he would reach the river on the fourth day of the operation and attack across
14260-410: Was also supported by Panzerlehrabteilung , a detachment that consisted of Panzer III and Panzer IV , which were at that point rarer in German tank divisions than their lighter Panzer I and Panzer II counterparts. Both the 2nd and the 20th Divisions were motorized, which was not at all standard amongst German infantry divisions. 3rd Panzer Division was the strongest of all German panzer divisions in
14384-547: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
14508-557: Was assigned to command Panzergruppe Guderian , taking most of the XIX Army Corps staff with him, and were joined by the XLI Corps and the XXXIX Corps , and became part of the 12th Army. Panzergruppe Guderian were redeployed southwards, commencing battle on 10 June. German tanks advanced quickly southward, and only met French resistance in forests and villages. Philippe Pétain became leader of France on 16 June, began negotiating for
14632-517: Was called into position at their initial headquarters at Bitburg on 9 May 1940 at 13:30. Guderian reached the troops by the evening and had them assemble along the border to Luxembourg , taking positions between Vianden and Echternach . The invasion was to start the next day. The first major operational target for XIX Army Corps would be Sedan , France. Karl-Heinz Frieser identifies the Sedan sector under X Corps ( Pierre-Paul-Jacques Grandsard ) on
14756-492: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
14880-560: Was involved in two notable battles on that day: at the Charge at Krojanty , the Polish 18th Pomeranian Uhlans charged units of the 76th Infantry Regiment on horseback and were then dispersed by German armored cars, birthing the Nazi propaganda myth of Polish cavalry charging German tanks. The leader of the Polish unit, Kazimierz Mastalerz , was killed in action during that engagement. On the same day, Wiktorin's 20th Infantry Division also fought
15004-399: Was killed in action at Sainte Marie. At 11:00, Halder notes in his war diary that Allied forces are approaching the line Libramont-Neufchâteau- Tintigny opposite to XIX Army Corps. In the evening, the corps leadership gave a renewed Korpsbefehl ('corps order') for the following day, recognizing the forces' advance against a "brave and cleverly fighting enemy" and designating the crossing of
15128-500: Was quickly overwhelmed, and 1st Panzer Division reached the Belgian border at Martelange by the afternoon. Großdeutschland had undertaken a paradrop mission on the other side of the Belgian border to gain a headstart on the armored units, but 1st Panzer Division caught up on the first day. 10th Panzer Division attacked towards Habay-la-Neuve and was opposed by the quick response of the French 3rd Colonial Infantry Division , although
15252-406: Was the 'hinge' between the mobile parts of the Allied armies that were to be deployed in Belgium and the fixed French forces along the Maginot Line. Among the very few French political leaders to recognize the imminent danger was Pierre Taittinger , who visited the sector in March 1940 and found the defensive preparations inadequate. In this region [Sedan sector], we are entirely too much taken with
15376-633: Was to take Poland's north-western Danzig Corridor from Pomerania and to then unite with 3rd Army in East Prussia , commanded by Georg von Küchler . Inside 4th Army's overall military strategy, XIX Army Corps was to strike southwards towards the Vistula river and deny Polish troops to the west of it the retreat eastwards. XIX Army Corps had by then been expanded since its inception in July and now consisted of 3rd Panzer Division , 2nd Infantry Division and 20th Infantry Division . 3rd Panzer Division
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