Max von Gallwitz

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A 1915 portrait of General der Artillerie Max von Gallwitz

Max Karl Wilhelm von Gallwitz (2 May 1852 – 18 April 1937) was a German general from Breslau (Wrocław), Silesia, who served with distinction during World War I on both the Eastern and Western Fronts.

[edit] Biography

Gallwitz began the war as a corps commander on the Western Front, but was almost immediately transferred east to join the Eighth Army under Hindenburg. In 1915 he took command of Army Group Gallwitz (Twelfth Army) and participated in the Galicia offensive alongside Mackensen, who commanded the Eleventh Army. Towards the end of 1915 he succeeded Mackensen as commander of the Eleventh Army, as the latter campaigned against Romania. In 1916 Gallwitz moved back to the Western Front and defended against the British attack in the Battle of the Somme. From 1916 until 1918 he commanded the Fifth Army in the west, most notably engaging the Americans during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.

Following his retirement from the army Gallwitz served as a deputy in the Reichstag (1920–1924) for the German National People's Party.