Service/branch Army Years of service 1870-1918 Rank General officer | Name Max Gallwitz | |
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Born May 2, 1852Breslau, Province of Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia now Wroclaw, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland ( 1852-05-02 ) Commands held Guards Reserve CorpsTwelfth ArmyEleventh ArmySecond ArmyFifth Army Similar People Fritz von Below, August von Mackensen, Erich von Falkenhayn, Douglas Haig - 1st Earl Haig, Rupprecht - Crown Prince of | ||
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.
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Biography
Gallwitz grew up in a Catholic family in Breslau. In 1891, he married Friedrike (*1871). They had a daughter and son Werner, who became a Lieutenant general in the Second World War. Later, he began the First World War as a corps commander (Guards Reserve Corps) on the Western Front, but was almost immediately transferred east to join the Eighth Army under Hindenburg. In 1915 he took command of Armee-Gruppe Gallwitz (later redesignated 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 Serbia. In 1916, Gallwitz moved back to the Western Front and defended against the British attack in the Battle of the Somme. He took over command of 2nd Army and of Heeresgruppe Gallwitz - Somme controlling 1st and 2nd Armies. From 1916–18 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 (1920–24) for the German National People's Party.