Army Group South

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Army Group South

Army Group South was the name of a number of German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
Army Groups

Army group

An army group is a military organization consisting of several field army, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area....
during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
.

Eastern Front
Army Group South was one of three army groups into which the Germans organised their forces for Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that commenced on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a 2,900 kilometer front ....
.

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Army Group South was the name of a number of German

Nazi Germany

Army group

World War II

Poland campaign

Germany used two army groups to invade Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
in 1939: Army Group North

Army Group North

Army Group North was a strategic echelon formation commanding a grouping of Field Army subordinated to the OKH during World War II. The army group coordinated the operations of attached separate army corps, reserve formations, rear services and logistics....
and Army Group South. In this campaign Army Group South was led by Gerd von Rundstedt

Gerd von Rundstedt

Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt was a Generalfeldmarschall of the German Army during World War II. He held some of the highest field commands in all phases of the war....
and his chief of staff Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein served the German military as a lifelong professional soldier. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces ....
.

Eastern Front

Army Group South was one of three army groups into which the Germans organised their forces for Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
and its capital Kiev

Kiev

Kiev, also known as Kyiv , is the Capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River....
. The Ukraine was a major center of Soviet industry and mining and had the good farmland required for Hitler's plans for Lebensraum

Lebensraum

served as a major motivation for Nazi Germany's territorial aggression. In his book Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler detailed his belief that the German people needed Lebensraum , and that it should be taken in the East....
('living space').

Army Group South was then to advance up to the Volga River

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, Discharge , and Drainage basin. It flows through the western part of Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia....
, subsequently draining a portion of the Red Army

Red Army

The Red Army was the armed force first organized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918 and, in 1922, became the army of the Soviet Union....
and thus clearing the way for the Army Group North

Army Group North

Army Group Centre

Army Group Centre was the name of two distinct Nazi Germany strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941, as one of three German Army formations assigned to the Operation Barbarossa ....
on their approach to Leningrad

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a types of inhabited localities in Russia and a federal subjects of Russia of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea....
and Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
respectively.

To carry out these initial tasks its battle order included the First Panzer Group

German First Panzer Army

The 1st Panzer Army was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation within the Wehrmacht Heer field forces during World War II....
and the German Sixth

German Sixth Army

The 6th Army was a designation for German field army which saw action in World War I and World War II. The term "6th Army" is perhaps best known for its involvement in the Battle of Stalingrad....
, Seventeenth and Eleventh Armies, and the Romanian Third

Romanian Third Army

The Romanian Third Army was a field army that fought as part of the Germany Army Group B during World War II, in Ukraine, Crimea, and the Caucasus....
and Fourth

Romanian Fourth Army

The 4th Infantry Division Gemina is one of the two major units of the Romanian Land Forces, with its headquarters in Cluj-Napoca. Until June 15 2008 it was designated as the 4th Territorial Army Corps "Constantin Prezan" ....
Armies.

The German Sixth Army

German Sixth Army

The 6th Army was a designation for German field army which saw action in World War I and World War II. The term "6th Army" is perhaps best known for its involvement in the Battle of Stalingrad....
, which fought in the destructive Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad

The Battle of Stalingrad was a battle between Nazi Germany and its allies and the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in Southern Russia....
, was later made part of Army Group South.

In preparation for Operation Blue

Operation Blue

Case Blue was the German codename used by the German Armed Forces for its 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia that lasted between 28 June and 19 August 1942....
, the 1942 campaign in southern Russia and the Caucasus, Army Group South was split into two armies: Army Group A

Army Group A

Army Group A was the name of a number of Germany Army Groups during World War II....
and Army Group B

Army Group B

Army Group B was the name of three different Germany Army Groups that saw action during World War II....
.

In February 1943, Army Group Don

Army Group Don

Army Group Don was a short-lived German army group during World War II.Army Group Don was created from the headquarters of the Eleventh Army in the southern sector of the Eastern Front on 22 November 1942....
and the existing Army Group B

Army Group B

Army Group B was the name of three different Germany Army Groups that saw action during World War II....
were combined and re-designated Army Group South. A new Army Group B

Army Group B

Army Group B was the name of three different Germany Army Groups that saw action during World War II....
became a major formation elsewhere.

On 4 April 1944, Army Group South was re-designated Army Group North Ukraine

Army Group North Ukraine

The Army Group North Ukraine was a major ground force formation of the German armed forces.It was created on the 1 April 1944 by renaming Army Group South on trial basis, in the course of the separation of troops under command of General Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and General Field Marshal Walter Model....
. Army Group North Ukraine existed from 4 April to 28 September.

In September 1944, Army Group South Ukraine

Army Group South Ukraine

Army Group South Ukraine was a Wehrmacht group on the Eastern Front during World War II.Army Group South Ukraine was created on 31 March 1944....
was again re-designated Army Group South.

Order of Battle for Army Group South, October 1944

At the end of World War II in Europe

End of World War II in Europe

The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II of World War II as well as the German surrender took place in late April and early May 1945....
, Army Group South was again re-named. As Army Group Ostmark

Army Group Ostmark

Army Group Ostmark was a German army group formed very late in World War II.Army Group Ostmark was formed on 2 April 1945 from the remnants of Army Group South ....
, the remnants of Army Group South ended the war fighting in and around Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
and Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 until 1992 . On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia....
. Army Group Ostmark was one of the last major German military formations to surrender to the Allies.