Friedrich von Scholtz

Friedrich von Scholtz
Friedrich von Scholtz
Born	(1851-03-24)24 March 1851
Died	30 April 1927(1927-04-30) (aged 76)
Place of birth	Flensburg
Place of death	Ballenstedt
Allegiance	Prussia Imperial Germany
Service/branch	Prussian Army
Years of service	1870-1919
Rank	General of the Artillery
Unit	8th Army
Commands held	XX Corps 8th Army Armee-Abteilung Scholtz Heeresgruppe Scholtz
Battles/wars	Franco-Prussian War World War I
Awards	Pour le Mérite

Friedrich von Scholtz (born 24 March 1851 in Flensburg; died 30 April 1927 in Ballenstedt) was a German general, who served as commander of 20th Corps and the 8th Army of the German Empire on the Eastern Front in World War I and later as commander of Army Group "Sholtz" on the Macedonian Front.

Early life

Growing up in Ballenstedt, his military career began in 1870 in Rendsburg as an artillery Private and officer cadet senior grade. Von Scholtz volunteered for the French War - Prussia. After the war, he studied at the Military Academy in Potsdam and on 9 March 1872 he qualified as an artillery officer with the rank of lieutenant. Between 1874-1876, he studied at the artillery school in Berlin and 1901 was promoted to colonel. In 1908, he was appointed to command the 21st Division of the Imperial Army and on 1 October 1912 was promoted to General of the Artillery and assigned to command the XX Army Corps.

First World War

With the outbreak of the First World War, von Schultz was transferred together with his army corps to the Eastern Front where he took part in the Battle of Tannenberg and Battle of Łódź (1914). On May 26, 1915, he was appointed commander of the 8th Army troops and was sent to secure the lines at Verdun.

On April 22, 1917, he was transferred to Balkans where he replaced general Otto von Below as commander of the army group consisting of the 11th German Army and 1st Bulgarian Army. His force was almost entirely made up from Bulgarian units as most of the German forces were pulled out of the Balkans. The 11th German Army was no exception and by 1918 it had six Bulgarian infantry divisions and one infantry division with German staff but made up of Bulgarian units. Von Scholtz managed to coordinate the activities on the Macedonian Front and gain a respectable reputation with his Bulgarian allies.

In September 1918, Allied forces launched an offensive under the command of French General Louis Franchet d'Espèrey an offensive along the valley of the river Vardar against Army Group "Scholtz". The Allies managed to break through the lines of the 11th Army and force general Scholtz to order a retreat in the sector of Dobro Pole but the Bulgarian First Army had achieved a victory at the Battle of Doiran. So now the Allied forces were advancing up the Vardar but their flanks were exposed to a possible blow from the right wing of the 11th Army, which was still fighting in good order and the 1st Bulgarian Army. General Scholtz however thought that such an attack was not prepared enough and preferred to order a general retreat of his army group, hoping that the situation will stabilize. The Army Group Headquarters was moved from Skopje to Jagodina but the situation continued to deteriorate and some Bulgarian soldiers even revolted and headed towards Sofia. This forced the capitulation of Bulgaria on 29 September 1918. The news came as a shock to the Bulgarian officers who were serving in units on the right wing of 11th Army but eventually they obeyed the order to lay down their weapons. As a last gesture, some of them delayed the Allies long enough so that the German soldiers and officers who were fighting with them could retreat and escape being captured. The army group was now dissolved and General Scholtz was sent to Romania to organize the defense there. With the end of the war, von Scholtz was dismissed from military service on January 24, 1919. He retired to his private life and died eight years later at the age of 76 years

Sources

• Ferdinand von Notz: General v. Scholtz- Ein deutsches Soldatenleben in großer Zeit
• Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Adelslexikon Band XIII, Band 128 der Gesamtreihe, C. A. Starke Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 2002, ISSN 0435-2408.
• Hall, Richard (2010). Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-35452-8. 

Military offices
Preceded by New Formation	Commander, XX Corps 1 October 1912-28 October 1915	Succeeded by Upgraded to Armee-Abteilung D
Preceded by General der Infanterie Otto von Below	Commander, 8th Army Simultaneous with command of XX Corps 26 May 1915-29 September 1915	Succeeded by Dissolved
Preceded by Upgraded from XX Corps	Commander, Armee-Abteilung D 28 October 1915-2 January 1917	Succeeded by Generalleutnant Oskar von Hutier
Preceded by General der Infanterie Bruno von Mudra	Commander, 8th Army 2 January 1917-22 April 1917	Succeeded by General der Infanterie Oskar von Hutier