The following pages contain the record of the organization and service of the 251 divisions of the German Army during the years 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918, or during as many of these years as they existed—for a number of them were created after the war had started. The record of each has been known as a “divisional history.”

The history of an enemy division is a summary of all the information obtained from all sources. It includes the latest composition—that is, the regiments and other units that make up the division; a record of its past engagements; its recruitment and racial features; commanders; present strength; and morale. On a basis of these factors the division’s fighting quality is rated on a standard of classes adopted by General Headquarters and noted in the history. The data is collected and filed daily at various troop headquarters and eventually in the Enemy Order of Battle subsection of the General Staff, Intelligence Section at the General Headquarters. The information comes chiefly from the front-line troops, resulting from their observation, reconnaissance, and the interrogation of the prisoners they take. This evidence is often fragmentary and inconclusive, being gathered as more or less disassociated items, here and there along the whole front. But when it is consolidated and collated it becomes of great value and warrants deductions which may be depended upon.

Prisoners’ statements and captured documents are the source of almost all the information contained in a divisional history. The outline of the past engagements of a division is known from the Battle-Order records. Prisoners add to this specific account of successes, citations, failures, internal disturbance, etc. The divisional composition is established by prisoners, and in the case of the smaller divisional units from addresses on captured letters. The effective strength is deduced from prisoners’ stories of recent losses incurred and drafts of new men arriving. In estimating the quality of a division the Intelligence Section considers principally the conditions under which the enemy command has used it in previous military operations.

All this information is kept posted up to date so that a history of present value can be written without delay and dispatched to our front-line troops opposite whom a new or additional enemy unit has appeared or is about to appear.

The use to our troops of these histories is obvious. Much of the information contained is of direct value to our commanders. The strength, morale, and fighting qualities of the opposing divisions are, of course, an important factor in our plans and operations. Other items, such as the names of the enemy commanders, assist the examining officer in checking the veracity and accuracy of prisoners’ statements. It has been often observed that the more the intelligence officer knows or appears to know of the prisoner’s organization the better results he obtains from his questions. The uses to which information of the enemy may be put have proved so various and unexpected that the principle is established that no fact about the enemy is too unimportant to be recorded.

In preparing this set of Histories of German Divisions the histories published by French General Headquarters have been used for the years prior to 1918. For the last year of the war the histories were written by the Second Section of the General Staff, General Headquarters, A. E. F., from the American records. These included all information from American sources and also that which was received from Allied armies.