| Unit Name: | 4. Armee 4th Army |
| Dates: | 2 August 1914 – 28 January 1919 |
| Type: | Army |
| Identification Symbol: | A.O.K. 4 |
| Identification Symbol Label: | Abbreviation |
| Battles: | World War I |
The 4th Army (de|'''4. Armee / Armeeoberkommando 4 / A.O.K. 4''') was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilisation in August 1914 from the VI Army Inspection. The army was disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war.
At the outset of war, the 4th Army, with the 5th Army, formed the center of the German armies on the Western Front, moving through Luxembourg and Belgium in support of the great wheel of the right wing that was to pin down and defeat the French armies. The 4th Army defeated Belgian forces on the frontier, drove the French out of the Ardennes and then encountered the British Expeditionary Force in the "Race to the Sea" at the First Battle of Ypres. The 4th Army faced the British in Flanders for the rest of the war, notably defending in the Battle of Passchendaele (1917), attacking in the 1918 German spring offensive and finally being pushed back in the Hundred Days Offensive from August 1918.
At the end of the war it was serving as part of Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht.
By the end of the war, the 4th Army was organised as:
| Organization of 4th Army on 30 October 1918 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Corps | Division | ||
| ROWSPAN=31 | 4th Army | ROWSPAN=5 | Naval Corps | 1st Naval Division |
| 2nd Naval Division | ||||
| two thirds 38th Landwehr Division | ||||
| one third 3rd Division | ||||
| 85th Landwehr Division | ||||
| ROWSPAN=11 | Guards Reserve Corps | 3rd Reserve Division | ||
| two thirds 3rd Division | ||||
| 13th Reserve Division | ||||
| 16th Bavarian Division | ||||
| 36th Reserve Division | ||||
| 11th Bavarian Division | ||||
| 4th Division | ||||
| one third 38th Landwehr Division | ||||
| 16th Reserve Division | ||||
| 23rd Division | ||||
| 3rd Landwehr Division | ||||
| ROWSPAN=8 | Guards Corps | 26th Division | ||
| 19th Division | ||||
| Guards Ersatz Division | ||||
| 207th Division | ||||
| 1st Bavarian Reserve Division | ||||
| 21st Division | ||||
| 52nd Reserve Division | ||||
| 6th Cavalry Schützen Division | ||||
| ROWSPAN=7 | X Reserve Corps | 49th Reserve Division | ||
| 23rd Reserve Division | ||||
| 11th Reserve Division | ||||
| 56th Division | ||||
| 6th Bavarian Reserve Division | ||||
| 39th Division | ||||
| 40th Division | ||||
The 4th Army had the following commanders during its existence.
| 2 August 1914 | VI Army Inspectorate (VI. Armee-Inspektion) | Heeresgruppe Albrecht | ||
| 1 August 1916 | Generalfeldmarschall Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg | |||
| 25 February 1917 | Resigned |
The later World War II-era Wehrmacht general Heinz Guderian served as an assistant signals officer (initially as a lieutenant) at 4th Army HQ until his reassignment to the German general staff in 1918.[1]