2nd Division may refer to the following military units:
The 2nd Division was one of the two divisions of the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Corpo Expedicionário Português), the main military force of Portugal that fought in the World War I Western Front on the side of the Allies. The Division was under the command of General Simas Machado until March 1918, when it became under the command of General Gomes da Costa.
On April 6, 1918, after heavy losses, the 1st Division was removed to the rearguard, leaving the 2nd Division (reinforced with the 6th Brigade from the 1st Division) as the sole CEP division on the front line. The 2nd division assumed the responsibility of all the Portuguese sectors, rearranged as the Fauquissart, the Neuve Chapelle and the Ferme du Bois sectors (11 km of front), now under the operational control of the British XI Corps.
The 2nd Division was also planned to be moved to the rearguard on April 9, 1918, on the same day German Army launched operation Georgette, the great offensive whose main thrust was precisely on the sectors defended by the Portuguese Division. In the resulting Battle of the Lys, the 20,000 Portuguese of 2nd Division suffered an assault from 100,000 Germans, supported by a heavy artillery bombardment. Despite stubborn resistance, the Portuguese Division was overrun and lost c. 7,000 casualties. From December 22, 1917 to April 6, 1918, the 2nd Division was responsible for the sectors of Fauquissart and Chapigny of the Portuguese Sector of the Western Front.
The 2nd Division was a unit of the Reichswehr.
In the Order of 31 July 1920 for the Reduction of the Army (to comply with the upper limits on the size of the military contained in the Treaty of Versailles), it was determined that in every Wehrkreis (military district) a division would be established by 1 October 1920. The 2nd Division was formed in January 1921 out of the Reichswehr-Brigaden 2 and 9, both part of the former Übergangsheer (Transition Army).
It consisted of 3 infantry regiments, the 4th, 5th, and 6th. It also consisted of the 2nd artillery regiment, an engineering battalion, a signals battalion, a transportation battalion and a medical battalion.
The commander of the Wehrkreis II was simultaneously the commander of the 2nd Division.
The unit ceased to exist as such after October 1934, and its subordinate units were transferred to one of the 21 Divisions newly created in that year.
The divisional headquarters was in Stettin.