7th Army (German Empire)

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Flag of a staff of an army high command (1871-1918)

The 7th Army / Army High Command 7 (AOK 7) was a large unit and the associated command authority of the German army during the First World War (1914-1918). It comprised several army or reserve corps as well as numerous special troops.

history

Commander in chief
Chief of Staff

With the beginning of the German mobilization on August 2, 1914, the army was formed from the 5th Army Inspectorate and concentrated in the Strasbourg area. However, the Army High Command (set up in Karlsruhe ) only arrived after a few days and so Army High Command 6 had to command the troops of the 7th Army in the first days of the war. B. during the Battle of Mulhouse . Even after the arrival of Army High Command 7, the 7th Army remained bound by the instructions of the 6th Army until September 1914 in order to ensure a uniform approach by the neighboring armies in the battle of Lorraine (August 21/22, 1914).

In August 1914 the army comprised the following corps units:

In the course of the race to the sea , most of the units of the 7th Army and finally the Army High Command were relocated to the center of the German western front on September 7, 1914 . The units that remained in Alsace were referred to as " Army Department Gaede " (from 1916 "Army Department B").

The 7th Army remained in trench warfare on the Aisne section until May 1918 and had to hold the front between Noyon and Berry-au-Bac . During the First Aisne Battle in September 1914 you were next to the XV. Corps also the XII. Army Corps and the VII Reserve Corps . In the defensive battle that followed, the section on Chemin des Dames held by the 7th Army was violently attacked by the enemy, but could be held.

From September 13, 1914, the headquarters of the army was in Laon and then from March 14, 1917 in Marle . The Second Aisne Battle , initiated in April 1917, demanded particularly heavy losses on both sides , the massive breakthrough operation ( Nivelle offensive ) that had to be broken off due to mutinies in the French army . The 7th Army was subordinated to over 40 divisions in this two-month defensive battle:

After the collapse of the Michael company , the " Archangel attack " began on April 6, 1918 . The new German attack was launched by the right wing of the 7th Army in the Noyon - Chauny area ; it had the task of securing the still open southern flank of the 18th Army . At the end of May 1918, the 7th Army opened another major offensive in the Third Aisne Battle , which briefly led the German troops again to the Marne sector. In the further offensive battles in the Marnebogen, for which AOK 9 was also used in mid-June , the 7th Army was subordinate to six general commands with over 30 divisions:

After the French counter-offensive, which began on July 18, 1918, the retreat to Vesle and the Aisne began. The headquarters of the 7th Army returned to Laon on June 2, 1918, after which it often changed location during the retreat battles. After the end of the war, Army High Command 7 in Marburg was dissolved.

See also

Web links

literature

  • Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World War 1914–1918. Siegismund, Berlin 1937 ( History of the Royal Prussian Army and the German Imperial Army 5).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937, p. 396
  2. ^ Hermann Stegemann: History of the War , Vol. 1, Stuttgart / Berlin 1917, p. 103
  3. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918, Volume XII. ES Mittler und Sohn, card insert 18
  4. ↑ Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in World Wars 1914–1918 , Berlin 1937, p. 77