The VII Reserve Corps (german: VII. Reserve-Korps / VII RK) was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

level command of the

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Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Formation

VII Reserve Corps was formed on the outbreak of the war in August 1914 as part of the mobilisation of the Army. It was initially commanded by

General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imp ...

Hans von Zwehl Johann Hans von Zwehl was a Prussian officer who was involved in Franco-Prussian War and World War I. During the latter he served as commander of the VII Reserve Corps (German Empire), VII Reserve Corps. Life Johann Hans von Zwehl was born in ...

, recalled from retirement. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the

1st Army First Army may refer to: China * New 1st Army, Republic of China * First Field Army, a Communist Party of China unit in the Chinese Civil War * 1st Group Army, People's Republic of China Germany * 1st Army (German Empire), a World War I field Arm ...

, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the Western Front.

Structure on formation

On formation in August 1914, VII Reserve Corps consisted of two divisions, made up of reserve units. In general, Reserve Corps and Reserve Divisions were weaker than their active counterparts :Reserve Infantry Regiments did not always have three battalions nor necessarily contain a machine gun company :Reserve Jäger Battalions did not have a machine gun company on formation :Reserve Cavalry Regiments consisted of just three squadrons :Reserve Field Artillery Regiments usually consisted of two ''abteilungen'' of three batteries each :Corps Troops generally consisted of a Telephone Detachment and four sections of munition columns and trains In summary, VII Reserve Corps mobilised with 24 infantry battalions, 8 machine gun companies (48 machine guns), 6 cavalry squadrons, 12 field artillery batteries (72 guns) and 3

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

companies. 14th Reserve Division was slightly stronger than the norm as it included an active infantry brigade.

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, VII Reserve Corps was assigned to the 2nd Army forming part of the right wing of the forces that invaded

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

as part of the

Schlieffen Plan The Schlieffen Plan (german: Schlieffen-Plan, ) is a name given after the First World War to German war plans, due to the influence of Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen and his thinking on an invasion of France and Belgium, which began on ...

offensive in August 1914.

Commanders

VII Reserve Corps had the following commanders during its existence:

References

Bibliography

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