The VII Army Corps / VII AK (german: VII. Armee-Korps) 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

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n and then the Imperial German

Armies 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 ...

from the 19th Century to

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 ...

. Originating in 1815 as the General Command for the

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 ...

, the headquarters was in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

and its catchment area was the

and the Principalities of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

and

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bück ...

. The Corps served in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

. During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 1st Army. In peacetime the Corps was assigned to the III Army Inspectorate which became the 2nd Army at the start of the

First World War 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 ...

. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 7th Army, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the Western Front. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after

Austro-Prussian War

VII Corps fought in the

in 1866, seeing action in the

Battle of Königgrätz The Battle of Königgrätz (or Sadowa) was the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire. It took place on 3 July 1866, near the Bohemian city of Hradec Králové (German: Königgrä ...

Franco-Prussian War

During the Franco-Prussian War, the Corps formed part of the 1st Army and fought in several battles and engagements, including the

Battle of Spicheren The Battle of Spicheren, also known as the ''Battle of Forbach'', was a battle during the Franco-Prussian War. The German victory compelled the French to withdraw to the defenses of Metz. The Battle of Spicheren, on 6 August, was the second o ...

, the

Battle of Borny-Colombey A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, the

Battle of Gravelotte The Battle of Gravelotte (or Battle of Gravelotte–St. Privat) on 18 August 1870 was the largest battle of the Franco-Prussian War. Named after Gravelotte, a village in Lorraine, it was fought about west of Metz, where on the previous day, ha ...

and the Siege of Metz.

Peacetime organisation

The 25 peacetime

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 ...

of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule: : V, VI, VII, IX and

XIV Corps 14 Corps, 14th Corps, Fourteenth Corps, or XIV Corps may refer to: * XIV Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XIV Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army prior to and during World ...

each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments) : II,

XIII XIII may refer to: * 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals * 13th century in Roman numerals * XIII (comics), ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance ** XIII (2003 video game), ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a ...

, XVIII and XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment : I, VI and XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments) :the Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades). Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more :Foot Artillery Regiment : Jäger Battalion :

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 ...

Battalion :

Train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

Battalion

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was restructured. 13th and 14th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the 9th Cavalry Division. The 16th Uhlans, formerly of the IV Corps, was raised to a strength of 6 squadrons before being split into two half-regiments of 3 squadrons each. The half-regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to 13th and 14th Divisions. 28th Infantry Brigade was assigned to the 14th Reserve Division with the VII Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, VII Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 6 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, VII Corps was assigned to the 2nd Army forming part of the right wing of the forces for 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 4 ...

offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front. It participated in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

and

First Battle of Ypres The First Battle of Ypres (french: Première Bataille des Flandres; german: Erste Flandernschlacht – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. Th ...

in 1914. It was still in existence at the end of the war in the 7th Army, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the Western Front.

Commanders

The VII Corps had the following commanders during its existence:The Prussian Machine
Accessed: 27 May 2012

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:7th Corps (German Empire) Corps of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1815 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919