7th Army (German Empire)

7. Armee 7th Army
Flag of the Staff of an Armee Oberkommando (1871–1918)
Active	2 August 1914 – January 1919
Country	German Empire
Type	Army
Engagements	World War I Western Front Battle of the Frontiers Battle of Mulhouse Battle of Lorraine Nivelle Offensive Second Battle of the Aisne Spring Offensive Second Battle of the Marne
Insignia
Abbreviation	A.O.K. 7

The 7th Army (German: 7. Armee / Armeeoberkommando 7 / A.O.K. 7) was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilization in August 1914 from the II Army Inspection.^[1] The army was disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war.^[2]

Formed at the outbreak of World War I, 7th Army formed the extreme left (southern) wing of the German Armies on the Western Front. During the execution of the French Plan XVII, the 7th Army covered Alsace, successfully repulsing the French attack in the Battle of Lorraine. It then took part in the Race to the Sea, an attempt by both German and Anglo-French armies to turn each other's flank.

At the end of the war it was serving as part of Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz.^[3]

By the end of the war, the 7th Army was organised as:

The 7th Army had the following commanders during its existence.^[5]

• Armee-Abteilung or Army Detachment in the sense of "something detached from an Army". It is not under the command of an Army so is in itself a small army.^[7]
• Armee-Gruppe or Army Group in the sense of a group within an Army and under its command, generally formed as a temporary measure for a specific task.
• Heeresgruppe or Army Group in the sense of a number of armies under one commander.

• 7th Army (Wehrmacht) for the equivalent formation in World War II
• German Army order of battle (1914)
• German Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
• Schlieffen Plan

• Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914–18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle [first published: 1937]. Helion & Co. ISBN 1-874622-70-1.
• Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85410-766-6.