7th Army (France)


The Seventh Army was a field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II.

World War I

Created on 4 April 1915 to defend the front between the Swiss border and Lorraine, the Seventh Army was the successor of the independent Army Detachment of the Vosges under General Putz. This Detachment had been created on 8 December 1914, with the stabilisation of the Western Front as successor of the Army of Alsace, Groupement des Vosges and 34th Army Corps.
The Seventh Army held the same position until the end of the War. Its major involvements were the Battle of Hartmannswillerkopf and the Battle of Le Linge in 1915.

World War II

The Seventh Army was re-formed on 3 September 1939 as a strategic reserve force. On 11 November, under General Henri Giraud, it became part of the 1st Army Group and was deployed to northern Belgium, under the Allied Dyle Plan. Following the German offensives in Western Europe from 10 May 1940, the Seventh Army advanced into the Netherlands and northern Belgium.
After heavy fighting in Belgium and German breakthroughs further south, the general staff ordered the withdrawal of the Seventh Army headquarters. However, Giraud remained in Belgium to command the French 9th Army, which had assumed control of the surviving 7th Army units. Giraud was captured soon afterward at Wassigny.
On 17 May, a new Seventh Army had been formed on the Somme, under the 2nd Army Group, with reserve units and surviving units of the Second Army. The new Seventh Army took an active part in the Battle of France until 25 June, 1940.

Commanders

World War I