The 7th Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation raised prior to the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. It consisted of two divisions, two brigade-strength mountain detachments, and a brigade- strength infantry detachment. The army was dominated by ethnic Serbs, who saw it as a means by which to secure Serb political hegemony. It had a wartime strength of 26,000–27,000 men, as compared to contemporary British infantry divisions of half that strength.
About 7th Army (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in brief
The 7th Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation raised prior to the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. It consisted of two divisions, two brigade-strength mountain detachments, and a brigade- strength infantry detachment. It formed part of the 1st Army Group, and was responsible for the defence of Yugoslavia’s north-western frontier with Italy and Germany. Despite concerns over a possible Axis invasion, orders for the general mobilisation were not issued by the government until 3 April 1941, out of fear this would offend Adolf Hitler and precipitate war. When the invasion commenced on 6 April, the 7thArmy was only partially mobilised, and on the first day the Germans seized several mountain passes and bridges over the Drava river. This was followed by the German capture of Maribor on 8 April as they continued to expand their bridgeheads, supported by the Luftwaffe. On 10 April, the German 14th Panzer Division captured Zagreb. On 12 April, the Italian offensive operations began the following day, with thrusts towards Ljubljana and down the Adriatic coast that resulted in the capture of more than 30,000 Yugoslav troops near Delnice. Ceasefires were implemented from 15 April, and the Yugoslav Supreme Command surrendered unconditionally effective on 18 April. The army was dominated by ethnic Serbs, who saw it as a means by which to secure Serb political hegemony. It had a wartime strength of 26,000–27,000 men, as compared to contemporary British infantry divisions of half that strength. Unlike the other six Yugoslav armies, the7th Army did not have a corresponding army district during peacetime, and would not be allocated divisions when it was formed in peacetime.
It was also not allocated divisions for peacetime when it would be formed in the 1970s and 1980s, when it became clear that the country’s ethnic Slovene and German minorities would not want to be part of Yugoslavia. The Army was not equipped nor trained to resist the fast-moving combined arms approach used by the Germans in invasions of France and Poland. The weaknesses of the VKJ in strategy, equipment, structure, and supply were exacerbated by two decades of Serb hegemony and the attendant serious ethnic disunity. Attempts to address the lack of political disunity came too late to ensure that a cohesive force was a serious concern, not only from the Croatian nationalist Ustaše movement, but also from the German minorities from the country. The VKJ had several serious weaknesses, which included reliance on draught animals for transport and the large size of its formations. These characteristics resulted in slow, unwieldy formations, and an inadequate supply of arms and munitions meant that even the very large Yugoslav formations had low firepower. In 1929, King Alexander changed the name of the country to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, at which time the army was renamed the Royal Yugoslavia Army. Many former Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers became members of the new army. It was formed around the nucleus of the victorious Royal Serbian Army.
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