What was tannenberg

After a Russian victory in the Battle of Gumbinnen on August 20, however, Rennenkampf paused to regroup his forces. Meanwhile, change was afoot behind the German lines: Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the German general staff, chose to replace the previous leader, Maximilian von Prittwitz, after the latter issued a misguided order for a German retreat to the River Vistula, against the advice of his corps commanders.

Hindenburg, a retired general of great stature, and Ludendorff, who had just led the German capture of the Belgian fortress of Liege, arrived in East Prussia and immediately authorized an aggressive counter-action against the Russians, previously planned by a senior staff officer in the region, Colonel Max Hoffmann. Separated by the great Masurian Lakes, the two Russian armies were unable to effectively communicate with each other as to their movements, a circumstance that would prove deadly.

Though Ludendorff succumbed to nerves initially, delaying the start of the German attack by one day, Hindenburg was able to calm his subordinate—not for the last time in what would become a fabled partnership.

In total, over 50, Russian soldiers were killed and some 92, taken as prisoners in the Battle of Tannenberg—named thus by the Germans in vengeful remembrance of the village, where in the Poles had defeated the Teutonic Knights. Though the two corps had not arrived in time to play a role in the Battle of Tannenberg—which would remain the greatest German triumph of the war against Russia on the Eastern Front —they would also be unable to aid their comrades at the Battle of the Marne in early September, when German forces advancing towards Paris were decisively defeated by British and French troops in a crucial victory for the Allies.

But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The threat of losing its Prussian stronghold forced the German Staff to adjust their original plans and redeploy two divisions on the Eastern Front.

The retired general Paul von Hindenburg , the embodiment of the Prussian military tradition, was named as the new commander of the 8 th German Army. General Erich Ludendorff was appointed Chief of Staff. The events that played out August around Allenstein were a complex mixture of luck and accident, the uncoordinated actions of the Russian front and military commands, and the military endurance and heroism of individual units. From a strategic point of view, the battle, which was to become known as the Battle of Tannenberg, was not a key event on the Eastern Front during WWI, neither leading to the final defeat of the Russian Empire, nor even to an end to the Russian occupation of East Prussia.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to overestimate the symbolic and political significance of this battle. The very name "Battle of Tannenberg" indicated the German interpretation of it as revenge for the defeat of the Teutonic Knights at the hands of the united Slavic and Lithuanian forces in known to the Russians as The Battle of Grunwald. For the Russians, the defeat of the Narevskaia Army was a heavy blow to morale. Representatives of the military elite, thanks to the work of a specialist investigative committee, assessed the reasons for defeat very realistically.

After the Revolution, the reinterpretation of this negative military experience was mainly undertaken by different social and professional groups of the Soviet and Emigrant military elites.

International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. Two in particular were invaluable to the Germans. One was sent by Rennenkampf to inform Samsonov of his marching plan for the First Army. Therefore, the Germans could guarantee that Samsonov would get no help from the First Army. The second intercepted message was sent by Samsonov. This stated that he believed that the German army was withdrawing to Tannenburg.

It also gave detailed plans for the routes the Russian Second Army was planning to use to advance on the Germans. Therefore, the Germans knew where Samsonov planned to march his army and could plan accordingly. Francois then moved the 1 Corps into a position whereby the Russian Second Army could not retreat back to Russia — thus effectively trapping Samsonov.

By nightfall on 29 August the Russian centre, amounting to three army corps, was surrounded by Germans and stuck in a forest with no means of escape. The Russians disintegrated and were taken prisoner by the thousands. Faced with total defeat, Samsonov shot himself. By the end of the month, the Germans had taken 92, prisoners and annihilated half of the Russian 2nd Army. Rennenkampf's army had not moved at all during this battle, vindicating Ludendorff's calculated risk.

After being reinforced, the Germans turned on Rennenkampf's slowly advancing Army, attacking it in the first half of September and driving it from East Prussia. It was a crushing defeat for the Russians. In total, they lost around , men - an entire army - as well as vast amounts of military equipment.