As well, Rennenkampf’s army failed to assist Samsonov’s due to a failure in communication, and were eventually forced out of East Prussia. Furthermore, Samsonov killed himself after realizing that his army was destroyed. In fact, of Samsonov’s Second Army, 92,000 were captured, 78,000 were killed and only about 10,000 escaped. Although Samsonov tried to order a retreat, the German attack proved to be too much for the Russian forces and led to the Battle of Tannenberg being a major defeat for Russia. During the battle, Samsonov and the Russian Second Army were effectively surrounded and bombarded with German artillery fire. As such, the German command used this to its advantage and on the 26th of August the German Eighth Army began its surprise attack against Samsonov’s forces. This was problematic, as the two were unable to communicate effectively. During the Russian attack into East Prussia, Rennenkampf’s army advanced northeast while Samsonov’s army advanced southwest. The Russian forces were divided into two armies – the First Army commanded by Paul von Rennenkampf and the Second Army, which was commanded by Alexander Samsonov. More specifically, the German Eighth Army, which was commanded by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, was able to surprise attack and overwhelm the Russia forces that had attempted to invade East Prussia. In general, the Battle of Tannenberg was one of the most significant battles of World War I, and an important victory for the German Army. The battle took place in East Prussia on the eastern half of the German Empire. The Battle of Tannenberg took place from August 26th to August 30th in 1914 and was fought between Germany and Russia. As such, the Battle of Tannenberg was a significant aspect of Germany’s overall plan of attack at the start of World War I. While Germany was primarily concerned with the major battles of the Western Front, the first important battles of World War I that they participated in was the Battle of Tannenberg, which occurred on the Eastern Front. As a result, Germany sent almost all of its Army divisions to the Western Front and much less to the Eastern Front. The Schlieffen Plan was based on the idea that Russia would take much longer to mobilize and therefore not be ready for war until after the first two weeks. Essentially, the goal was for Germany to knock France out of the war as quickly as possible and then to refocus its attention onto Russia in the east. The Schlieffen Plan was Germany’s response to this problem and at its heart, the Schlieffen Plan was designed to prevent Germany from being forced to fight a two-front war. Since Germany was facing both France and Russia in World War I, Germany would have to deal with a two-front war and the possibility of its total armed forces being split to fight on both its western and eastern borders. He had been asked to design a plan of attack to help ensure German victory at the outbreak of war in Europe. 2015.The Schlieffen Plan was the German plan of attack at the beginning of the war and was designed by and named after the former Germany Army Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen. Certainly, the defeats and losses at Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes made progress on the Eastern Front far more difficult thoughout the remainder of the war. Perhaps he knew that he would one day have to make a choice between the two. Before the war even started, Brusilov stated that he wouldn't be fighting for the Tasr, Nicholas II, but for Russia. Throughtout the war, one Russian general above all, General Brusilov, seemed to effectively fight the Germans and Austrians. The moral of the army was severly weakened and the lack of leadership was overwhelmingly evident. These two battles were an ominous beginning to what would become a very costly war, both politically and socially. What was left of the First and Second armies retreated back into Russia. Rennenkampf was pushed back and ultimately defeated at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. Samsonov was so humiliated after the battle he committed suicide alone in the woods and the first army was left alone to fight the Germans. After four days of fighting the russian Second army under Samsonov was crushed, being almost entirely killed, wounded or captured. The result was a decisive defeat by a much smaller German force of about 135,000. Samsonov and Rennenkampf hated each other passionately and did not coordinate themselves. General Pavel Rennenkampf and General Alexander Samsonov commanded the First and Second armies, respectively, totaling 650,000. Russia attacked East Prussia with two armies. The Eastern front as it came to be known started quickly for Russia. Russia's involvement in World War I was catastrophic to the point of violent revolution.
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