Battle of Tannenberg begins
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Eastern Front
- Date:
- 23 August 1914
- Author:
- Łukasz Skowroń
- Battle:
- Battle of Tannenberg
- Tags:
- East Prussia, Russia, Germany, Alexander Samsonov
On 23 August 1914, in the south of East Prussia, fighting began that went down in history as the Battle of Tannenberg. That day the corps of the Russian Second Army of General Alexander Samsonov, marching north from the Kingdom of Poland, clashed with the German XX Corps near Neidenburg.
First clashes
The German XX Corps of General Friedrich von Scholtz was defending the southern border of East Prussia. On 23 and 24 August its units fought the Russian XV Corps and then withdrew to new positions. Samsonov concluded that the Germans were in retreat and drove his exhausted troops further north. He did not know that the enemy was preparing a trap.
That same day the new commanders, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, arrived at the headquarters of the German Eighth Army. They adopted a plan to take most of the forces away from Gumbinnen, where Rennenkampf’s army stood, and throw them against Samsonov.
Dates of the battle
Chronologies of the war often give 23 August as the start of the Battle of Tannenberg, because the first clashes took place that day. Most historians, however, regard the battle proper as the fighting of 26–30 August, when the Germans struck the wings of the Russian army and closed it in an encirclement.
The fighting took place in what is today Warmia and Masuria, around Hohenstein, Neidenburg and Tannenberg (today Olsztynek, Nidzica and Stębark). The name of the battle, given by the Germans, alluded to the Battle of Grunwald of 1410, known in Germany as the Battle of Tannenberg.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 23 August 1914 · Western FrontBattle of MonsOn 23 August 1914 the British Expeditionary Force fought its first battle at Mons. It inflicted heavy losses on the Germans but had to begin a retreat.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificJapan declares war on GermanyOn 23 August 1914 Japan declared war on Germany. The war spread to the Far East and the Pacific, and Japan reached for Germany's possessions in Asia.
- 23 August 1914 · Asia and the PacificGermany breaks off diplomatic relations with JapanOn 23 August 1914, after the Japanese ultimatum expired, Germany broke off relations with Japan. Ambassador Arthur von Rex left Tokyo.
- 23 August 1914 · AfricaGeneral Dobell to command the Kamerun expeditionOn 23 August 1914 General Charles Dobell was appointed commander of the Allied land forces against German Kamerun.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 31 August 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Tannenberg endsOn 31 August 1914 Hindenburg reported to the Kaiser the destruction of the Russian 2nd Army. Over 90,000 Russians were captured and Samsonov was dead.
- 23 August 1914 · Eastern FrontHindenburg takes command of the Eighth ArmyOn 23 August 1914 General Paul von Hindenburg, recalled from retirement, took command of the Eighth Army in East Prussia, with Ludendorff as chief of staff.
- 20 August 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of Gumbinnen in East PrussiaOn 20 August 1914 Rennenkampf's Russian First Army repulsed the German Eighth Army at Gumbinnen. It was the first major battle on the Eastern Front.
- 5 September 1914 · Eastern FrontBattle of the Masurian Lakes beginsAt the beginning of September 1914 Hindenburg's German Eighth Army moved against Rennenkampf's Russian First Army. The Battle of the Masurian Lakes began.