Battle of the Masurian Lakes begins

The British chronicle of the war gives 5 September 1914 as the start of the Battle of the Masurian Lakes. Less than a week after the victory at Tannenberg, the German Eighth Army of General Paul von Hindenburg turned against the second Russian army that had entered East Prussia: the First Army of General Paul von Rennenkampf. The fighting took place on land that today belongs to Poland, around the lakes and isthmuses of Masuria.

Different dates

Historians date the battle differently. Polish literature usually gives 8–15 September, many Western studies 7–14 or 9–14 September, and some take a broader view, from the first days of September. The differences stem from what is regarded as its beginning. As early as 5 September German corps were marching and travelling by rail to their starting positions, and the first clashes were taking place on the wings. The main attack began on 7 and 8 September, and the outcome was decided over the following days.

The turn east

After the destruction of Samsonov’s army the Germans had to decide what to do next. The Austro-Hungarians, losing in Galicia, asked for a blow to the south, towards the Kingdom of Poland. Hindenburg and his chief of staff Erich Ludendorff, however, were ordered first to clear East Prussia of Rennenkampf’s troops. For this they received reinforcements from the Western Front: two infantry corps and a cavalry division, sent even before Tannenberg, which arrived at the turn of August and September.

After Samsonov’s defeat Rennenkampf halted and dug in on a line running from the Deime valley in the north, through Wehlau and Nordenburg, to Lake Mamry near Angerburg, today’s Węgorzewo. His left wing rested on the belt of lakes, but it was the weakest point of the whole army. To the south of it, in the area of Lyck, the new Russian Tenth Army was only beginning to assemble. Particularly dangerous for the Russians was the German fortress of Boyen at Lötzen, today’s Giżycko. It lay on the isthmus between the lakes and remained in German hands throughout the Russian presence in East Prussia.

The German plan

The Germans decided to pin the Russians down frontally in the north, while a strong right wing passed through the isthmuses between the lakes near Lötzen and Arys, outflanked Rennenkampf’s left wing and came out in his rear. They had superiority in artillery, especially heavy artillery, and made efficient use of the dense East Prussian railway network. The Russians, though more numerous, were spread over a wide front, and the commander of the North-Western Front, General Yakov Zhilinsky, failed to coordinate the operations of the First and Tenth Armies.

Course of the battle

The main attack began on 7 and 8 September on the southern wing. The Germans seized the isthmuses between the lakes and took Arys. Over the following days they broke through the Russian defences at Kruglanken and advanced on Goldap, threatening Rennenkampf’s rear. In the north the Russian corps defended themselves stubbornly on the Alle and the Angerapp, but could not prevent the outflanking. On the evening of 9 September, or according to some sources only a day later, Rennenkampf ordered a retreat.

This time the Russians avoided encirclement. The retreat, however, was chaotic, communications failed, and the pursuit by German cavalry turned it in places into flight. By 14 and 15 September the remnants of the First Army had withdrawn beyond the border of East Prussia, towards the Niemen. The Germans entered Russian territory and took, among other places, Suwałki and Augustów.

Significance

The staff of the North-Western Front estimated Russian losses at about 100,000 men, roughly half of them prisoners, and the Germans captured about 150 guns. German losses were many times smaller. After a second defeat within a few weeks, the Russian offensive in East Prussia ended in complete failure, and Zhilinsky lost his post. At the same time the Germans failed to repeat Tannenberg and destroy Rennenkampf’s army, which soon rebuilt its strength. Some of the German troops from East Prussia were soon sent south to support the retreating Austrians. In Masuria the fighting returned in the winter of 1915, in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes.