The Battle of Tannenberg was a battle in the World War I. It occurred in the early months of the war between Russia and Germany. This battle was fought between 26 August and 30 August 1914. After the battle, the Russian Second Army was completely destroyed. Also, the commanding general, Alexander Samsonov, committed suicide. Several other battles had a catastrophic effect on the First Army. Russia was off-balance until 1915. This battle is known for Germans fast rail movements and disability of the Russian army to decode messages. Despite the Battle of Tannenberg was fought near Allenstein, Ludendorff change its name. As the result, this name is used. He wanted to avenge the defeat from 1410.
Russia had at their disposal 230.000 soldiers. 78.000 of them were killed or wounded. 92.000 were POW and a total of 350 guns were captured. On the other side, Germany had 150.000 soldiers. Between 10.000 and 15.000 were killed or wounded.
According to many historians, this battle is known for excellent strategic capabilities of the German army. The Russian army had several problems, including supply problems of First Army. A one week later, the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was fought. In this battle, the German army was reinforced. They defeated the Russian First Army. Russia had to retreat and they didn’t step on the Germany soil until the end of the World War II. The battle of Tannenberg was a masterpiece, but it didn’t have the same effect as the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes (making the Russian army to retreat). After the battle, both Ludendorff and Hindenburg were treated as heroes. However, Hoffmann was ignored by the press.
