The Russians faced the Germans with a higher number and got nothing, worse than nothing. “The 1st and 2nd Russian armies effectively ceased to exist after these two battles,” Lockenour explains. The Russian army retreated in disarray, losing tens of thousands of prisoners of war. Fresh out of Tannenberg’s victory, the 8th German Army marches north and routs the 1st Russian Army at the Battle of the Mazurian Lakes. “It was not uncommon, even during World War II, for commanders to take personal responsibility for major defeats,” Lockenour explains.īut the problems for Russia were not yet over. Photo by ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images General Alexander Samsonov, who led the Russian 2nd Army in the South, committed suicide on August 30, 1914, after his forces were defeated by the Germans. Unable to confront the Tsar and explain Tannenberg’s horribly unbalanced defeat, Samsonov walked alone through the woods and killed himself with his officer’s pistol. An estimated 50,000 Russian soldiers were killed in panic fighting and another 92,000 were taken by Germany as prisoners of war. Samsonov commanded 150,000 men in the Russian 2nd Army and less than 10,000 returned to Russia, Lockenour says. Russian general Samsonov commits suicide after his defeat Due to communication issues, Russian commanders were unaware that a major attack on their flank was underway until half a day too late. “Imagine this Russian army as a bulge pressing into Germany and the Germans hitting at a point where the bulge begins and cuts the vast majority of Russian forces in the middle. “Then the Germans launched two flank attacks,” Lockenour explains. General Alexander Samsonov, in charge of the Russian 2nd Army in the South, falls straight into Ludendorff’s trap and lets his men be completely surrounded. Russian commanders were no amateurs, but they were hampered by poor communications, slow supply routes, and the frustrations of moving a large army (plus heavy artillery) on foot and on horseback over difficult terrain. “He was an incredibly experienced staff officer and had already won the For Merit cross, similar to the Congress Medal of Honor, for his leadership in Liège. “I contend that Ludendorff is the mastermind of the operation,” says Lockenour, who wrote a book titled Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Erich Ludendorff in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. Knowing that the Russian 1st Army was heading north towards Königsberg, Ludendorff and Hindenberg decided to engage most of the German 8th Army to strike the Russian 2nd Army south of the lakes. The two Russian armies were separated by difficult terrain known as the Masurian Lakes which slowed their progress. Ludendorff, the brilliant German strategist, saw an opportunity. By intercepting these messages, the Germans learned that the Russian 1st Army was not pursuing the German 8th Army as intended, but was instead looking north towards the Prussian town of Königsberg. The biggest Russian mistake was to broadcast their orders over open radio frequencies, resulting in confusion over the encoded messages. The Russian military was not as experienced and well trained as its German foe, and this led to some critical errors. The German brass removed Prittwitz from command and replaced him with the legendary Paul von Hindenberg (recently retired) and a military mastermind named Erich Ludendorff, fresh out of a German victory at the Battle of Liege. “Prittwitz was not outdone,” says Lockenour, “but he had suffered a defeat at the Battle of Gumbinnen and decided that retreat was the only option in the face of these two armies coming from Russia.” When the Germans learned that the Russians were invading East Prussia with two armies, one in the north and one in the south, they ordered Prittwitz to attack the Russian 1st Army from the north in what became the Battle of Gumbinnen on AugBoth sides suffered heavy losses and Prittwitz, envisioning a second Russian army on the way, lost his temper. It was a lot of reservists and garrison troops, people normally assigned to the defense of fixed positions. “In addition, the 8th Army was the weakest of the German armies. “What happened is that the Russians mobilized much faster than the Germans expected,” said Jay Lockenour, military historian at Temple University.
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