The East Prussian operation of 1914 is commonly referred to as the offensive of the Russian army in Germany during the First World War. Despite success at an early stage, it was not possible to develop an advance deep into enemy territory. Having won the first few battles, the Russian army was defeated in the battle of Tannenberg and was forced to retreat to its original positions on the Neman and Nareva rivers. From a tactical point of view, the East Prussian operation of 1914 ended in failure. However, its strategic results turned out to be favorable for the Russian Empire and its allies.
Comparison of forces of the sides
In August 1914, two armies deployed at their starting positions under the command of Generals Alexander Samsonov and Pavel Rennenkampf. In total, Russian troops numbered 250 thousand people and 1200 artillery pieces. Both armies were subordinate to the front commander, General Yakov Grigorievich Zhilinsky. It is worth noting that during the East Prussian operation of 1914, there were obvious contradictions between his orders and the orders of the headquarters.
The total number of opposing German troops was 173 thousand people. The German side had about a thousandartillery pieces. The German army was commanded by General Max von Prittwitz. A week after the start of the East Prussian operation, he was replaced by the famous military leader and politician Paul von Hindenburg.
Planning
The overall task assigned to the armies of Samsonov and Rennenkampf was to defeat the German troops and develop an offensive deep into enemy territory. The Germans had to be cut off from Koenigsberg and the Vistula. The site of the East Prussian operation of 1914 at the initial stage was the region of the Masurian Lakes, bypassing which, the Russian troops were supposed to strike at the enemy's flank. The General Staff entrusted the implementation of this task to the army under the command of Samsonov. It was planned that she would cross the state border on August 19. Two days earlier, the Rennenkampf army was supposed to invade enemy territory and divert German troops, striking in the area of the cities of Insterburg and Angerburg.
Hasty action
International politics and relations with the allies had a negative impact on the quality of planning and organization of the East Prussian operation of 1914. The government of the Russian Empire promised France to hurry up with the start of the offensive. Hasty actions led to serious problems with obtaining detailed intelligence data on the enemy's deployment and establishing communications between the Russian corps. The invasion of Germany took placealmost blindly. Due to lack of time, the supply of troops was not properly organized. The reasons for interruptions in supplies were not only in a hurry, but also in the absence of the necessary number of railways in Poland.
Mistakes of command
The probability of the failure of the East Prussian operation in August 1914 increased significantly due to a dramatic mistake made by the Russian General Staff. Having learned that the Berlin direction was defended only by German territorial troops (Landwehr), which were characterized by low combat capability, the high command decided to create an additional strike group to develop an offensive against the enemy capital. The reserves, which were supposed to reinforce the armies of Samsonov and Rennenkampf, joined the new formation. As a result of this mistake, the strike potential of the participants in the East Prussian operation of 1914 was significantly reduced. The outcome of the battle was, to a certain extent, decided before it began.
The plans of the German army
The Kaiser General Staff set before its troops in East Prussia only the task of holding the territory. The high command did not give the army a specific plan and gave some degree of freedom to make decisions depending on the development of the situation. General Prittwitz's troops were waiting for reinforcements, which were supposed to arrive 40 days after the start of mobilization in Germany.
It should be noted that the German side, like the Russian side, was poorly prepared for combatactivities in terms of intelligence gathering. The German headquarters had very vague information about the number and deployment of enemy forces. The German command was forced to make blind decisions.
Features of the landscape contributed to the conduct of defensive operations. On the territory of a powerful fortified region there were a large number of lakes, swamps and forested hills. Such terrain hindered the advance of the enemy. Narrow passages between reservoirs made it possible to create effective defensive lines.
Start operation
In accordance with the plan, the Rennenkampf army crossed the state border on August 17 and immediately got involved in a battle with the enemy near the city of Shtallupönen. This was the first battle of the East Prussian operation in 1914. Briefly, the result of this battle can be described as follows: the Russian troops forced the Germans to retreat, but suffered serious losses. Given the five-fold superiority of the Rennenkampf soldiers, this episode can hardly be called a great success. The Russian army took Shtallupönen, and the Germans withdrew to the city of Gumbinnen. The attack continued the next day. The Russian cavalry tried to outflank Gumbinnen from the north, but ran into a brigade of German territorial troops and suffered casu alties. Samsonov's army entered East Prussia on 20 August. Having received information about this, the German headquarters decided to immediately engage in battle.
Battle of Gumbinnen
German divisions suddenly attacked the right flank of the Russian troops. This section of the front was opened due to the fact that the cavalry, after suffering losses, retreated and was inactive. The Germans managed to push back the Russian right-flank divisions. However, the further development of the attack bogged down due to dense artillery fire. The German army retreated, but the Russian troops were too tired to pursue them. Both sides suffered heavy losses. As a result of this battle, the threat of encirclement loomed over the German corps.
Battle of Tannenberg
After Prittwitz informed the General Staff of his intention to continue the retreat inland, he was removed from his post and replaced by Paul Hindenburg. The new commander decided to concentrate his forces to defeat Samsonov's army. The Russian headquarters mistakenly mistook the transfer of enemy divisions for a retreat. The command concluded that the main part of the operation was completed. Based on these considerations, the two Russian armies began to pursue the enemy and move away from each other. Hindenburg took advantage of this situation to encircle Samsonov's divisions.
The flanks of the Russian troops that advanced deep into the enemy territory turned out to be unprotected. The concentrated blows of the German corps and landwehr brigades led to the flight to the rear of individual parts of Samsonov's army. Communication with headquarters was lost, and command and control was disorganized. During the disorderly retreat, five divisions led by Samsonov were surrounded. The general shot himself, and his subordinates surrendered. Western European historians call the defeat of Samsonov's army the Battle of Tannenberg.
Having eliminated one threat, the German command turned its attention to another. The superior enemy forces launched an attack on the southern flank of Rennenkampf's troops, intending to surround them and destroy them. The attack was repelled with the help of the remnants of Samsonov's army, but the losses grew, and the situation became hopeless. Russian troops returned to their original positions. The Germans failed to encircle and destroy the Rennenkampf army, but the offensive operation, the purpose of which was to capture Prussia, ended in failure.
Results
An attempt to invade German territory did not bring any results and turned into heavy losses. The results of the East Prussian operation of 1914 were, of course, negative for the Russian army, but in the long run, a tactical defeat turned into a strategic gain. For Germany, this theater of operations was secondary. The Kaiser government concentrated forces on the Western Front in order to defeat France in the first place with one quick and powerful blow. The Russian invasion disrupted Germany's strategic plans. To eliminate the new threat, the German General Staff needed to transfer more than a hundred thousand people from the Western Front. Russia diverted the forces intended for participation in the battle for France and saved the ally from defeat.
Briefly the results of the EasternThe Prussian operation of 1914 can be formulated as follows: the invasion forced Germany to conduct military operations on two fronts, which predetermined the outcome of the world confrontation. The German side did not have enough resources for a protracted struggle. The intervention of the Russian Empire not only saved France, but also doomed Germany to defeat in the world war.
