Battle of Tannenberg (1914)

For the 1410 battle at the same location, see Battle of Grunwald.

The Battle of Tannenberg was a decisive engagement between the Russian Empire and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It was fought by the Russian First and Second Armies and the German Eighth Army between 17 August and 2 September 1914. The battle ended with the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army.

Battle of Tannenberg
Part of the Eastern Front of World War I
Date 23 August-2 September 1914 Location near Allenstein, East Prussia Result Decisive German Victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Samsonov Paul von Rennenkampf	Paul von Hindenburg Erich Ludendorff
Strength
190,000	150,000
Casualties and losses
30,000 killed or wounded; 95,000 captured	20,000 killed or wounded

The battle took place near Allenstein. The Germans named it after Tannenberg. They wanted to express that they had made good their defeat at the medieval Battle of Tannenberg or (Grunwald). In that 1410 battle the Lithuanians finally defeated the Teutonic Knights.

Bibliographic references

• Showalter, Dennis (1991), Tannenberg: Clash of Empires, Hamden, CT: Archon Books, ISBN 978-0208022523.

• Tuchman, Barbara (1962), The Guns of August (First Ballantine Books ed.), New York, NY: Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-345-38623-X.
• Tannenberg 1914 by John Sweetman. Includes battle plans in colour and archived black and white photographic plates of the battle.

Battle Of Tannenberg (1914) Media

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  Vivat ribbon commemorating the Battle of Tannenberg, showing Wilhelm II and "Hindenburg the victor of Tannenberg"

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  Generalfeldmarschall Paul von Hindenburg

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  Movements of 23–26 August 1914, with Germans in red and Russians in blue

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  German infantry during the Battle of Tannenberg

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  Movements of 27–30 August

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  A burning Gasthaus during the fight at Usdau on 27 August

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  Dead Russian soldiers in a trench near Usdau

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  Russian prisoners of war at Tilsit railway station

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  1998 photo of the foundations of the Tannenberg Memorial – the former burial site of Paul von Hindenburg

Other websites

• Battle of Tannenberg