The Second Army railway ran from Warsaw, Poland, to the border 165 km (103 mi) southwest of Königsberg. The First Army would use the line that ran from Vilnius, Lithuania, to the border 136 km (85 mi) southeast of Königsberg. Consequently, its armies could be transported by rail only as far as the German border and could use Prussian railways only with captured locomotives and rolling stock. The railways ended at the border, as Russian trains operated on a different rail gauge from Western Europe. The Russians would rely on two of their three railways that ran up to the border each would provision an army. Combined with the flexibility provided by the German railways, allowing General Maximilian von Prittwitz to concentrate against the inner flanks of either Russian invasion force, the Germans could realistically view the coming war with a degree of confidence." Similarly, major fortresses had been established along the Vistula, particularly at Thorn (now Toruń).
#Significance of the battle of tannenberg series#
Īccording to Prit Buttar, "In addition to the fortifications amongst the Masurian Lake District, the Germans had built a series of major forts around Königsberg in the 19th century and had then modernised them over the years. Despite their difficulties, the Russians promised the French that they would promptly engage the armies of Austria-Hungary in the south and on day 15 would invade German East Prussia. Russia intended to have 27 divisions at the front by day 15 of hostilities and 52 by day 23, but it would take 60 days before 90 divisions were in action. Getting their men to the front would itself take time because of their relatively sparse and unreliable railway network (for example, 75% of the Russian railways were still single-tracked). Their Russian allies in the East would have a massive army, more than 95 divisions, but their mobilization would inevitably be slower. If the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) joined in accordance with their Allied treaty, they would fill the left flank. The French army's Plan XVII at the outbreak of the war involved swift mobilization followed by an immediate attack to drive the Germans from Alsace and Lorraine. The Eighth Army in East Prussia would go to war with barely 10 per cent of this total." The total strength of the fully mobilised German Army in 1914 amounted to 1,191 battalions, the great majority of which would be deployed against France. In the east, limited German forces would defend against any Russian attack until more forces became available from the west, fresh from victory over the French. According to Prit Buttar, "In combination with his own strong desire to fight an offensive war featuring outflanking and encircling movements, Schlieffen went on to develop his plan for a sweeping advance through Belgium. Germany entered World War I largely following the Schlieffen Plan.
It is also notable for the failure of the Russians to encode their radio messages, broadcasting their daily marching orders in the clear, which allowed the Germans to make their movements with the confidence they would not be flanked. The battle is particularly notable for fast rail movements by the German Eighth Army, enabling them to concentrate against each of the two Russian armies in turn, first delaying the First Army and then destroying the Second before once again turning on the First days later. A series of follow-up battles ( First Masurian Lakes) destroyed most of the First Army as well and kept the Russians off balance until the spring of 1915. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army and the suicide of its commanding general, Alexander Samsonov. The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. Vivat ribbon commemorating the Battle of Tannenberg, showing Wilhelm II and " Hindenburg the victor of Tannenberg"
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