Back معركة تاننبرغ Arabic Tannenberq döyüşü Azerbaijani تاننبرگ دؤیوشو AZB Бітва пад Таненбергам (1914) Byelorussian Битка при Таненберг (1914) Bulgarian Batalla de Tannenberg (1914) Catalan Bitva u Tannenbergu Czech Тенненберг патĕнчи çапăçу (1914) CV Slaget ved Tannenberg (1914) Danish Schlacht bei Tannenberg (1914) German

Battle of Tannenberg

For the 1410 battle at the same location, see Battle of Grunwald. For the 1944 battle in Estonia, see Battle of Tannenberg Line.

Battle of Tannenberg
Part of the East Prussian campaign of the
Eastern Front in World War I

Russian prisoners of war after the battle
Date23–30 August 1914
Location
Tannenberg, East Prussia, German Empire (present-day Poland)
53°29′45″N 20°08′4″E / 53.49583°N 20.13444°E / 53.49583; 20.13444
Result

German victory

  • Destruction of half[1] of the 2nd Russian Army
Belligerents
 German Empire Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
German Empire Paul von Hindenburg
German Empire Erich Ludendorff
German Empire Max Hoffmann
German Empire Hermann von François		 Alexander Samsonov †
Yakov Zhilinsky[a]
Units involved
German Empire VIII Army II Army
Strength
150,000[2]
294 machine guns
728 guns and howitzers		 123,000[3]–180,000[2]
384 machine guns
612 guns and howitzers
Casualties and losses
21–30 August:
13,873+ [4]
  •  • 1,726+ killed
  •  • 7,461 wounded
  •  • 4,686 missing
Other estimate:
about 30,000 dead and wounded[5][6][7][8]

70,000–90,000 killed, wounded or captured[9][10][11]

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

The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 23 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russian Second Army and the suicide of its commanding general, Alexander Samsonov. A series of follow-up battles (First Masurian Lakes) destroyed most of the First Army.

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. 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 almost miraculous outcome brought considerable prestige to General (later Field Marshal) Paul von Hindenburg and his rising staff-officer Erich Ludendorff. Although the battle actually took place near Allenstein (Olsztyn), Hindenburg named it after Tannenberg, 30 km (19 mi) to the west, in order to avenge the Teutonic Knights' defeat at the First Battle of Tannenberg 500 years earlier.

  1. ^ Oskin 2024, p. 11.
  2. ^ a b Hastings 2013, p. 281.
  3. ^ Golovin 1926.
  4. ^ Sanitätsbericht über das deutsche Heer im Weltkriege 1914/1918, III. Band, Berlin 1934, S. 36
  5. ^ Gordon Kerr, A Short History of the First World War: Land, Sea and Air, 1914–1918 (2014)
  6. ^ Nigel West Historical Dictionary of World War I Intelligence (2014) p. 310
  7. ^ Journal Studies in Intelligence vol. 50, №2 (2006) p. 16
  8. ^ (Russian) First World War
  9. ^ (Russian) First World War 1914–1918
  10. ^ (Russian Book) S.Kulichkin On the fronts of the First World War (2014)
  11. ^ Oleynikov 2016, p. 233.


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