Russian invasion of East Prussia (1914)
| East Prussian campaign | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Eastern Front of World War I | |||||||||
Eastern Front, 17–23 August 1914. | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| German Empire | Russian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Paul von Hindenburg Erich Ludendorff Max Hoffmann Maximilian von Prittwitz |
Nicholas Nikolaevich Yakov Zhilinsky Paul von Rennenkampf Alexander Samsonov † Vasily Flug | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| 8th Army |
1st Army 2nd Army | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
Initial (including reserves): 209,522 men Later from Western Front: 46,866 men Total: 256,388 men |
Initial (including reserves): 1st Army: 222,053 men 2nd Army: 280,902 men Later: 10th Army: 247,467 men Total: 750,422 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
official German medical reports: Other estimates: Stallupönen – 1,300; Gumbinnen – 14,600; Tannenberg – 12,000; Masurian lakes – 10,000 or 40,000 Total: 37,000–100,000 |
official Russian medical reports: Other estimates: Stallupönen – 7,500; Gumbinnen – 19,000; Tannenberg – 122,000–170,000; Masurian lakes - 125,000 Total: 270,000–320,000 100,000 taken prisoner | ||||||||
The Russian invasion of East Prussia occurred during World War I, lasting from August to September 1914. As well as being the natural course for the Russian Empire to take upon the declaration of war on the German Empire, it was also an attempt to focus the Imperial German Army on the Eastern Front, as opposed to the Western Front as part of the alliance and to force Germany to fight a two front war. Despite superiority over the Germans in numbers, the invading Imperial Russian Army spread its forces thin and was defeated in the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes, resulting in a complete strategic collapse of the Russian plan of war. The Germans also seemed to have weak cooperation among the troops and disagreements in the generals. The victory in East Prussia inspired too much self-confidence, which led to defeats at Warsaw and Lodz.
The shock of the invasion served to assist the German war effort. According to Alexander Watson "Outrage at the violation of national territory and Tsarist atrocities strengthened German solidarity, cemented conviction in the righteousness of the national cause, and acted as a terrible and lasting warning of the penalties of defeat".