Battle of Tannenberg 1914
![website: Ray Mentzer ([email protected]); photographer unknown](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Russian_prisoners_tannenberg.jpg){kind=link}
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 August 1914 – 30 August 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Poland | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 53.7500, 20.5000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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. The battle resulted in the encirclement and the almost complete destruction of the Russian 2nd Army by the German 8th Army and the suicide of its commanding general, Alexander Samsonov. A series of follow-up battles (First Masurian Lakes) led to the ousting of the Russian 1st Army from East Prussia.
The outcome brought considerable prestige to the German army commander, General Paul von Hindenburg, and his rising staff officer, General 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 Battle of Grunwald 500 years earlier.
The East Prussian campaign is particularly notable for fast rail movements by the German 8th Army, enabling them to concentrate against each of the two Russian armies in turn, first delaying the 1st Army and then destroying the 2nd before once again turning on the 1st days later.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Tannenberg (revision 1373883764), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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All 138 battles of the World War I →
Browse more: battles in Poland · Europe · World War I era battles