

This stated that he believed that the German army was withdrawing to Tannenburg. The second intercepted message was sent by Samsonov. Fought between Tannenberg and the nearby village of Grnwald, Polish and Lithuanian forces under Ladislaus II (Wladyslaw Jagiello) halted the eastward expansion. Therefore, the Germans could guarantee that Samsonov would get no help from the First Army. It told us that Rennenkampf's Army was to pass the Masurian Lakes on the north and advance against the Insterburg-Angerburg line. The message stated clearly that Rennenkampf’s army was not marching towards Samsonov’s Second Army. A Summary of the Battle of Tannenberg by General Paul von Hindenburg In the pocket-book of a dead Russian officer a note had been found which revealed the intention of the enemy Command. One was sent by Rennenkampf to inform Samsonov of his marching plan for the First Army. Two in particular were invaluable to the Germans. If the Russian were hampered by poor communications, the Germans greatly benefited from the ease with which they could intercept Russian messages.

Samsonov assumed that Rennenkampf was moving as planned through East Prussia. He was also unaware that the Russian First Army had halted its advance after its success at Gumbinnen. He was unaware of what Hoffman was trying to do despite the fact that the Germans were moving around a vast number of men and supplies. The German forces, led by Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, achieved a significant victory over the Russian Second Army under General Alexander. Samsonov was severely hampered by a lack of communications. It ended in victory for the Germans over the Russian armed forces.
BATTLE OF TANNENBERG IMPORTANT HOW TO
Both Ludendorff and Hindenburg took great credit for what happened at Tannenburg – but the actual details on how to surround Russia’s Second Army came from another German officer – Colonel Maximilian Hoffman. The film deals with the Battle of Tannenberg, which was fought in 1914 in East Prussia.

By August 22nd, they had stabilised the Eastern Front and by August 29th, the Germans surrounded Samsonov’s army. Both men believed that attack was the best form of defence and they ordered that the Eighth Army had to show more aggression in what it did. Generals Ludendorff and Hindenburg, replaced Prittwitz. Prittwitz had feared that his army would be encircled after Rennenkampf’s army had defeated the Germans at the Battle of Gumbinnen. The German commander facing Samsonov, Maximilian Prittwitz, was sacked by Helmuth von Moltke, Germany’s Chief of Staff, for ordering his Eighth Army to retreat as Samsonov’s Second Army advanced. The start of the campaign went well for Russia. His brief in August 1914 was to invade East Prussia along with General Rennenkampf’s First Army.
