Hnau
Banned
The Battle of Tannenberg was held one of the more critical junctures of the Great War, indeed, a slight change could have changed the history of the world in a big way.
On August 23rd, 1914 Paul von Hindenburg arrived on the Eastern Front with his chief of staff, Erich von Ludendorff. Germany was in dire straits. The Russians had mobilized more quickly than imagined: in only fourteen days instead of sixty-five! The morale of the entire nation, the confidence of victory, was at stake. Refugees were streaming into central Germany from the east, expecting the Russian steamroller to reach Berlin by Christmas.
And then the opportunity: Ludendorff realized General Samsonov of the Second Army was recklessly pushing toward Allenstein and had lost contact with General Rennenkampf of the First Army operating near Konigsberg. The gamble: Ludendorff withdrew most of the forces facing Rennenkampf, leaving approaches to Konigsberg virtually undefended, and sent them into the breach which had formed between the two Russian armies. Had Rennekampf realized what was happening and attacked, he could have inflicted a disastrous defeat on the enemy.
Instead, on August 28, a German counterattack trapped Samsonov's army inan area of marshes and lakes. In four days, the Russian Second Army surrendered: the Germans had killed or put out of commission 70,000 Russians, captured 100,000 prisoners, at a loss of only 15,000 casualties. Samsonov shot himself out of humiliation. Next came Rennenkampf's turn.
On September 9, reinforced with freshly arrived units from the Western Front, Hindenburg took on the Russian First Army, forcing it to abandon to pre-war borders at the loss of another 60,000 men.
Certainly decisive. All Rennenkampf had to do was realize why the Germans were retreating, maybe based on some espionage, and he could have withdrawn from Konigsburg, smashed the Germans between Samsonov's army in the very marshes that the Second Army was trapped in, and then gone on to march on Konigsberg.
I think the worst thing about this situation is that Hindenburg said himself, "If the battle had gone badly, the name 'Hindenburg' would have been reviled from one end of Germany to the other." Morale in Germany would have hit rock-bottom, without success on either front, and the refugees would continue pouring in... There are fundamental weaknesses of the Russian military, but perhaps this could end the war within the year or shortly thereafter.
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A short search on Tannenberg PODs reveals this is slightly more popular than I thought. Some say that Rennenkampf actually allowed the Germans to crush Samsonov because they hated each other... I don't know, I haven't seen a decent source on that subject. What I've read led me to believe that it was a tactical blunder of Rennenkampf's to not realize the trap the Germans had set up. And furthermore, even with a victory at Tannenberg, the German military was vastly superior to the Russian's... they would have to fall eventually. But no one can doubt that it would have hit the Germans hard, and its not as if the Russians would have suffered as well by growing more arrogant: they didn't learn any 'lesson' even after the disaster at Tannenberg, happy to sacrifice so many men for the Allies. So they would continue to operate in the same way they did regardless of success at Tannenberg. Unless the Russians over-reach, which is extremely possible, I can only see this shortening the war considerably.
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One idea of what would happen shortly after the fiasco in East Prussia is first, the capture of Konigsberg, and second, Russian success at pushing into Silesia. The only reason they weren't able to march into Silesia was because of the threat from the north of Poland... without that threat, and with Russians rolling back the Austrians in Galicia, it is very likely the Russians could take Silesia at least into the beginning of 1915... which would again, decrease morale for the Central Powers, and perhaps hasten Italy's entrance into the war.
On August 23rd, 1914 Paul von Hindenburg arrived on the Eastern Front with his chief of staff, Erich von Ludendorff. Germany was in dire straits. The Russians had mobilized more quickly than imagined: in only fourteen days instead of sixty-five! The morale of the entire nation, the confidence of victory, was at stake. Refugees were streaming into central Germany from the east, expecting the Russian steamroller to reach Berlin by Christmas.
And then the opportunity: Ludendorff realized General Samsonov of the Second Army was recklessly pushing toward Allenstein and had lost contact with General Rennenkampf of the First Army operating near Konigsberg. The gamble: Ludendorff withdrew most of the forces facing Rennenkampf, leaving approaches to Konigsberg virtually undefended, and sent them into the breach which had formed between the two Russian armies. Had Rennekampf realized what was happening and attacked, he could have inflicted a disastrous defeat on the enemy.
Instead, on August 28, a German counterattack trapped Samsonov's army inan area of marshes and lakes. In four days, the Russian Second Army surrendered: the Germans had killed or put out of commission 70,000 Russians, captured 100,000 prisoners, at a loss of only 15,000 casualties. Samsonov shot himself out of humiliation. Next came Rennenkampf's turn.
On September 9, reinforced with freshly arrived units from the Western Front, Hindenburg took on the Russian First Army, forcing it to abandon to pre-war borders at the loss of another 60,000 men.
Certainly decisive. All Rennenkampf had to do was realize why the Germans were retreating, maybe based on some espionage, and he could have withdrawn from Konigsburg, smashed the Germans between Samsonov's army in the very marshes that the Second Army was trapped in, and then gone on to march on Konigsberg.
I think the worst thing about this situation is that Hindenburg said himself, "If the battle had gone badly, the name 'Hindenburg' would have been reviled from one end of Germany to the other." Morale in Germany would have hit rock-bottom, without success on either front, and the refugees would continue pouring in... There are fundamental weaknesses of the Russian military, but perhaps this could end the war within the year or shortly thereafter.
--
A short search on Tannenberg PODs reveals this is slightly more popular than I thought. Some say that Rennenkampf actually allowed the Germans to crush Samsonov because they hated each other... I don't know, I haven't seen a decent source on that subject. What I've read led me to believe that it was a tactical blunder of Rennenkampf's to not realize the trap the Germans had set up. And furthermore, even with a victory at Tannenberg, the German military was vastly superior to the Russian's... they would have to fall eventually. But no one can doubt that it would have hit the Germans hard, and its not as if the Russians would have suffered as well by growing more arrogant: they didn't learn any 'lesson' even after the disaster at Tannenberg, happy to sacrifice so many men for the Allies. So they would continue to operate in the same way they did regardless of success at Tannenberg. Unless the Russians over-reach, which is extremely possible, I can only see this shortening the war considerably.
--
One idea of what would happen shortly after the fiasco in East Prussia is first, the capture of Konigsberg, and second, Russian success at pushing into Silesia. The only reason they weren't able to march into Silesia was because of the threat from the north of Poland... without that threat, and with Russians rolling back the Austrians in Galicia, it is very likely the Russians could take Silesia at least into the beginning of 1915... which would again, decrease morale for the Central Powers, and perhaps hasten Italy's entrance into the war.
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