Battle of Gumbinnen | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Russian invasion of East Prussia during World War I | |||||||
![]() Eastern Front, 17–23 August 1914. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
![]() | ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() ![]() | ![]() | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
![]() | ![]() | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
74,400 men 224 machine guns and 408 guns [1] | 63,800 total 252 machine guns and 408 guns [2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,250 killed 6,414 wounded 6,943 captured Total: 14,607 [3] | 18,839 [4] Another estimate: 19,665 men, including 9,500 captured [5] |
The Battle of Gumbinnen, initiated by forces of the German Empire on 20 August 1914, was a German offensive on the Eastern Front during the First World War. Because of the hastiness of the German attack, the Russian Army emerged victorious.
According to Prit Buttar,
Provided that the Russians did not concentrate all their forces against East Prussia - and therefore sent substantial numbers of troops against the Austro-Hungarian Empire - Eighth Army should be able to hold out without conceding too much ground until victory over France was assured. All that was required was for Prittwitz to avoid defeat, and to hold his nerve. Originally, Prittwitz had intended to hold the line of the Angerapp and allow Rennenkampf to suffer heavy casualties while trying to force the position. [6]
The German forces faced the Russian First Army (Paul von Rennenkampf) and Russian Second Army (Alexander Samsonov). The Russians enjoyed considerable numerical superiority but were hampered by significant deficiencies in their services of supply and field communications. [7]
German aerial reconnaissance by the Flieger Abteilung 16 indicated a gap had formed between the Russian First and Second armies, while radio intercepts indicated Rennenkampf had halted his army for a rest on 20 August. François' scouts, following his success at the Battle of Stallupönen, reported the northern flank of the Russian First Army was exposed, and requested the 2nd Division for an attack, with support by the XVII Corps and I Reserve Corps. Reluctantly agreeing, Prittwitz commented, "I Corps had made a soup for us, and we will now have to eat it up." [6] : 126–127
With his initial success, François had persuaded Prittwitz to launch an offensive against the Russian First Army while the Second Army was still far to the south. François argued that his troops, many of whom were native East Prussians, would be demoralized by retreating and leaving their homeland to the Russians, and that the Russians were not as strong as they appeared to be. A radio message that did not use codes supported this assessment. [8]
On the morning of 20 August, after a night march, the German 2nd Division advanced through the Züllkinner Forest and outflanked the Russian 28th Infantry Division, having been left unprotected by Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski's cavalry. The German 1st Division engaged the Russian 29th Infantry Division at 3:30 AM, as the German 2nd Division inflicted 60 percent casualties on the Russian 28th Infantry Division, capturing Mallwischken in the process. [6] : 127 [9]
To the south, Mackensen's XVII Corps and Below's I Reserve Corps were still moving up and were not ready for combat. Hearing of François's actions further north, Mackensen's 35th and 26th Divisions attacked Rennenkampf's 3rd Army Corps (Russian Empire), consisting of the 25th and 27th Infantry Divisions, at 4:30 AM. However, Below was not able to join in until noon. The Russians in this area were well aware of German intentions due to François' attack, and had spent the time preparing for the assault by moving up their heavy artillery. At first the German advance went well, but it faltered once it came under Russian artillery fire, and the Russians were able to turn the German flanks and force the enemy to retreat in disorder to the Insterburg-Angerburg lines, leaving 6,000 prisoners in Russian hands. [9] [6] : 129–133
Meanwhile, Below's I Reserve Corps, instead of advancing on Goldap as ordered, turned north to help Mackensen. His flank was then attacked by the Russian 30th Infantry Division. The Germans were unable to advance, and support Mackensen, while both sides suffered heavy casualties. The German 3rd Reserve Division, commanded by Curt von Morgen, arrived too late on the scene to intervene. [6] : 133
According to Buttar,
It had been a day of mixed fortunes. Despite suffering losses, François' two divisions had been largely successful. Mackensen's corps, by contrast, had been effectively knocked out of action; its troops streamed back in disarray, with Mackensen and his staff swept along in the flood. I Reserve Corps to the south had acquitted itself well, but had ended just short of a decisive success. The German hopes of a swift victory, allowing them to turn triumphantly against Samsonov's Second Army in the south, looked increasingly forlorn.
Only Friedrich von Scholtz's XX Corps opposed Samsonov's Second Army. [6] : 133–134
Prittwitz suffered a lack of confidence, especially when he learned that reconnaissance showed the Russian Second Army consisted of five corps, and a cavalry division, with six of those Russian divisions about to cross the border and move towards Mlawa. Telephoning Moltke, Prittwitz stated that he intended on retreating to the Vistula. Moltke responded with anger since the German strategy of defending against one Russian army and then moving to confront the second army was now at risk. A retreat to the Vistula could allow both Russian armies to combine. Eventually, Prittwitz changed his mind and decided instead to attack the Russian Second Army. A change from facing an army to the east, to an army in the south had been rehearsed by the Germans during war games.
François's I Corps, joined by the 3rd Reserve Division, would move by train to the west of XX Corps. The I Reserve Corps and XVII Corps would withdraw westwards. In the meantime, Samsonov was delayed in his advance because of the lack of good railways and roads, and Rennenkampf was slow to pursue the withdrawal because of his losses and limited supplies. As Mackensen commented,
I had the strong impression that my corps had not been outfought, nor had it suffered such heavy losses. In complete calm and good order and without any interference by the enemy, it made its withdrawal. [6] : 134–141 [10]
Prittwitz's panic affected Moltke, who feared that Berlin itself could now be threatened by the advancing Russians. On 21 August, Moltke decided to replace Prittwitz and his chief of staff Georg von Waldersee. Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff assumed their roles on 22 August. Prittwitz became the first army commander to be dismissed in World War I. [11] [12] [6] : 143–147
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 destroyed most of the First Army as well and kept the Russians off balance until the spring of 1915.
Hermann Karl Bruno von François was a German General der Infanterie during World War I, and is best known for his key role in several German victories on the Eastern Front in 1914.
The Battle of Stallupönen, fought between Russian and German armies on August 17, 1914, was the opening battle of World War I on the Eastern Front. The Germans under the command of Hermann von François conducted a successful counterattack against four Russian infantry divisions from different infantry corps, which heavily outnumbered them but were separated from each other, creating a gap between the 27th Infantry Division and the 40th Infantry Division, and had little coordination with each other. The Germans retreated to Gumbinnen provoking Battle of Gumbinnen.
Anton Ludwig Friedrich August Mackensen, was a German field marshal. He commanded Army Group Mackensen during World War I (1914–1918) and became one of the German Empire's most prominent and competent military leaders. After the armistice of 11 November 1918, the victorious Allies interned Mackensen in Serbia for a year. In 1920, he retired from the army. In 1933 Hermann Göring made him a Prussian state councillor. During the Nazi era (1933–1945), Mackensen remained a committed monarchist and sometimes appeared at official functions in his World War I uniform. Senior Nazi Party members suspected him of disloyalty, but nothing was proven against him.
The Battle of Łódź took place from 11 November to 6 December 1914, near the city of Łódź in Poland. Battles were fought between German units of the Eighth army, Ninth Army, Austrian First Army, and the Russian First, Second, and Fifth Armies, in harsh winter conditions. The Germans redeployed their Ninth Army around Thorn, so as to threaten the Russian northern flank, following German reversals after the Battle of the Vistula River. The German objective was to prevent an invasion of Germany, by encircling and destroying the Russians, as a result, Germans themselves were surrounded and actually lost 2 corps, although the invasion of Germany was prevented Battle had a strong impact on both the Western and Eastern fronts. It ended with the victory of the Russian troops, although the planned invasion of Germany was canceled
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Samsonov was a career officer in the cavalry of the Imperial Russian Army and a general during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. He was the commander of the Russian Second Army which was surrounded and defeated by the German Eighth Army in the Battle of Tannenberg, one of the early battles of World War I. Ashamed by his loss of the Army, Samsonov committed suicide while retreating from the battlefield.
Paul Georg Edler von Rennenkampf was a Baltic German nobleman, statesman and general of the Imperial Russian Army who commanded the 1st Army in the invasion of East Prussia during the initial stage of the Eastern front of World War I. He also served as the last commander of the Vilna Military District.
The 1st Army was an army-level command of the Russian Imperial Army created during World War I. The First Army, commanded by General Paul von Rennenkampf, invaded East Prussia at the outbreak of war in 1914 along with the Second Army commanded by General Alexander Samsonov. After declaring war on the German Empire, the Russian Empire had been able to mobilize very quickly. All Russian forces were put under the command of Grand Duke Nikolai and his Quartermaster General Yuri Danilov.
The Battle of the Vistula River, also known as the Battle of Warsaw, was a Russian victory against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary on the Eastern Front during the First World War.
Maximilian “Max” Wilhelm Gustav Moritz von Prittwitz und Gaffron was an Imperial German general. He fought in the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War, and briefly in the First World War.
The Battle of Kraśnik started on August 23, 1914, in the province of Galicia and the adjacent areas across the border in the Russian Empire, in northern Austria, and ended two days later. The Austro-Hungarian First Army defeated the Russian Fourth Army. It was the first victory by Austria-Hungary in World War I. As a result, the First Army's commander, General Viktor Dankl, was (briefly) lauded as a national hero for his success. The battle was also the first of a series of engagements between Austria-Hungary and Russia all along the Galicia front.
The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front 2–16 September 1914, during the Russian invasion of East Prussia. It took place only days after the Battle of Tannenberg where the German Eighth Army encircled and destroyed the Russian Second Army. Using the rapid movements aided by the East Prussian railway network, the Eighth Army reformed in front of the spread-out Russian First Army and pushed them back across their entire front, eventually ejecting it from Germany. Further progress was hampered by the arrival of the Russian Tenth Army on the Germans' right flank.
The Gorlice–Tarnów offensive during World War I was initially conceived as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the Central Powers' chief offensive effort of 1915, causing the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia. The continued series of actions lasted the majority of the campaigning season for 1915, starting in early May and only ending due to bad weather in October.
This is the order of battle for both the Russian and German armies at the Battle of Tannenberg, August 17 to September 2, 1914.
Battle of Rawa was an early stage World War I battle between Austria-Hungary and Russia, from 3-11 September, 1914. The Russian armies had defeated their opponents and pushed them back to the Carpathian mountains. The battle was part of the series of engagements known as Battle of Galicia.
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. Despite having an overwhelming 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 invasion.
The Battle of Komarow was a battle on the Eastern Front during World War I. It would prove a victory for the Austro-Hungarian forces, but one they would not be able to reproduce in the coming months of the war.
The Russian 2nd Army was an army-level command of the Imperial Russian Army in World War I. It was formed just prior to the outbreak of hostilities from the units of Warsaw Military District and was mobilized in August 1914. The army was effectively destroyed at Battle of Tannenberg in August 1914. However, it was rebuilt soon thereafter and fought until almost the end of the war.
The 8th Army was an army level command of the German Army in World War I. It was formed on mobilization in August 1914 from the I Army Inspectorate. The army was dissolved on 29 September 1915, but reformed on 30 December 1915. It was finally disbanded in 1919 during demobilization after the war.
Sergei Mikhailovich Sheydeman was an army commander of the Imperial Russian Army in World War I. After the October Revolution, he sided with the Bolsheviks.