While Germany was primarily concerned with the major battles of the Western Front, the first important battles of World War I that they participated in was the Battle of Tannenberg, which occurred on the Eastern Front. As a result, Germany sent almost all of its Army divisions to the Western Front and much less to the Eastern Front. The Schlieffen Plan was based on the idea that Russia would take much longer to mobilize and therefore not be ready for war until after the first two weeks. Essentially, the goal was for Germany to knock France out of the war as quickly as possible and then to refocus its attention onto Russia in the east. The Schlieffen Plan was Germany’s response to this problem and at its heart, the Schlieffen Plan was designed to prevent Germany from being forced to fight a two-front war. Since Germany was facing both France and Russia in World War I, Germany would have to deal with a two-front war and the possibility of its total armed forces being split to fight on both its western and eastern borders. He had been asked to design a plan of attack to help ensure German victory at the outbreak of war in Europe. This had even had an impact on the outcome of the First Battle of the Marne.The Schlieffen Plan was the German plan of attack at the beginning of the war and was designed by and named after the former Germany Army Chief of Staff, Alfred von Schlieffen. This was correct in many ways, as the defeat of the Russians had resulted in a significant reduction in forces on the Western Front. However, the Grand Duke Nicholai, commander-in-chief of the Russian Army, stated that it was “an honour to make such a sacrifice”. The defeat was so great that Britain decided to keep it from the public. ![]() ![]() The defeat was so catastrophic that Samsonov committed suicide. Of the 150,000 men in the Russian Second Army, just 10,000 managed to escape, with 30,000 becoming casualties and more than 95,000 taken prisoner. In fact, many Russian soldiers threw their rifles away and surrendered. Samsonov had realised the severity of his situation on 28th August, but his attempts to breakout near Tannenburg ended in disaster. Other German units were also moved to the Tannenberg region and the Germans surrounded the Russian Second Army. The 1 Corps were then moved into a position that would prevent the Second Army from retreating to Russia, which effectively trapped Samsonov. General Francois, who commanded the 1 Corps, captured Soldau and further weakened the Russian lines of communication. The German’s attack on Samsonov’s Second Army took place on 27th August and was very successful. The Germans, on the other hand, were finding it easy to intercept Russian messages, including one informing Samsonov of Rennenkampf’s marching plan - stating outright that Samsonov would not receive help from the First Army - and another stating the routes Samsonov planned to use to attack the Germans. Struggling with lack of communications, Samsonov was unaware of what Hoffman had planned and he also didn’t that the Russian First Army had halted its advances - he assumed Rennenkampf was moving through East Russia as planned. ![]() Ludendorff and Hindenburg were both credited for the events at Tannenberg but it was actually Colonel Maximilian Hoffman who had detailed how they should surround Russia’s Second Army. By 22nd August, the Eastern Front was tabled and the Germans started to surround Samsonov’s army.
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