Tannenberg
Tannenberg names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Tannenberg BATTLE OF, a great battle which takes its name from a village in East Prussia
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLE OF, a great battle which takes its name from a village in East Prussia, in the Mazurian Lakes region, was one of the first important general engagements between German and Russian forces in the World War. In the early weeks the Russians, under Rennenkampf , had invaded East Prussia and defeated the German retaining forces, under von François, who were forced back on Konigsberg. The German General Staff, alarmed by this serious situation, immediately made heroic efforts to retrieve their disaster and heavy reinforcements were sent to East Prussia under the command of General von Hindenburg, already retired, but recognized as one of the best informed German officers regarding the topography of the difficult lake region in East Prussia. In all he had about 150,000 men, with which to drive back the much superior forces of the Russians, but in his victory, he decided to advance to Allenstein, through a country of small lakes, bogs and marshes . The nature of the country made it impossible for any large army to march in a compact mass, and Samsonov was obliged to divide his army into two main columns. On Aug. 26 he encountered a strong German force. This was von Hindenburg's newly organized army, who had taken a position across the railroad from Allenstein to Soldau. With his intimate knowledge of the country, Hindenburg had arranged his position in such a way that he had a large area of lakes and swamp, utterly impassable, immediately in front of him. Thus only his flanks were open to attack, and he could re-enforce either wing wing without danger from attack against his front. The Russians attacked , and until the last day of the month it seemed that they were to win another victory here. Then Hindenburg counter-attacked with such skill that he deceived Samsonov regarding his intentions, and caught the right flank of the Russians unexpectedly, at the same time getting possession of the only road by which they could have retreated. The Russians were driven deeper and deeper into the bogs and marshes. They found their guns sinking into the soft mire, 4
Tannenberg BATTLE OF his favor he had behind him an
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLE OF his favor he had behind him an admir able system of strategic railroads. Rennenkampf himself, with a large army, was in the neighborhood, but his advancing subordinate in command , Samsonov, with about 200,000 through the lake region, defeating a German force near Frankenau. Flushed by men was AMERICAN WHIPPET TANK effective merely in meeting an infantry charge. All available wall space in the tanks was used for storing ammunition, and the vehicle was made as self-sustaining as possible, although it was recognized from the beginning that its most effective use was as a co-operative and auxiliary arm, to attacking infantry.
Tannenberg BATTLE OF 248 Whole regiments were thrown into the lakes and drowned
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BATTLE OF 248 Whole regiments were thrown into the lakes and drowned, and panic took possession of the rest. On Aug. 31 Samsonov himself was killed, and what remained of his army then was nothing more than a panic stricken mob. The Germans took 50,000 prisoners and hundreds of guns and large quantities of munitions and other supplies. It was this striking victory which sent the name of Hindenburg sweeping over Germany as that of a great hero who had saved the country from threatening humiliation. He was at once made a field marshal and given full command of the Eastern Front.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's wrote this in 1921, when Hindenburg's Tannenberg was still fresh legend and the credit went to his "intimate knowledge of the country." Historians now give much of the plan to staff officer Max Hoffmann and to Ludendorff, and stress that the decisive advantage was the interception of Russian wireless orders sent unencrypted; Samsonov, whom Collier's says was "killed," is now accepted to have shot himself as his army collapsed around 29 August, and prisoner counts are usually put nearer 90,000 than 50,000. The name itself was a deliberate act of memory: the Germans attached it to the nearby village to avenge the Teutonic Knights' defeat there in 1410, the battle Poles call Grunwald. A vast Tannenberg memorial rose on the site in 1927 and Hindenburg was buried in it in 1935; German troops demolished it in 1945 and moved his remains west, and the ground is now in Poland, the village called Stębark.
Written for this edition, 2026.