Rennenkampf crossed the eastern frontier of East Prussia on August 17 and threw back the bulk (seven infantry divisions and one cavalry division) of Gen. Second, the Russians’ own invasion from the south was now to be handicapped by the fact that they had left the border country a desert, with poor railways and worse roads, as a barrier against a German invasion. The first was that the two armies were separated by the 50-mile (80-km) chain of the Masurian Lakes in southern East Prussia, which, in conjunction with the fortified Königsberg area (now Kaliningrad, Russia) on the west, narrowed Rennenkampf’s line of advance to a gap only about 40 miles (64 km) wide. However, it suffered two natural handicaps, apart from faulty leadership and military unreadiness. Its potential value was well proved by the alarm-indeed, the dislocation of mind-caused in the German headquarters when the menace was disclosed. The fault of this plan lay not in the conception but in the execution. Zhilinsky’s plan was that Rennenkampf should advance against East Prussia from the east, drawing upon himself the German defending forces, and then, two days later, Samsonov was to cross the German province’s southern frontier and bestride the Germans’ rear, cutting them off from the Vistula. The two armies formed a group under the higher control of Zhilinsky. Paul von Rennenkampf and the Second (or Warsaw) Army (10 infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions) under Gen. Russian troops World War I Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Īlong the land frontier two Russian armies had been assembled, the First (or Vilna) Army (six and a half infantry divisions and five cavalry divisions) under Gen. Because the Russians had more than a two-to-one superiority, a combined attack had every chance of destroying the Germans between the two armies.
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To ease the pressure on France, the Russian commander in chief, Grand Duke Nicholas (Nikolay Nikolayevich, a cousin of Emperor Nicholas II), had urged his First and Second armies to invade East Prussia before they had achieved full readiness.
The German claw was, indeed, being menaced by a Russian pair of pincers instead. An Austrian plan to cut off Russia’s territory in the former Congress Kingdom of Poland was further crippled by the fact that the German claw of the pincers did not operate. The Austrian command, emulating the German in violating the Clausewitzian principle of Schwerpunkt (“concentration”), detached part of its strength in an abortive attempt to crush Serbia. The opening encounters on the Eastern Front had been marked by rapid changes of fortune the greater distances and the greater differences between the equipment of the armies ensured a fluidity which was lacking in the West. World War I Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them!
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