俄国入侵东普鲁士

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 as part of the alliance and to force Germany to fight a two front war. Despite 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 plan of war. The Germans also seemed to have weak cooperation among the troops and disagreements in the generals. The victory in East Prussia inspired too much self-confidence, which led to defeats at Warsaw and Lodz.

The shock of the invasion served to assist the German war effort. According to Alexander Watson "Outrage at the violation of national territory and Tsarist atrocities strengthened German solidarity, cemented conviction in the righteousness of the national cause, and acted as a terrible and lasting warning of the penalties of defeat".

German planning

German strategy regarding Russia was defensive from 1888 onward, when the Chief of the German General Staff, Helmuth von Moltke, abandoned the concept of a decisive offensive into Russian territory and began to consider defensive options. According to German intelligence estimates, the railway network in Poland limited the Russians to three options: a purely defensive posture against Germany, an offensive down the Vistula straight towards Berlin or an invasion of East Prussia with two armies, one from the Narew and one from the Neman.……

Russian planning

Grand Duke Nicholas, who had been appointed by Emperor Nicholas II as supreme commander of the Russian Army, fully supported going to war with Germany, especially after German troops occupied the town of Kalisz in Russian territory and committed atrocities there. He was an admirer of France and also understood the need for Russia to assist France's efforts on the Western Front. He told the French ambassador that Russia would invade East Prussia quickly to draw Germany's attention away from France.……

Comparison of strength

The invasion was led by two Russian armies: the 1st Army, which was commanded by General Paul von Rennenkampf and consisted of 6.5 infantry divisions, 5.5 cavalry divisions, 472 guns, 254 machine guns (later 7 new reserve divisions arrived) and the 2nd Army under the command of General Alexander Samsonov, composed of 11 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 724 guns, 434 machine guns.……

Battle

However, quite quickly, Russia was able to mobilize an invasion into East Prussia. Any invasion of Prussia was an important blow to German morale as well as its general strategic situation. The German deployment on the outbreak of the war left only the 10 divisions of the German Eighth Army under General Maximilian von Prittwitz in East Prussia whereas the Russians had been able to mobilize the 1st Army, under General Paul von Rennenkampf and the 2nd Army, under General Alexander Samsonov. They entered East Prussia on 7–9 August.

Casualties and losses

According to the regimental lists of casualties and information from reports and logs of military operations, as well as information submitted later from the remnants of the formations that were surrounded, the units that were part of the Russian 2nd Army lost 220 officers and 5,302 soldiers killed before September 1914 (these are those who was taken out of the battlefield and buried by the Russian side), 542 officers and 11,784 soldiers were wounded (evacuated to Russia or admitted to field hospitals), missing (excluding two encircled corps)—391 officers and 29,491 soldiers.……