1/22/2024 0 Comments Battle of tannenberg forestAfter the defeat the commander of the Russian Second army, Alexander Samanov walked into the nearby forest and shot himself. The German force sent to the left flank of the Second army was able to cut off the Russian line of advance and attack the Russian forces from the rear whilst the bulk of the German army engaged from the front and encircled the Russians.Īlthough severely outnumbered the German Eighth army lost only 10,000-15,000 men (killed and wounded) whereas the Russian Second army lost 78,000 (killed or wounded) and a further 92,000 were taken prisoner. He left a small mobile contingent of troops in the north to keep the Russian First army occupied, using their speed this contingent was able to appear to ab a much bigger force disguising the fact that the remainder of the army had moved against the Second army. Von Hindenburg sent one corps via rail unnoticed to the left flank of the Russian Second army before sending the majority of his forces to their right flank. ![]() The Russian plan revolved around trapping the German forces between the First and Second armies, but the German use of their fast rail allowed them to turn the tables on the Russians and fight each army individually. The massive number of troops brought to bear by the Russians dwarfed the German forces in the region, with the Second army alone (230,000 troops) outnumbering the entire German force (150,000 troops). The consequences for Rome were enormous - the province of Germania was now virtually undefended and Gaul was open to a German invasion which although it never materialized, led a traumatized Augustus to decree that, henceforth, the Rhine would remain the demarcation line between the Roman world and the German tribes, in addition to which the destroyed legions were never re-formed or their numbers reused in the Roman Army: after AD 9, the sequence of numbers would run from I to XVI and then from XX onwards, it was as if the three legions had never existed.The Battle of Tannenberg saw the German forces under the command of Paul von Hindenburg inflict one of the most complete defeats in military history on the Russian second army.Īs part of a French strategy to remove the Germans from Alsace and Lorraine the Russian First and Second armies were to invade East Prussia. In a series of running battles in the forest, Varus' army, consisting of three Roman Legions (XVII, XVIII and XIX) and several thousand auxiliaries - a total of roughly 20,000 men - was destroyed. With the arrival of September, the time soon came for the Roman troops to return to their stations along the Rhine and as they marched westwards through the almost impenetrable Teutoburg Forest, Arminius sprang his trap. Throughout AD 8 and the early part of AD 9, Arminius used his position under the governor of Germania Inferior well, ostensibly promoting Rome whilst in reality welding the tribes together in an anti-Roman alliance, agreeing with his confederates that they would wait until the Roman garrison had moved to their summer quarters and then rise up against the invaders. Arminius, a young member of the Cheruscan tribe under the Roman Empire felt that Rome could be beaten in battle and that such a victory would guarantee the freedom of the Germans as a confederation of independent tribes, led by the Cheruscans, who would - in turn - be led by him. Despite Hindenberg’s victory occurring around 30km away from the site of that defeat, he ensured that the battle would be known as the Battle of. ![]() ![]() At the Battle of Grunwald (known as the Battle of Tannenberg in German) in 1410, the Teutonic Knights had been routed by the Slavs. ![]() Osprey's study of one of the most important battles of the long-elasting Germanic Wars (113 BC - 439 AD). The battle meant a deeper psychological victory for the Germans.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |