Скачать или смотреть The Battle of Tannenberg – Germany’s Greatest Victory and the Destruction of the Russian Second Army

The Battle of Tannenberg (1914) was one of the most decisive and shocking victories of the early First World War. Between August 26 and August 30, 1914, the German Eighth Army, commanded by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, completely annihilated the Russian Second Army led by General Alexander Samsonov in the forests of East Prussia.

This battle changed the course of the Eastern Front. Through a combination of intelligence breakthroughs, superior rail mobility, and tactical brilliance, the Germans encircled and destroyed more than 150,000 Russian soldiers in just a few days. Over 90,000 were captured, and Samsonov himself took his own life after realizing the scale of the defeat.

The victory at Tannenberg was more than a military success — it was a psychological and symbolic triumph for Germany. Hindenburg and Ludendorff became national heroes, and the battle was named “Tannenberg” to avenge the Teutonic defeat at Grunwald (1410) centuries earlier.

Meanwhile, for the Russian Empire, Tannenberg exposed deep flaws in leadership, communication, and modernization, foreshadowing the chaos that would later lead to the Russian Revolution.

This in-depth documentary explores:

The strategic situation on the Eastern Front in 1914

The rivalry between Russian generals Rennenkampf and Samsonov

The use of unencrypted radio communications that doomed the Russians

The role of Colonel Max Hoffmann and Germany’s rail network

The encirclement and total destruction of the Russian Second Army

The psychological and political aftermath of the battle

The Battle of Tannenberg remains one of the most studied examples of modern operational warfare — where intelligence, logistics, and command coordination mattered more than numbers alone.

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