Once the German Ninth army got underway, it met extremely heavy resistance in Poland. The Ninth aimed to cut straight through Poland (a territory of Russia), capture Warsaw, and continue on into Galicia to engage the Russian Southern Army. Shortly after the fall of Lemberg, General Hindenburg assembled a new army in Eastern Prussia, designated the Ninth German Army, to assist Austria and prevent the Russian Army from advancing on Silesia. Undaunted by success, the southern army continued to push on to Cracow (present-day Kraków of Poland) and aimed to continue into Silesia (South-Western portion of the German Empire - present-day Czechoslovakia). On September 3, 1914, the Southern Russian Army captured Lemberg, the capital of Galacia (present-day L'vov in Western Ukraine). The Russian Army quickly shattered their front line on the border of Galacia, forcing the Austrian army to retreat. A week later, General Hindenburg led the Eighth German Army, bolstered by reinforcements, to drive the Russian First Army completely out of Prussia.Īlso in August, to the South, Russia engaged Austria-Hungary with much better success. Within four days of fighting, bogged down in lakes and swamps, the Russian Second Army was defeated. The German Army turned West and attacked the flank of the Russian Second Army. After weeks of loses, the remaining German Eighth Army (led by Ludendorf), left their defensive positions and marched between the advanced positions of both Russian armies. The Battle of Tannenberg: The First and Second Russian Army rapidly compromised the German positions in East Prussia, moving with such zeal that they outran their logistical support. Once Eastern Prussia was secure, the Russian Ministry of War planned to march on Berlin. The Russian First Army (commanded by Rennenkampf) aimed straight into the heart of East Prussia (held by the German Eight Army), while the Russian Second Army (commanded by Samsonov) aimed to cut off the Eighth army's line of retreat. The first offensive Russia launched was in August 1914, against Germany in East Prussia. Though Tsar Nicholas wished to lead the Russian Army into battle personally, he was persuaded otherwise and instead named his uncle, the Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, Commander in Chief. The Russian Ministry of War was commanded by General Sukhomlinov. Russia entered the first world war with the largest army in the world, standing at 1,400,000 soldiers when fully mobilized the Russian army expanded to over 5,000,000 soldiers (though at the outset of war Russia could not arm all its soldiers, having a supply of 4.6 million rifles).
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