Battle of Tannenberg (1914)
1914 CE · East Prussia (Poland)
The Battle of Tannenberg (1914) was fought in 1914 CE in East Prussia (Poland) between German Empire vs the Russian Empire; decisive German victory; the Russian Second Army was destroyed.
Battle of Tannenberg (1914): quick facts
- Date
- 1914 CE
- Location
- East Prussia (Poland)
- Belligerents
- German Empire vs the Russian Empire
- Commanders
- Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff vs Alexander Samsonov
- Result
- decisive German victory; the Russian Second Army was destroyed.
- Era
- 🪖 World Wars
- Quiz difficulty
- hard
What happened at the Battle of Tannenberg (1914)?
In one of the most decisive battles of World War I, German generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff exploited poor Russian coordination to encircle and destroy the Russian Second Army. Nearly 92,000 Russian soldiers were captured and 78,000 killed or wounded, while German losses were minimal. The defeated Russian commander, General Samsonov, shot himself in the aftermath. Tannenberg secured East Prussia and made Hindenburg a national hero.
Did you know?
The Battle of Tannenberg in 1914 was deliberately named after the nearby village where Teutonic Knights had been defeated in 1410, giving the German victory symbolic revenge for the medieval loss.
Sources and further reading
- Battle of Tannenberg (1914) on Wikipedia for the full account, historiography and primary sources.
- How BattleGuess compiles and checks battle facts: see the About page.
Entry last reviewed 26 September 2026.