First Battle of the Masurian Lakes

The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front 2–16 September 1914, during the Russian invasion of East Prussia. It took place only days after the Battle of Tannenberg where the German Eighth Army encircled and destroyed the Russian Second Army. Using the rapid movements aided by the East Prussian railway network, the Eighth Army reformed in front of the spread-out Russian First Army and pushed them back across their entire front, eventually ejecting it from Germany. Further progress was hampered by the arrival of the Russian Tenth Army on the Germans' right flank.

First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Part of the Eastern Front of World War I

Eastern Front to 26 September 1914.
Date2–16 September 1914
Location
East Prussia, Germany (present-day Russia and Poland)
Result

German victory

  • Russian ejection from East Prussia
Belligerents
 Germany Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Paul von Hindenburg
Erich Ludendorff
August von Mackensen
Paul von Rennenkampf
Vasily Flug
Units involved
8th Army 1st Army
10th Army
Strength
Total 244,391 men
1,212 guns
400 machine guns
Total 553,937 men
1,673 guns
960 machine guns:
First army:
306,470 men,
924 guns
395 machine guns
Tenth army:
247,467 men
749 guns
565 machine guns
Casualties and losses

German official medical reports (1 - 30.09.1914):
1,555 KIA,
10,412 WIA,
1,552 MIA,
Total 13,519
Lost:
17 guns
17 machine guns


10,000 killed, wounded and missing
Other Estimate:
40,000 killed and wounded

100,000125,000 killed, wounded and captured,
Lost:
162 guns
174 machine guns


70,000 killed and wounded,
30,00045,000 prisoners
Russian Estimate:
about 60,000 died, wounded and prisoners
Staff of the Russian NW front: 100,000 men, including 50,000 prisoners

By the conclusion of the battle, the Imperial German Army had destroyed the Second Army and shattered the First in a series of actions over only a few weeks. However, Russia had the largest army in the world, so the Russian army very quickly restored its losses in manpower, and after a couple of weeks the Russians launched a new offensive in East Prussia.

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