Good documentary, there is a common myth tho, that RennenKampf refused to support Samsonov because he held a personal grudge. While it is likely true the 2 men didn’t like each other, they were still professionals with HUGE stakes to contend with. They would not jeopardise the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, the future of their empire, and the strategy of a global war all because of a personal grudge. There is no evidence Rennankampf refused to advance because of his personal dislike to the southern armies commander. The real reason is because it was virtually impossible. It would have been far too risky and impractical to advance at such a speed to try and support Samsonov, especially when he had no idea what kind of forces he would encounter. There was no way 1st army could’ve got to 2nd army before Tannenberg was over, it was too far, with difficult terrain, unknown enemy forces, AND Rennankampf was already having logistic problems. It was not possible, even in good conditions with NO enemy, moving 200k men from north east Prussia to south west Prussia would be difficult in the 3 days he had to attempt this. Rennankampf kept his command for another 3 months and wasn’t blamed for the defeat and Tannenberg, everyone knew he simply couldn’t do anything to help. The blame is on Samsonov for poor scouting, overconfidence and advancing too fast and being too far from 1st army. Also it is stated that Samsonov and Rennankampf had a fist fight at a station in 1905, this is often repeated, but there is no strong evidence to prove this. Especially since 1 of the men was getting hospital treatment several miles away when the other was briefly at the station. It’s not clear how much of a grudge these 2 blokes actually held.
The battle was closer to Hohenstein/Olsztynek but was named Tannenburg II as 'revenge' for Tannenburg I/Grunwald. It is a shame the Denkmal was destroyed by the retreating Wehrmarcht at the end of WW2. But Tannenburg II has to rank with Cannae/Issius etc as one of the greatest triumphs of an outnumbered army
Thanks for posting this doco'. It is a battle that is little known in the English-speaking world. Hopefully in the future it will be re-visited with better graphics of the battlefield (topography) and colorised (?) movies. But it was funny to see Hindenburg as a dashing Jung Herr. I hope I am right in saying this, while Ludendorf and Hindenburg gave each other due credit, they largely forgot Hoffman's contribution. As he had come up with the basics of the plan he was justifiable annoyed and used to give battlefield tours 'with Hindenburg slept here after his breakfast, Hindenburg slept here after his lunch, etc. Also Tannenburg was complete before all the re-inforcements from the W arrived. They were not needed, even for the following Battle of the Masurian Lakes. This was unfortunate for Germany as it weakened the Schlieffen Plan in the W. von Francois was not disciplined for insubordination, which gives the lie to the idea of hidebound, stuffy Prussian junkers. Fred the Great and the Great Elector had developed a flexible General Staff. 6 months ago I was fortunate to visit the Polish part of E Prussia. It is sad to see how so much of the German history has been ignored. The history of a land and it's towns can never be erased. Finally I loved Hindenburg's reply to the telegram asking him to go to East Prussia 'I am ready' In the Great War ledger, the page on which the Russian losses were written has been torn out. No one knows the figure. Five or eight Million? Paul von Hindenburg
@@jcoker423 The Eastern Front of World War I in general is still fairly neglected in the English speaking world. Battles like Tannenberg or the Brusilov Offensive should be better known.
@@calaminewaffles6860 Don't be daft, we have to study BLM and gender critical BS ! Please excuse the sarcasm.... Hopefully in my lifetime Kaliningrad will again be called Konigsberg and the memorial to Hindenburg will be rebuilt. (I have form in this, a gf moved to Karl Marx Stadt, and I wrote her at Chemnitz. When she asked me if she moved to Leningrad, if I'd write to St Petersburg, I said yes).
Unfortunately I don't have every episode, and a lot of the Eastern Front ones are copyright claimed because they share footage with some other documentaries.
@@calaminewaffles6860 I have about 19 out of 25 episodes, I need the following, some of these were posted in Russian, Italian or French, maybe they can be uploaded with subtitles? Bradley vs Model Stilwell vs Honda Alexander vs von Arnim Halsey vs Kurita Vandegrift vs. Hyakutake Harris vs. Kammhuber
@@trevskin I can try to upload all of those except Harris vs. Kammhuber, which I don't have. There is also an episode on the Battle of Megiddo, which I do not have as well.
@@trevskin I just checked my collection and it looks like I don't have Stilwell vs. Honda either, but the rest, besides Harris vs. Kammhuber, I do have.
"Rumors" of Russian savagery? Actual savagery, just as in 1944 and now in Ukraine. Hopefully this time russia gets ended so this horror never happens again in europe
Russia is justified in their intervention in Ukraine, but I agree with you they have acted like savages at times. In ww1 Russian atrocities were downplayed and German ones exaggerated. East Prussia was ravaged to the same degree Belgium was. But in the public consciousness we only remember the spiked helmet baddies because the entente propaganda was good
@@rhysnichols8608 there was no systematic savaging by the German Army in Belgium. A few irregulars where executed and in some cases innocent people where caught up in reprisals against Partisans. There were excesses in the reprisals. But in East Prussia like now in Ukraine systematic plundering, looting an a lot of rape and abductions happened. If the German Army HAD been doing the same in Belgium, in a country they occupied for 4 years, Belgium would have been a complete wasteland, with most of the population gone. But that wasn't the case
@@Dilley_G45 Yes I agree with you largely, when I say Belgium was ravaged to the same extent, I mean the entire 4 year occupation produced a similar number Of deaths as the Russians produced in east Prussia and Galicia in only a few weeks. The Russian armies were not THAT bad in ww1, the majority of them behaved decently but Cossack units and infantry without officers present did sometimes commit atrocities and pillaged for sure. You are however wrong about the current behaviour of the Russians, they are for the most part adhering to the rules of war. The larger part of the war crimes are committed by the other side. The media telling you all the Russians are savages and committing crimes regularly is the same type that made the same claims about Germans in ww1.
@@rhysnichols8608 some.degree? Austria and East Germany had suffered from looting...mass abduction rape burning and hundreds of thousands of animals stolen. Belgium was a localized
Thanks for uploading this.
Good documentary, there is a common myth tho, that RennenKampf refused to support Samsonov because he held a personal grudge. While it is likely true the 2 men didn’t like each other, they were still professionals with HUGE stakes to contend with. They would not jeopardise the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, the future of their empire, and the strategy of a global war all because of a personal grudge. There is no evidence Rennankampf refused to advance because of his personal dislike to the southern armies commander.
The real reason is because it was virtually impossible. It would have been far too risky and impractical to advance at such a speed to try and support Samsonov, especially when he had no idea what kind of forces he would encounter. There was no way 1st army could’ve got to 2nd army before Tannenberg was over, it was too far, with difficult terrain, unknown enemy forces, AND Rennankampf was already having logistic problems. It was not possible, even in good conditions with NO enemy, moving 200k men from north east Prussia to south west Prussia would be difficult in the 3 days he had to attempt this.
Rennankampf kept his command for another 3 months and wasn’t blamed for the defeat and Tannenberg, everyone knew he simply couldn’t do anything to help. The blame is on Samsonov for poor scouting, overconfidence and advancing too fast and being too far from 1st army.
Also it is stated that Samsonov and Rennankampf had a fist fight at a station in 1905, this is often repeated, but there is no strong evidence to prove this. Especially since 1 of the men was getting hospital treatment several miles away when the other was briefly at the station. It’s not clear how much of a grudge these 2 blokes actually held.
Thank you sir! Your posts rock!
Great upload! Have never seen this before
The battle was closer to Hohenstein/Olsztynek but was named Tannenburg II as 'revenge' for Tannenburg I/Grunwald. It is a shame the Denkmal was destroyed by the retreating Wehrmarcht at the end of WW2.
But Tannenburg II has to rank with Cannae/Issius etc as one of the greatest triumphs of an outnumbered army
Thanks for posting this doco'. It is a battle that is little known in the English-speaking world.
Hopefully in the future it will be re-visited with better graphics of the battlefield (topography) and colorised (?) movies. But it was funny to see Hindenburg as a dashing Jung Herr.
I hope I am right in saying this, while Ludendorf and Hindenburg gave each other due credit, they largely forgot Hoffman's contribution. As he had come up with the basics of the plan he was justifiable annoyed and used to give battlefield tours 'with Hindenburg slept here after his breakfast, Hindenburg slept here after his lunch, etc.
Also Tannenburg was complete before all the re-inforcements from the W arrived. They were not needed, even for the following Battle of the Masurian Lakes. This was unfortunate for Germany as it weakened the Schlieffen Plan in the W.
von Francois was not disciplined for insubordination, which gives the lie to the idea of hidebound, stuffy Prussian junkers. Fred the Great and the Great Elector had developed a flexible General Staff.
6 months ago I was fortunate to visit the Polish part of E Prussia. It is sad to see how so much of the German history has been ignored. The history of a land and it's towns can never be erased.
Finally I loved Hindenburg's reply to the telegram asking him to go to East Prussia 'I am ready'
In the Great War ledger, the page on which the Russian losses were written has been torn out. No one knows the figure. Five or eight Million? Paul von Hindenburg
@@jcoker423 The Eastern Front of World War I in general is still fairly neglected in the English speaking world. Battles like Tannenberg or the Brusilov Offensive should be better known.
@@calaminewaffles6860 Don't be daft, we have to study BLM and gender critical BS !
Please excuse the sarcasm.... Hopefully in my lifetime Kaliningrad will again be called Konigsberg and the memorial to Hindenburg will be rebuilt.
(I have form in this, a gf moved to Karl Marx Stadt, and I wrote her at Chemnitz. When she asked me if she moved to Leningrad, if I'd write to St Petersburg, I said yes).
Thanks for this great vid !!!!
This is the stuff that made the history channel good. Now it's just aliens and reality tv
The music in these old docs was great
Tanks, tanks, a lot. Subbed
Thanks.
Real talk- is this script written by AI? "to affirm the choice of Grand Duke as commander..." at 10:18. His first name isn't "Grand Duke."
Can you upload the entire series please, thank you
Unfortunately I don't have every episode, and a lot of the Eastern Front ones are copyright claimed because they share footage with some other documentaries.
@@calaminewaffles6860 I have about 19 out of 25 episodes, I need the following, some of these were posted in Russian, Italian or French, maybe they can be uploaded with subtitles?
Bradley vs Model
Stilwell vs Honda
Alexander vs von Arnim
Halsey vs Kurita
Vandegrift vs. Hyakutake
Harris vs. Kammhuber
@@trevskin I can try to upload all of those except Harris vs. Kammhuber, which I don't have. There is also an episode on the Battle of Megiddo, which I do not have as well.
@@calaminewaffles6860 That would be amazing if you could, thank you sir!
@@trevskin I just checked my collection and it looks like I don't have Stilwell vs. Honda either, but the rest, besides Harris vs. Kammhuber, I do have.
"Rumors" of Russian savagery? Actual savagery, just as in 1944 and now in Ukraine. Hopefully this time russia gets ended so this horror never happens again in europe
Russia is justified in their intervention in Ukraine, but I agree with you they have acted like savages at times. In ww1 Russian atrocities were downplayed and German ones exaggerated. East Prussia was ravaged to the same degree Belgium was. But in the public consciousness we only remember the spiked helmet baddies because the entente propaganda was good
@@rhysnichols8608 there was no systematic savaging by the German Army in Belgium. A few irregulars where executed and in some cases innocent people where caught up in reprisals against Partisans. There were excesses in the reprisals. But in East Prussia like now in Ukraine systematic plundering, looting an a lot of rape and abductions happened. If the German Army HAD been doing the same in Belgium, in a country they occupied for 4 years, Belgium would have been a complete wasteland, with most of the population gone. But that wasn't the case
@@Dilley_G45
Yes I agree with you largely, when I say Belgium was ravaged to the same extent, I mean the entire 4 year occupation produced a similar number Of deaths as the Russians produced in east Prussia and Galicia in only a few weeks. The Russian armies were not THAT bad in ww1, the majority of them behaved decently but Cossack units and infantry without officers present did sometimes commit atrocities and pillaged for sure. You are however wrong about the current behaviour of the Russians, they are for the most part adhering to the rules of war. The larger part of the war crimes are committed by the other side. The media telling you all the Russians are savages and committing crimes regularly is the same type that made the same claims about Germans in ww1.
@@rhysnichols8608 some.degree? Austria and East Germany had suffered from looting...mass abduction rape burning and hundreds of thousands of animals stolen. Belgium was a localized
If the czar had given Leon Trotsky command the Russians could have reached Berlin!!!!👍