On this day in 1914: Russian 2nd Army destroyed at the Battle of Tannenberg

Grave of unknown
Russian World War I
soldier, Sece, Latvia

Russian quasi-dictator Vladimir Putin is feeling his oats as his army invades Ukraine. But on this day 100 years ago, Russia was dealt one of its worst military defeats ever. Erich Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg's German forces destroyed Alexander Samsonov's Second Army in the Battle of Tannenberg in what was then East Prussia. It was one of the few encirclement battles of World War I.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel, August 1914, gives a captivating account of the battle. I heartily recommend that book

Related post:

Sece, Latvia's World War I German cemetery