Russian troops fleeing a solitary German soldier. The Russian First Army invaded Germany in August 1914, and defeated the Germans in the Battle of Gumbinnen on the 20th. In September the Germans drove them out of Russia in the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes. In September and October, a joint German, Austro-Hungarian offensive drove the Russians back almost to Warsaw. Illustration by E. H. Nunes.
Die Russen haben große Hoffnungen auf den Krieg gesetzt, - es ist aber auch eine Kehrseite dabei.The Russians have set high hopes for the war - but there is also a downside to that.Reverse:Kriegs-Postkarte der Meggendorfer-Blätter, München. Nr. 25War postcard of the Meggendorfer Blätter, Munich. # 25
"In the early morning of 1st September, while on my way to the offices of our General Staff, I noticed an unusual animation along the Nevski Prospekt [in St. Petersburg]. I kept passing groups of people engrossed in very lively discussions. An especially large group was gathered before the bulletin boards of the Novoye Vremya [New Times], Russia's leading newspaper, at the corner of Sadovia Street. I was somewhat surprised, for I had never seen so many people there. Certainly an event of exceptional importance must have occurred at the Front. People looked upset, and a voice choked with emotion said: 'What a disaster! Even generals have been killed! Why is the government deceiving us with news of victories?' To which another voice added: 'It's exactly the same mess that happened during the war with Japan!'"
Part of General A.A. Noikov's description of learning of the disastrous Russian defeat in the Battle of Tannenberg. Noikov then quotes from a telegram from Commander in Chief Grand Duke Nicholas which reported heavy casualties due to massive German artillery bombardments and the loss of Generals Martos, Pestich, and Samsonov, the last the commander of the Russian Second Army. The Grand Duke did not report the capture of over 90,000 Russian prisoners from Samsonov's ruined army. The 'war with Japan' was the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 in which Japan defeated Russia. The Revolution of 1905 followed.
Suicide of the Empires by Alan Clark, page 46, copyright © 1971 by Alan Clark, publisher: American Heritage Press, publication date: 1971
1914, September, 1914-09-01, St. Petersburg, Battle of Tannenburg, Tannenburg, Russian Army
