1. Hoping to relieve pressure from the French, the Battle of Tannenberg began, in August 1914, when two Russian armies invaded Germany from the east. The plan was to have two Russian armies, led by Samsonov and Rennenkampf, crush the German Eighth Army by numbers. The German troops defeat the Russians with a strategy that defeated Samsonov’s troops completely and then returned to fight against Rennenkampf’s army. It was a crushing defeat for the Russians, who lost a lot of military equipment and 250,000 men. However, the Russian goal was slightly reached; France received a chance to counterattack at the Marne.
2. Paul von Hindenburg served in the Prussian army during the Austro- and Franco-Prussian Wars, and later he was called out of retirement to serve Germany during World War I. He was the superior of Erich Ludendorff, a military strategist credited to the success of the German invasion of Russia. In 1916, he was appointed the German chief of staff, replacing Erick von Falkenhayen. The successes during the war were mistakenly directed toward Hindenburg, who became very popular amongst the proud German people. Due to his popularity as a war hero, he was later elected as president of Germany in 1925.
3. A talented military strategist, Erich Ludendorff led many
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Although the time period of the Battles of Ypres span from 1914 to 1917, the battles were fought only for a few months at a time. Ypres was a town within a salient into the enemy territory, which meant that it was very vulnerable to attacks. It was a point Germany decided to “break through” to regain control of France. The Second Battle of Ypres, during April to May of 1915, was the first time chemical weapons were successfully launched against the enemy, killing many French troops in the trenches. The Battles of Ypres did not have a clear victory, and both sides lost many men and artillery, and eventually the offense was called off after an insignificant success in regaining some part of the