Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes
The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes or Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, known in Germany as the Winter Battle in Masuria and in Russia as the Battle of Augustowo,[8] was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915 during World War I. The offensive was intended to advance beyond the Vistula River and perhaps knock Russia out of the war. It was the last major battle fought on German soil during World War I.[8]
Background[edit]
The Central Powers planned four offensives on their Eastern Front in early 1915. The Germans, led by Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East Paul von Hindenburg, would attack eastward from their front line in western Poland, which had been occupied after the Battle of Łódź in 1914, toward the Vistula River and also in East Prussia in the vicinity of the Masurian Lakes (site of the 1914 Battle of the Masurian Lakes). The Austro-Hungarians would emerge from the Carpathian Mountain passes to attack the Russians by driving toward Lemberg. They would be led by General Alexander von Linsingen. Further south General Borojevic von Bojna would attempt to relieve the besieged fortress at Przemyśl.
According to Prit Buttar, "It was with considerable reluctance that Falkenhayn agreed to the deployment of four additional corps on the Eastern Front in early 1915. Whilst he remained convinced of the primacy of the Western Front, the failure to win a decisive victory there left him unable to counter the arguments of Hindenburg and Ludendorff...might be able to inflict a sufficiently heavy defeat upon Russia to end the conflict in the east." Ludendorff wrote, "It was agreed with OHL to use the four corps to strike against the enemy forces deployed against Eighth Army as soon as they arrived. The experiences of Tannenberg and the Battle of the Masurian Lakes had shown that a great and swift victory in battle could be achieved if the enemy were attacked from two sides." Ludendorff's target for the German attack was the Russian Tenth Army, with a northern thrust from Tilsit through Wladislawow to Kalvarija, and a southern thrust from the Spirding-See near Bialla to Raigrod and then to Augustowo. The Russians were to be held in position by a frontal attack, and if successful, Ludendorff planned further attacks on Osowiec and Grodno.[9]
The German northern thrust was to be made by the newly formed Tenth Army, under the command of Eichhorn, with the XXI Corps, XXXIX Reserve Corps, and XXXVIII Reserve Corps deployed from the Niemen River to Insterburg. Landwehr formations were held in reserve. The German southern thrust was to be made by Below's Eighth Army, with the XL Reserve Corps deployed west of Johannisburg, and the XX Corps at Ortelsburg. The Russian Tenth Army consisted of the III Corps opposite Eichhorn, and the III Siberian Corps opposite Below, while the XX Corps and XXVI Corps held the center.[9]
Casualties and losses[edit]
The "Winter Battle in Masuria" ended with the expulsion of the Russian troops of the 10th Army from the borders of East Prussia, inflicting heavy losses on them and capturing parts of four infantry divisions. The German side notes the planned development of the operation, which was not disturbed by the actions of the Russian command. The main task was solved by the Germans. The encirclement of the Russian 10th Army in its entirety could hardly have taken place; the German armies in East Prussia did not have the strength for this. But more active actions on the Russian side could not only prevent the XX Army Corps from dying, but also turn the tide of battles. However, it was in this operation on the Russian side that the command, both at the level of the front and the army, and at the level of the corps, showed the worst qualities - lack of confidence in victory, contradictions and errors in assessing the situation, and stiffness in the initiative. These flaws cost the Russian soldiers dearly.[22]
Although there was no radical turning point in the course of the war as a result of the operation (such a task was not set), the German troops managed to finally defend East Prussia, completely liberate it from Russian troops and minimize, as it turned out later, the possibility of a new invasion of Germany. Russian troops captured 40 officers and 1,666 soldiers, captured 15 machine guns and 6 guns.[23]
However, the damage of the Russian troops was disproportionately greater. If on the German side from the commanding staff one general (brigade commander), one lieutenant colonel (regiment commander) died and a colonel (regiment commander) was wounded, then in the Russian 10th Army 1 general (brigade commander) and 7 colonel commanders of regiments were killed , 12 generals and 11 colonels were captured (from the corps commander to the regimental commanders), one regiment commander was wounded.[24]
The regiments of the Russian 27th, 28th, 29th, 53rd and 73rd infantry divisions lost 11 banners. In total, 80,500 men were captured, the 10th Army lost 136 machine guns and 323 guns, 3 aircraft were abandoned during the retreat, and one more was captured by the Germans. But the number of 100,000 Russian prisoners, repeatedly mentioned in the press (for the first time in the telegraph message of the German Supreme High Command on February 22), is not confirmed either by the reports of the headquarters of the German armies, or by the archival documents of the Russian side.[25]
Taking into account the available information about the number of prisoners, the death toll on the German side rises to 9,580 men (including 205 officers), on the Russian side it can reach 28,743 men, which indicates a high degree of fierce fighting. The largest share of the casualties of the Russian side falls on those who were captured, which also gives a total excess of the damage suffered in comparison with the Germans by almost 4 times.[26]
Comparison of the reliability of Russian and German сasualties[edit]
According to German official data, the сasualties of the German 8th and 10th armies in the Winter Battle in Masuria amounted to 3,135 killed, 3,897 missing and 19,483 wounded, for a total of 26,515 men.[27]
During the First World War in Germany, daily, starting from August 10, 1914 (except for Sundays and holidays), published personal lists of сasualties of units of the Prussian, Bavarian, Württemberg and Saxon armies (components of the all-German armed forces), naval forces, “security” (colonial) troops, lists of disabled people who returned from captivity. The War Ministry published these lists in a special publication “Official Leaflet” (Verordnungsblatt), which was published until 1920. The lists included the name of the unit or headquarters of the formation, the actual list of names by rank indicating command position, military rank, date and place of birth, company number , battery, squadron, platoon. In addition to the actual list of сasualties, clarifications were published for each unit (as a rule, the fate of the wounded and missing was indicated - died from wounds or returned to duty, was captured, killed or in the infirmary, or escaped from captivity (was released), corrections were made errors made both in names and in determining the category of сasualties) and additions (persons previously missed in the lists). Such clarifications and additions for the Bavarian, Saxon and Württemberg armies were accompanied by a reference to the list number that was being supplemented or corrected. There were no such references for the Prussian army. Among the wounded were those who remained in the ranks after being wounded. It is the most complete and accurate source for calculating the сasualties of the German army.[28]
A calculation by the Russian military historian S. Nelipovich based on German Verordnungsblatt gave the following figures for German сasualties for the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes: 31,827 KIA, MIA, WIA.[29]
Thus, German official сasualties generally stand up to independent scrutiny.
The reliability of officially published figures of Russian сasualties is a completely different story.
For the first time, the headquarters of the Russian Supreme High Command requested information about the losses incurred in a separate operation. On February 26, the Quartermaster General of the Army Headquarters of the Northwestern Front, Major General M. Bonch-Bruevich, demanded from the 10th Army headquarters a detailed report on the сasualties suffered for a report to Headquarters. Such a certificate was prepared, but it did not include information about the сasualties of the most damaged XX Army Corps. According to the report of the duty general of the army staff A. Zhnov, the 10th Army in the Second Masurian Battle lost 2,578 killed (of which 32 officers), 6,205 wounded (150 officers), 26,435 missing (189 officers) and another 17,361 men (181 officer) without breakdown by category. After some clarifications, the front headquarters presented the following data to Headquarters: 70 officers and 4,226 lower ranks were killed, 338 officers and 16,889 lower ranks were wounded, 279 officers and 36,890 lower ranks were missing. After some time, the headquarters of the 10th Army estimated the damage of the XX Army Corps at 649 officers and 41,393 lower ranks, despite the fact that on the eve of the operation there were 1,117 officers and 62,299 lower ranks in the corps.[30]
Thus the official Russian casualty figure was less than 60,000 men. Numerous Russian sources give the figure of 56,000 as true Russian casualties and dispute German claims of Russian casualties of more than 100,000 men.[31]
Such losses are the most realistic, since the German generals in their memoirs name the number of prisoners alone as greater than the number of the Russian army. Russian losses totaled 44% of the total[5],but this cannot be considered a rout. Holsman, a participant in the battles of the 53rd Infantry Division of the 20th Corps, also calls the loss estimate at 56,000[32]
Outcome[edit]
The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes gave the Germans a toehold in Russia; however, the Russians blocked further advances. In the following weeks, the Germans drove the Russians out of their remaining small enclaves in East Prussia.[33]
According to Buttar, "For Hindenburg and Ludendorff, the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes – known in Germany as the Winter Battle of Masuria – was undoubtedly a victory, but it fell short of what had been intended. Much of Sievers' Tenth Army escaped the German attempts to create an encirclement to rival Tannenberg, albeit with substantial losses." Yuri Danilov, the Russian quartermaster general, stated, "This offensive by the German Eighth and Tenth Armies in February 1915 was definitely a great success for our enemies. Our Tenth Army was forced to withdraw from the territory of East Prussia, this time permanently. Once more, we suffered very severe losses of men and military material, in addition to which we suffered a substantial blow to our prestige in East Prussia for the third time. Our plan to secure this province in order to anchor our right flank and to advance on the lower Vistula was rendered impossible by the German tactical victory."[9]