August 26, 1914

One hundred years ago today on the Western Front the Germany army continued to press the French and British armies back towards Paris. The French and British were unable to halt the Germans, but the Germans were unable to overtake and destroy the French and British forces as it advanced.

The German army was now 100 miles from Paris. 

On the Eastern Front in the south Austro-Hungry launched in invasion into Russia following its earlier victory a few days earlier. Though there would be some initial success, ultimately the attack would be a failure.

On in the north on the Eastern Front the Russian army attempted to surround the German army attacking in to separate two parts. The German army learned of this plan prior to the battle, additionally the Russian army had advanced faster than it could lay telegraph wire. It had to rely on radio broadcasts for the units to stay in communication. The Russian army did not have sufficient equipment to encrypt these messages so they were sent unencrypted. The German army could easily monitored these broadcasts and knew exactly where the Russian army was. The German army moved first to attack the southern wing of the Russian invasion, surrounding and smashing it in the forests of Tannenberg. By August 30, 1914  78,000 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded. and 92,000 were captured. German losses were minimal suffering only 13,800 total causalities. The General Alexander Samsonov commanding that portion Russian army committed suicide on the last day of the battle when it became apparent how utter the Russian defeat had been. This battle would be later known as the battle of Tannenberg.