One Hundred years ago today the Second Battle of
the Masurian Lakes began. This battle had its origins in that the German high command
was split on how the war was to be prosecuted at this point. Germany could not
sustain a war against Russia in the east and France in the west at the same
time. Germany needed to force the surrender of one of these nations soon or the
war would become unwinnable. Some in the German high command felt that the army
should focus on the Western Front other felt that the focus should be on the
Eastern Front. The French army was strong but the German army was already deep
into France. The Russian army was weak but the German army would have to invade
hundreds of miles into Russia to have any real impact.
As 1915 began, even the most staunch supporters
of focusing on the Western Front knew that the situation on the Western Front
had become static. However the Russians were still reeling from a string of
defeats in the fall. A plan was formed to launch two major offensives against
Russia. One conducted by the German army in the what is today northeast Poland
and one conducted by the Austro-Hungarian army in what is today southeast Poland.
These would smash the bulk of the
Russian army leaving its frontier more or less undefended. It was the German high
commands hopes that after the Russian army was in tatters the Russian Empire
would approach Germany with a separate peace offer in the hopes of not losing
territory, or perhaps swapping some territory for peace (Germany was unaware
that Russia, France and Great Britain had previously signed an agreement with
each other stating they would not pursue separate peace talks with Germany).
With Russia out of the way Austria-Hungary could finally crush Serbia and
perhaps Bulgaria or Romania could be enticed to join German as allies. With new
allies and no eastern front to worry about German could defeat France to the
west, or at least this was the plan.
So on February 7, 1915 in the middle of a
snowstorm the German army launch a surprise attack against Russia (in what is
today northeastern Poland) and for the second time in less than a year the
German army smashed the Russian army near the Masurian Lakes. The Russian forces
were caught by surprise not expecting a major offensive in winter. German
forces penetrated deep into Russian territory and much of Russian army was in
full retreat. The German army was in a prime position to surround the bulk of the
Russian army in northern Poland and destroy it. The Russian army would have
been doomed if it was not for the sacrifice of tens of thousands Russian
soldiers who held an untenable position in Augustow forest. When the German
army started to surround the Augustow forest, instead of retreating these
soldiers held position in the forest and defended it until February 22, 1915,
when the last of the remaining Russian soldiers surrendered. Their sacrifice
bought the rest of the Russian army the time it needed to escape and
reorganize. On February 23, 1915, the Russian army launched a counter attack
bring the German advance to an end and ended the Second Battle of the Masurian
Lakes. The Russian suffered horrendous losses, over 100,000 casualties and
another 100,000 were captured. German losses were paltry by comparison, only
losing about 16,000 casualties.
Though the battle was a massive victory for the
Germans it fell short of the ultimate goal. The Russian army remained intact.
In the north the Russian army suffered terrible losses, but narrowly escaped
destruction and the Austro-Hungarian offensive to the south stalled and made
little progress. The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes was over and the war
on the Eastern Front would continue.
