First World War.com - Vintage Video - Russian Prisoners Captured at Tannenberg, 1914

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Vintage Video: Russian Prisoners Captured at Tannenberg, 1914
Updated - Saturday, 3 January, 2004

The Battle of Tannenberg, fought in August 1914 on the Eastern Front, was perhaps the most spectacular and complete German victory of the entire war which saw the encirclement and effective destruction of the Russian Second Army led by Alexander Samsonov (who shot himself in despair). As a consequence of Tannenberg Russia's barely initiated invasion of East Prussia - which had occasioned real concern in Berlin - was over before it had really begun.

Ironically, for all that sweeping success at Tannenberg brought popular fame and power to German Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, credit for its strategy actually belonged to another German General, the maverick Hermann von Francois. Hindenburg and Ludendorff inherited Francois' plans for Tannenberg when they arrived on the Eastern Front to replace Maximilian von Prittwitz in command. Francois and Ludendorff clashed, the consequences of which stunted the former's wartime career while Ludendorff scaled the army's command heights.

Click here to view footage of captured Russian Second Army prisoners captured during the Battle of Tannenberg filmed in August 1914 (Windows Media, 12 seconds, 352KB).

"Bellied" was a term used to describe when a tank's underside was caught upon an obstacle such that its tracks were unable to grip the earth.