page_title: Paul von Rennenkampf
section_title: World War I
hierarchical_section_title: Paul von Rennenkampf / Biography / World War I
context_page_description: Paul Georg Edler von Rennenkampff, more commonly known as Paul von Rennenkampf in English, was a Baltic German nobleman, statesman and general of the Imperial Russian Army who commanded the 1st Army in the Invasion of East Prussia during the initial stage of the Eastern front of World War I. He also served as the last commander of the Vilna Military District.
  Rennenkampf gained a reputation as an effective cavalry commander during the Boxer Rebellion and the Russo-Japanese War. Following service in the latter, he led the detachment that suppressed the Chita Republic during the 1905 Russian Revolution. This earned him further promotion, and by the outbreak of World War I Rennenkampf was commander of the Vilna Military District, whose forces were used to form the 1st Army under his command. He led the 1st Army in the invasion of East Prussia and won an early victory at Gumbinnen in late August 1914, but was relieved of command after defeats at Tannenberg, the Masurian Lakes and Łódź, although he was later proved innocent for the mistakes made in the Battle at Łódź.
context_section_description: In the beginning of the First World War, Rennenkampf was appointed commander of the troops of the 1st Army of the Northwestern Front under commander-in-chief General Yakov Zhilinsky, along with his rival Samsonov, who was the commander of the 2nd Army, which was invading East Prussia from the south. On 7 August August 1914, Rennenkampf and his troops entered East Prussia from the east. While on the retreat under the order of the defending 8th Army commander General Maximilian von Prittwitz, a gap was created between the Russians, causing the 1st Division led by General Hermann von François to counterattack at the Battle of Stallupönen, starting the Eastern Front of WWI. Although it was a victory for the Germans, Russian artillery bombardment halted the German offensive, causing François to withdrew to the town of Gumbinnen. Rennenkampf continued his advance, defeating the 8th Army under the Prittwitz's command at the Battle of Gumbinnen. But due to a later incorrect assessment made by Zhilinsky, the victory at Gumbinnen did not develop. After the battle, Rennenkampf was ordered by Zhilinsky to launch an offensive against the heart of East Prussia, Königsberg, but his army did not link up with Samsonov's 2nd Army due to a mistake made by Zhilinsky. As a result, the German 8th Army under the new commander, General (later field marshal) Paul von Hindenburg, charged through the gap, encircled and nearly wiped out the 2nd Army near Allenstein (the Battle of Tannenberg). When the desperate Samsonov sent his appeals for help, and instead of immediately replying and head south to aid Samsonov, Rennenkampf almost completely ignored the appeal, and when he finally began to head south, he and his men were a lot slower than it should had and it was already too late (probably due to the personal rivalry between the two). This remained one of the main reasons for the defeat of the 2nd Army at the battle. After the battle, Samsonov, fearing to hold responsibility for the defeat, committed suicide.
  After the 2nd Army's annihilation at the Battle of Tannenberg, Rennenkampf's army took over all the defenses along the Deyma, Lava and the Masurian Lakeland. On 7 September, the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes began, as the Germans attacked the left flank of the 1st Army with a powerful detachment, Zhilinsky broke the promise to provide Rennenkampf with reinforcements from other formations. As a result, the 1st Army had to retreat in a hurry. The 2nd Army Corps led by General Vladimir Slyusarenko resisted desperately, so did Rennenkampf himself, who brought all the cavalrymen, reserves, and troops, all transferred from the right to left flank of the 20th Army Corps, in order to avoid encirclement by Hindenburg. By 15 September, he skillfully withdrew his men from encirclement and withdrew behind the Neman, saving all the remaining troops he had. After this failure, despite his best efforts to blame Rennenkampf for the defeat, Zhilinsky was dismissed and was replaced by the General Nikolai Ruzsky.
  In mid-November at Łódź, due to the indecisiveness and mistakes made by Ruzsky, the 1st Army was unable to prevent the XXV Reserve Corps of General Reinhard von Scheffer-Boyadel from escaping out of the encircling movement, causing the front to retreat. A sharp conflict then broke out between the two men. After the incident, Rennenkampf was dismissed from the office. His acts during the battle became the subject of a special commission under General Peter von Baranoff, he was even considered being tried for treason (due to his ethnic background). He was then dismissed in early October 1915 "for domestic reasons with a uniform and pension." After that, he stayed in Petrograd, living in retirement with his wife Vera until the Bolshevik coup. However, his retirement life was extremely unsettling, as he was falsely accused for being a traitor, and all across Russia on all streets and public places, people insulted him of his action. Even Baltic Germans accused him, on Vera's recall, the Baltic Germans considered him "too Russian patriot" and "terrible
caption: Rennenkampf (second on the left) with his staff at a hotel in Insterburg In East Prussia
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