Battle of Stallupönen

Part of the Eastern Front of World War I

Eastern Front, August 17–23, 1914.

Date	August 17, 1914
Location	Stallupönen, East Prussia (now Nesterov, Russia)
Result	German victory

Belligerents

German Empire

Russian Empire

Commanders and leaders

Hermann von François

Paul von Rennenkampf

Strength

1 infantry division - about 18,000 men

4 infantry divisions (25th, 27th, 29th, 40th) - about 50,000 men

Casualties and losses

1,297 casualties

7,467:
619 killed
2,382 wounded
4,466 captured

The Battle of Stallupönen, fought between Russian and German armies on August 17, 1914, was the opening battle of World War I on the Eastern Front. The Germans under the command of Hermann von François conducted a successful counterattack against four Russian infantry divisions from different infantry corps, which heavily outnumbered them but were separated from each other, creating a gap between the 27th Infantry Division and the 40th Infantry Division, and had little coordination with each other. It was a minor German success, but did little to upset the Russian timetable.

The German Schlieffen Plan was based on defeating France (and the United Kingdom, should it be involved) as quickly as possible in the West, which would then permit the Germans to transport their forces eastward to meet the massive Russian Army. The Russians were able to field up to ten complete armies compared to Germany's eight, but they were scattered across the country and would take some time to organize and move up. This meant that the Germans had a short window of time where they could fight a defensive battle, holding off what forces the Russians could move forward, while they waited for the battles in the west to be decided.

Immediately prior to the opening of hostilities, the Eastern Front developed largely according to pre-war planning. Two Russian armies were in the immediate area, Pavel Rennenkampf's First Army east of the city of Königsberg, and Alexander Samsonov's Second Army to the south. Rennenkampf planned on marching on Königsberg, tying down any German forces in the area, while Samsonov would move northwest to cut off any escape.

The Germans were also deployed largely according to everyone's expectations. The German Eighth Army was strung out in pockets in front of Rennenkampf, but did not have the manpower to completely cover the front of either of the Russian armies. On paper, the situation looked almost hopeless, and the standing orders were to fight a delaying retreat. However, Hermann von François, the commander of the First Corps of the German Eighth Army, was convinced his better-trained and equipped forces could halt, and perhaps defeat, Rennenkampf's Russian forces.

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