the Red Eagle. Hindenburg saw additional action in the
Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), winning the Prussian
Iron Cross for bravery. In 1871 at Versailles, the Prus-
sian king was declared emperor of Germany, the first
time Germany became a unified nation. In the follow-
ing years, Hindenburg was promoted regularly, rising
to the rank of general in the German army. In 1903,
he was given the command of the army’s II Corps at
Magdeburg. However, only eight years later, in 1911,
he requested that Kaiser Wilhelm II allow him to retire
since a war did not seem to be forthcoming. He retired
to the city of Hanover, where he raised a family.
Hindenburg’s prediction of there being “no prospect
for war” in the near future was shattered when the First
World War broke out in the summer of 1914. The as-
sassination in Bosnia of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, of
the Austrian royal family, led to a series of treaties being
invoked that plunged Europe into war. In late July 1914,
Austria declared war on Serbia; Russia came in on Serbia’s
side, Germany supported Austria, and France had prom-
ised to support Russia. Britain had no immediate involve-
ment but had guaranteed Belgian independence, so when
the Germans began advancing through Belgium, Britain
declared war on Germany on 4 August. At once, Hinden-
burg asked that he be reinstated in the army, and within
three weeks the kaiser had placed him in command of the
German Eighth Army in East Prussia. General Erich Lu-
dendorff, was named as Hindenburg’s chief of staff. The
Eighth Army then marched on Tannenberg, where, on
24–31 August 1914, they attacked the Russians, led by
Alexander samsonoV, who was woefully unprepared for
the battle. Hindenburg’s forces surrounded the Russians,
who attempted a retreat; only 10,000 were able to escape.
More than 100,000 Russian soldiers were slaughtered,
and an additional 140,000 were trapped. On 31 August
1914, they surrendered to Hindenburg; Samsonov, dis-
graced by the disaster, committed suicide.
Hindenburg’s masterful victory at Tannenberg
shocked the Russian leadership. They were further
shocked when he defeated straggling troops led by
Samsonov’s fellow commander Paul rennenkamPf at
the first battle of the Masurian Lakes (7–12 Septem-
ber 1914). Hindenburg proceeded to march across the
Narev River, but Austro-Hungarian armies were cut
down in Galicia and he was forced to change his plans
for a direct assault on the Russians, whose forces took
Lodz. Hindenburg’s divided force could only drive them
out but could not pursue them.
Hindenburg was then promoted to field marshal
and named as commander in chief of all Germans armies
on the eastern front. He gathered his armies for a full-
scale assault on the Russians but found he did not have
the forces needed for such an onslaught; he therefore
requested reinforcements from Berlin. This request
was refused, as the western front and its trench warfare
needed the troops far more than the eastern front did,
despite Hindenburg’s success in defeating the Russians.
Although he appealed to kaiser himself, Hindenburg was
still refused further troops; he therefore opposed the of-
fensive by German chief of staff Erich von Falkenhayn to
drive the Russians back further. When Falkenhayn, with
the assistance of German general August von Mackensen,
worked with the Austrians and attacked the Russians in
southern Europe, Hindenburg refused to join them; he
and Falkenhayn were at odds thereafter. However, he
had a very good relationship with Ludendorff from 1914
to 1918, and they worked closely to formulate German
strategy. Hindenburg later wrote that the relationship
was a “happy marriage.”
From 1915 until the end of the war, the German
high command saw the war in the east as secondary to
the one on the western front. Instead of allowing Hin-Paul von Hindenburg hinDenbuRg, pAul luDwig hAnS von beneckenDoRF unD von