Changes

==Reasons for the German Victory==

The battle was a strategic victory for the Germans in the east. This was despite the fact that they were outnumbered. One of the main reasons for the victory was the undoubted superiority of the German guns and especially their heavy artillery. Ludendorff and Von Hindenburg had access to cannons made by Krupp’s and Skoda and they were able to fire shells at a faster rate than the Russians</ref> Harrison, p. 29</ref>. These guns could also fire heavier shells. The Germans were able to obliterate entire units and caused near panic in the ranks of the Russians. Another factor for the success of the German was the leadership of Von Hindenburg and Ludendorff. They retrieved a near disastrous situation and they developed an effective strategy that exploited their strengths and the weaknesses of the Russians, especially their relative lack of mobility. They German generals adopted a classic military tactic first used by Hannibal, that of weakening the centre and strengthen the flanks to encircle the enemy <ref> Strachan, p. 120</ref>. By contrast, the Russians are poorly lead and there was a great deal of confusion in the command structure. The Russian at the battle were poorly supplied as their supply lines came under strain and could not supply the army with the supplies that it needed. This hampered their ability to fight the Germans at the battle of Tannenberg <Hastings, p. 118</ref>. Another factor in the German victory was the Russian decision to split their forces. It is usually deemed inadvisable to split an army at any time, but especially in enemy territory. The Russians split their forces when they should have concentrated their forces either north or south of the Masurian Lake. Then there was the role of intelligence in the battle. The Russians had little or no intelligence on the German army and its movements. Ludendorff and Von Hindenburg knew exactly what the Russians were doing and their aims <ref> Von Hindenburg, p. 3</ref>. This made it easy for the German command to devise a plan to trap the Russian 2nd army.

==Conclusion==