East Prussia

Alexander Samsonov commanded the Russian Army at the Battle of Tannenburg. This battle was a disaster for both Samsonov and the Russian Army.Samsonov was born in 1858 and he spent his earliest years in the Russian Army as a cavalry officer. Samsonov served in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 and in 1914, was given the command of the Russian Second Army when World War One broke out in 1914. The Russian Second Army, along with the First Army, was given the task of invading East Prussia. The attack was Samsonov's first real military challenge and it ended in disaster. He failed to co-ordinate the movements of the Second Army with those of the First Army as he had fallen out with Rennenkampf who commanded the First Army.