Tannenberg: Clash of Empires, 1914

Description

The Battle of Tannenberg (27-30 August, 1914) opened World War One with a decisive German victory over Russia - indeed, the Kaiser's only clearcut victory in a non-attritional battle during all four years of war. In this first paperback edition of the classic work, eminent military historian Dennis Showater analyses the battle's causes, effects and implications for subsequent German military policy. He destroys many myths, such as the supposed superiority of the German military commanders. The battle's mystique later served the Weimar Republic and Third Reich propagandists. For years the legend of Tannenberg helped to shape German nationalist ideology and military policy. As a result, in 1941, Hitler's Wehrmacht grossly underestimated Soviet military capability, leading to disaster in World War Two.

Dennis E. Showalter is a professor of history at Colorado College who specializes in German military history. He was president of the American Society for Military History from 1997 to 2001.

"The definitive treatment. . . . [It] belongs on the shelf of any reader interested in the battle itself or the Germany which fought it." - JOURNAL OF MILITARY HISTORY The definitive treatment. . . . [It] belongs on the shelf of any reader interested in the battle itself or the Germany which fought it. A major contribution to our understanding of European military and strategic history since 1870. The most important work on that titanic clash, a must read for all students of the First World War.