The 1st Army (russian: 1-я армия, translit=1А) was an
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
-level command of the
Russian Imperial Army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian A ...
created during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The First Army, commanded by General
Paul von Rennenkampf,
invaded
An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
at the outbreak of war in 1914 along with the
Second Army commanded by General
Alexander Samsonov
Aleksandr Vasilyevich Samsonov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Самсо́нов, tr. ; ) was a career officer in the cavalry of the Imperial Russian Army and a general during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. He ...
.
After declaring war on the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
had been able to mobilize very quickly. All Russian forces were put under the command of
Grand Duke Nikolai and his Quartermaster General
Yuri Danilov.
The invading forces made a determined and speedy attack on East Prussia. However, the First and Second Armies were stopped by the
German Eighth Army, led by Field Marshal
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...
and his chief of staff, General
Erich Ludendorff
Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...
. The German and Russian armies met at
Tannenberg, where the Second Army was encircled and suffered complete destruction. Both the First and Second Armies suffered terrible casualties in one of the most comprehensive German victories of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The First Army also suffered defeat at the
First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front 2–16 September 1914, during the second month of World War I. It took place only days after the Battle of Tannenberg where the German Eighth Army encircled a ...
in September 1914, which led to Rennenkampf's dismissal and replacement by Litvinov. First Army served under Northwestern front for the remainder of the war. Litvinov was replaced by Sokovnin in April 1917. Vannovski replaced Sokovnin in July and the army's final commander, von Notbek, took over in September 1917.
Order of battle on formation
The First Army consisted of the following units in August 1914:
Military Fronts in which the 1st Army participated
*
Northwestern Front (July 1914 – August 1915)
*
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
(August 1915 – April 1916)
*
Northern Front (April 1916 – July 1917)
*
Southwestern Front (July – September 1917)
*
Northern Front (September 1917 – the beginning of 1918)
Engagements
*
Battle of Stallupönen (17 August 1914)
*
Battle of Gumbinnen (20 August 1914)
*
Battle of Tannenberg (23–30 August 1914)
*
First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
The First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a German offensive in the Eastern Front 2–16 September 1914, during the second month of World War I. It took place only days after the Battle of Tannenberg where the German Eighth Army encircled a ...
(8–11 September 1914)
*
Battle of Łódź (11 November – 6 December 1914)
Commanders
The 1st Army had the following commanders until it was demobilized in 1918.
See also
*
List of Imperial Russian Army formations and units
This article lists Imperial Russian Army formations and units in 1914 prior to World War I mobilisation for the Russian invasion of Prussia and the liberation Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia.
The prewar chain of command was: military dist ...
References
{{Russian Empire Ground Forces
Armies of the Russian Empire
Military units and formations established in 1914
1914 establishments in the Russian Empire
Military units and formations disestablished in 1918