The Cult of Hindenburg Started with Tannenberg

Berlin 1915

Tannenberg (26–30 August 1914), the best-known battle of the Eastern Front, was primarily planned by the staff of the German Eighth Army as their commander was being replaced. Able to track the advancing Russian Second Army because of their poor signal security, the Germans spotted their opportunity to thoroughly defeat it. Their new leadership decided to transfer German forces southward via rail. There they found the Russian forces widely dispersed and were able to defeat the corps guarding each flank and drive back their center. Ignoring orders, I Corps commander General von François cut the enemy's line of retreat. About half of the Second Army was surrounded and eventually surrendered. Their commander General Samsonov went into the forest and shot himself.

Nine days later, the duo moved north and delivered a second dramatic victory for Germany at Masurian Lakes (9–14 September 1914). After the victory at Tannenberg, Ludendorff decided to focus again on the Russian First Army back to the north. Reinforced by two corps from the western theater, Eighth Army attacked with the intent of driving the Russian forces, which had moved to a more defensible position after the annihilation of Second Army, to the coast. A successful attack by General François's I Corps against the southern First Army flank compelled a retreat. A complete route was prevented by a two-division Russian counterattack in the center that allowed a withdrawal to proceed. It was the second massive defeat for the Russian Army and led to the dismissal of Army Group commander Zhilinsky. With the two victories, Hindenburg and Ludendorff had eliminated any direct threat to the German homeland. On 1 November 1914 Hindenburg was appointed Ober Ost (commander in the east) and was promoted to field marshal.

Ludendorff and the Man Most Responsible
for the Tannenberg Victory, Max Hoffman

Despite their minimal conceptual contribution to the victory at Tannenberg, the new partnership received full credit from the Kaiser and the Army for the successes. Being the face of the leadership, Hindenburg received all the public glory and honors as the savior of East Prussia. The news of the victories in the east—for the time being—counteracted the implications of the defeat at the Marne, that the promising start in the west had been halted and that a long war was now a certainty.

Within weeks of Tannenberg, the German population exalted Hindenburg to mythical heights. He became a symbol of victory and unity at home—a role traditionally reserved for the Kaiser. The new national hero was showered with official honors, and the country was flooded with Hindenburg souvenirs. Known for his sangfroid, Hindenburg seemed to personify Germany’s superior mental strength, a key theme of German war propaganda. His rectangular features and broad frame projected a specific type of masculinity and virile gravitas. He was often depicted as a rock in the ocean that kept back the tidal waves of the enemy’s onslaught. Hindenburg turned into Germany’s supreme symbolic figure and soon eclipsed Emperor Wilhelm II's public standing, raising concerns that his popular appeal had introduced a plebiscitary element into German politics that threatened the monarchy. The field marshal was not shy about using his symbolic capital for political gain. From 1915 onward, Hindenburg, supreme commander of German troops on the Eastern Front since November 1914, repeatedly threatened the Kaiser with his resignation in order to push through his own agenda. By 1916, when the war started taking a bad turn for Germany, the partnership would be well placed for further advancement.

Sources: Encyclopedia 1914-1918 Online; Over the Top, December 2014