Russky, with his base at Kiev, movA south west from the fortresses of Lutsk al d Dubno and crossed the Galician frontier between Sokal and Brody during the last weck in Au gust He aimed to interpose his right wing be tween Dankl and the second Austr an' army under Auffenberg. He could then menace Lemberg from the northeast. Meanw hile Brus siloy came west along the Lembc g-Odessa Railway' as soon as it became clear that Ru mania intended to remain neutral. His original task had been to protect Odessa and southwest Russia from an attack by the Hoh, nzollerns in Rumania; but, relieved of this ta::: by Ru mania's decision, he was able to ent( r Galicia near Tarnopol and occupy the coun'i y as far south as the Dniester River. 1-1. then co-operate with Russky by menacing Lemberg from the opposite side on the southeast. Russlcy and Brusstloy each had over 250,000 men and together outnumbered Auffenberg's army which was stretched across Galicia east of, and cover ing, Lemberg. The Austrian staff was appar ently not aware of the close connection be tween the movements of Russky and Brussilov. They supposed that they had only Brussilov to face at Lemberg, as Russky would be com pelled to go to the assistance of Evarts' army on the Bug.
Such was the favorable situation for Rus sia, as may be seen by a glance at the map, at the successful beginning of the East Prussian and Galician campaigns after a month of war. Only in the extreme western point of the Polish salient had Russian 'soil been seriously overrun. Here German troops from Silesia poured across the frontier near Kalisch and seized the Polish mining districts, but did not for the moment advance far toward Warsaw. The atrocities which they committed, similar to those in Belgium but less lmown, did not make them any more beloved by the already bitter Polish population. The Grand Duke Nicholas, on the contrary, tnade a successful bid for Polish loyal support by a proclamation on 15 August, promising the Poles reunion and home rule : 'Toles! The hour has sounded when the sacred dream of your fathers and your grand fathers may be realized. A century and a half has passed since the living body of Poland was torn in pieces, but the soul of the country is not dead. It continues to live, inspired by the hope that there 1611 come for the Polish people an hour of resurrection and of fraternal recon ciliation with Great Russia, The Russian army brings you the solemn news of this reconcilia tion, which obliterates the frontiers dividing the Polish peoples, whidi it unites conjoindy under the sceptre of the Russian tsar.* The real fate of Poland, however, was not to be decided at once by any choice which the Polish people tnight make as between Russian and Teuton.
It was to be decided by the ultimate fate of the vast contending armies which were about to strike one another to the north and the south of the Polish salient in East Prussia and Galicia and the vaster armies on the battlefields of France.
3. The Russian Invasion of East Prussia (August-September 1914), and the Battle of Tannenberg.— The Germans had not expected that Russia would attempt to invade East Prus sia almost immediately after war was declared. They had counted, and counted too confidently, upon the supposed slowness of Russian mobili zation, upon the inadequacy of die Russian railways, and upon die vast distances over which Russian troops would have to move to reach the German frontier. The whole German strat egy was based upon the concentration of a crushing force which should annihilate French resistance. After that, Germany could turn eastward to deal with Russia at her leisure. Therefore Germany did relatively little for the protection of her East Prussian frontier. The number of German troops east of the Vistula was not greatly increased during the first three weeks in August, and probably did not ex ceed four corps, that is, less than 200,000, half of whom were first-line troops (the 1st corps at Koenigsberg and the 20th at Allenstein) and the rest Landwehr. In addition to these four corps there were several cavalry divisions and a large force of motor cyclists. The latter were particularly valuable for moving rapidly through the long stretches of forest and moor country to defend quickly the narrow necks of land be tween die innumerable lakes. Aside from the first-class fortress of Koenigsberg, which was the centre of defense, and the fortified areas of Memel and Dantzig, which like Koenigsberg, could receive provisions and reinforcements by sea, if besieged, there was only one other fort ress in East Prussia. This was Fort Boyen,.at the eastern end of the Masurian lakes, opposite Suwallci. But even this fortress did not play au important part in the war, It was not in fortresses that the Germans put their trust, but in armies and in the nature of the country. The whole southern part of East Prussia, known as the Masurian Lake Region, is an almost impassable line of defense. It is cov ered with a tangle of forests, swamps, ponds and lakes, through which a few good roads run. To one who knows thoroughly the paths and connecting necics of dry land, who knows which ponds have a hard bottom and are fordable, and which are a bottomless slime, who knows how to go blindfolded through the dark forests, it is not impossible to lead an army through. There was one man in Germany, an obscure general in retirement, who lmew all this, Paul von Hindenburg.