Primary Documents - Paul von Hindenburg's Army Order Following the German Attack on Warsaw, 27 November 1914
Reproduced below is German
Field Marshal
Paul von Hindenburg's Army
Order issued on 27 November 1914 in the wake of the German assault upon
Warsaw.
Although the German attack was ultimately unsuccessful it did include notable successes along the way (chiefly at Lodz). Hindenburg's triumphant tone is perhaps understandable given that the campaign had brought him a military promotion at the hands of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the rank of Field Marshal.
Click here to read Hindenburg's summary of the Warsaw campaign. Click here to read German General von der Boeck's account of the capture of Warsaw in August 1915.
German Army Order at the Eastern Front, 27 November 1914
In the course of severe fighting lasting several days my troops have brought to a standstill the offensive of a numerically superior Russian army.
[Note: The Army Order reproduces a telegram from the Kaiser, in which the latter, after congratulating the commander on his new success and that of his troops, thanks him for protecting the eastern frontier. The Kaiser adds that he cannot better express his thanks than by promoting the General to the rank of Field Marshal.]
I am proud at having reached the highest military rank at the head of such troops. Your fighting spirit and perseverance have in a marvellous manner inflicted the greatest losses on the enemy.
Over 60,000 prisoners, 150 guns and about 200 machine guns have fallen into our hands, but the enemy is not yet annihilated.
Therefore, forward with God, for King and Fatherland, till the last Russian lies beaten at our feet. Hurrah!
Source: Source Records of the Great War, Vol. III, ed. Charles F. Horne, National Alumni 1923
A respirator was a gas mask in which air was inhaled through a metal box of chemicals.
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