Atlas of Battles

battle, major, First World War

First Battle of the Masurian Lakes

First Battle of the Masurian Lakes was a battle fought on 7 September 1914 at Masurian Lake District, in what is now Russia; it lasted 7 days. It was part of World War I, which ran from 1914 to 1918. The recorded result: German victory.

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Eastern Front to September 26, 1914
Eastern Front to September 26, 1914. Department of Military Art and Engineering, at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought7 September 1914lasted 7 days
WhereMasurian Lake District, Russia54.000N, 22.000E
OutcomeGerman victory
BelligerentsGerman EmpireagainstRussian Empire
Part ofWorld War I1914 to 1918

Where it sits in World War I

Battle of Arras, 1914Skirmish at Joncherey, 1914Battle of the Meuse, 1914Battle of Lake Nyasa, 1914Battle of Cer, 1914Battle of Antivari, 1914Battle of Mörchingen and Dieuze, 1914Battle of Dornach, 1914Battle of Donon, 1914Battle of Río de Oro, 1914Battle of Tannenberg, 1914Battle of Galicia, 1914Action of Elouges, 1914Battle of Mulhouse, 1914Battle of the Trouée de Charmes, 1914Battle of Odensholm, 1914Battle of Heligoland Bight, 1914Action at Néry, 1914Battle of Senlis, 1914Battle of Drina, 1914Battle of Vitry, 1914First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, 1914Siege of Przemyśl, 1914Battle of Zanzibar, 1914Action of 22 September 1914, 1914Bombardment of Papeete, 1914Battle of Sandfontein, 1914Battle of the Vistula River, 1914Battle of Rufiji Delta, 1914Battle of Monchy-au-Bois, 1914Battle off Texel, 1914Battle of Penang, 1914Battle of Coronel, 1914Bergmann Offensive, 1914Battle of Tanga, 1914Battle of Cocos, 1914Myth of Langemarck, 1914Battle of Kolubara, 1914Defence of Festubert, 1914Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, 1914Battle of Sarikamish, 1914Battle of Givenchy, 1914Battle of Łowczówek, 1914Battle of the Bosporus, 1915Battle of Jassin, 1915Battle of Rafajlowa, 1915Battle of Dogger Bank, 1915Siege of Mbombwe, 1915Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, 1915Battle of Vauquois, 1915Battle of Más a Tierra, 1915Battle of Les Éparges, 1915Battle of Zwinin, 1915Landing at Anzac Cove, 1915First Battle of Krithia, 1915Battle off Noordhinder Bank, 1915Second Battle of Krithia, 1915Battle of Arras, 1915Bombardment of Ancona, 1915Battle of Festubert, 1915Defense of Msho, 1915Third Battle of Krithia, 1915Charge of Rokitna, 1915Battle of Bukoba, 1915Battle of Bitlis, 1915Battle of Åland Islands, 1915Battle of Jastków, 1915Battle of Chunuk Bair, 1915Battle of the Gulf of Riga, 1915Battle of Molodechno, 1915Fall of Belgrade (1915), 1915Battle of Linge, 1915Battle of Baranovichi, 1915Operation Hamadan, 1915Battle of Niš (1915), 1915Battle of Krivolak, 1915Battle of Durazzo, 1915Battle of Asiago, 1916Battle of Kostiuchnówka, 1916Battles of Çapakçur, 1916Action of 8 January 1916, 1916Actions of the Bluff, 1916, 1916Recapture of Fort Vaux, 1916Battle of Mojkovac, 1916Battle of Lovćen, 1916Trebizond Campaign, 1916Battle of Dogger Bank, 1916Battle of Salaita Hill, 1916Action of 29 February 1916, 1916First Battle of Ķekava, 1916Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft, 1916Gas attack at Hulluch, 1916Battle of Jutland, 1916Night action at the Battle of Jutland, 1916Battle of Erzincan, 1916Action of 19 August 1916, 1916Battle of Mlali, 1916Battle of Pozières, 1916Battle of Kisaki, 1916Battle of Ginchy, 1916Romanian Army offensive in Transylvania in 1916, 1916Battle of Dover Strait, 1916Noemvriana, 1916Battle of Magdhaba, 1916Battle of Drocourt-Quéant Line, 1917Battle of Rafa, 1917Action of 10 March 1917, 1917Action of 16 March 1917, 1917Battle of Vimy Ridge, 1917Second Battle of Dover Strait, 1917Action of 4 May 1917, 1917Battle of the Strait of Otranto, 1917Battle of Mount Ortigara, 1917Battle of Hill 70, 1917Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo, 1917Second Battle of Verdun, 1917Operation Albion, 1917Battle of Mahiwa, 1917Action off Lerwick, 1917Battle of Caporetto, 1917Battle of Jerusalem, 1917Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, 1917Action of 17 November 1917, 1917Battle of Ngomano, 1917Action of 11–12 December 1917, 1917Battle of Karakilisa, 1918Second Battle of Cambrai, 1918Battle of St. Quentin Canal, 1918Battle of San Matteo, 1918Battle of the Three Mountains, 1918Battle of Tafilah, 1918Action of 15 February 1918, 1918Operation Faustschlag, 1918Ice Cruise of the Baltic Fleet, 1918Battle of Moreuil Wood, 1918Action of 4 April 1918, 1918Battle of the Avre, 1918Battle of Markem, 1918Zeebrugge Raid, 1918Action of 8 May 1918, 1918Second Battle of Morlancourt, 1918Battle of Sardarabad, 1918Battle of Cantigny, 1918Battle of Skra-di-Legen, 1918Battle of Belleau Wood, 1918Third Battle of Morlancourt, 1918Battle of Vorontsovka, 1918Sinking of ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Tsemes Bay, 1918Battle of the Piave River, 1918Battle of Château-Thierry, 1918Battle of Baku, 1918Action of 5 September 1918, 1918Battle of Saint-Mihiel, 1918Battle of Dobro Pole, 1918Battle of Jisr Benat Yakub, 1918Battle of Saint-Thierry, 1918Liberation of Krakow, 1918Battle of Vittorio Veneto, 1918Scuttling of the German Fleet in Scapa Flow, 191919141919First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, 1914
161 placed engagements of World War I in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date7 September 1914
to 14 September 1914
PlaceMasurian Lake District, Russia
54.000N, 22.000E
KindBattle, First World War
Territorial changeRussian ejection from East Prussia
StrengthTotal 244,391 men; 7 military corps; 1,146 guns; 400 machine gunsTotal 553,937 men; 1,673 guns; 960 machine guns: 1st army: 306,470 men,; 924 guns; 395 machine guns; 10th army: 247,467 men; 749 guns; 565 machine guns
Casualties and lossesGerman official medical reports (1 - 30.09.1914): 1,555 KIA,; 10,412 WIA,; 1,552 MIA,; Total 13,519; Lost: 17 guns; 17 machine guns; ----10,000 killed, wounded and missing; Other Estimate: 40,000 killed and wounded100,000–125,000 killed, wounded and captured,; Lost: 162 guns; 174 machine guns; ----70,000 killed and wounded,; 30,000–45,000 prisoners; ----Russian Estimate: about 60,000 died, wounded and prisoners; Staff of the Russian NW front: 100,000 men, including 50,000 prisoners
Commanders
First Battle of the Masurian LakesFirst Battle of the Masurian LakesSecond Battle of the Masurian LakesBattle of ProstkenBattle of FilipówBattle of RajgródBattle of BiałaszewemBattle of FilipówBattle of BiałaszewemKaliningradKaunasBiałystokSovetskElblągChernyakhovsk100 km54.000N, 22.000E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of First Battle of the Masurian Lakes
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of First Battle of the Masurian Lakes today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-05-01. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 0 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 186 m, 186 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 42% tree cover, 31% grassland, 14% cropland.

tree cover: 42%grassland: 31%cropland: 14%water: 12%tree cover 42%grassland 31%cropland 14%water 12%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 1 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 150 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1914

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: GER 8TH ARMYDefender: RUS 1ST ARMY
Strength288,600273,000
Casualties40,000 (13.9%)125,000 (45.8%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1082
Outcomeattacker won
Duration2 days
Front width121 km121 km
Attacker advanced85 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 281), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

First Battle of the Masurian Lakes is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 350 in present-day Russia.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q660655, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article First Battle of the Masurian Lakes, revision 1385572572, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.