The Battle of Tannenberg in World War I

The Battle of Tannenberg was fought August 23-31, 1914, during World War I (1914-1918). One of the few battles of maneuver from a conflict best known for static trench warfare, Tannenberg saw German forces in the east effectively destroy General Alexander Samsonovs Russian Second Army. Employing a mix of signals intelligence, knowledge of the enemy commanders personalities, and effective rail transportation, the Germans were able to concentrate their forces before overwhelming and surrounding Samsonovs men. The battle also marked the debut of General Paul von Hindenburg and his chief of staff, General Erich Ludendorff, as a highly effective duo on the battlefield. Background With the outbreak of World War I, Germany began implementation of the Schlieffen Plan. This called for the bulk of their forces to assemble in the west while only a small holding force remained in the east. The goal of the plan was to quickly defeat France before the Russians could fully mobilize their forces. With France defeated, Germany would be free to focus their attention to the east. As dictated by the plan, only General Maximilian von Prittwitzs Eighth Army was allocated for the defense of East Prussia as it was expected that it would take the Russians several weeks to transport their men to the front (Map). Russian Movements While this was largely true, two-fifths of Russias peacetime army was located around Warsaw in Russian Poland, making it immediately available for action. While the bulk of this strength was to be directed south against Austria-Hungary, who were fighting a largely one-front war, the First and Second Armies were deployed north to invade East Prussia. Crossing the frontier on August 15, General Paul von Rennenkampfs First Army moved west with the goal of taking Konigsberg and driving into Germany. To the south, General Alexander Samsonovs Second Army trailed behind, not reaching the border until August 20. This separation was enhanced by a personal dislike between the two commanders as well as a geographic barrier consisting of a chain of lakes which forced the armies to operate independently. After Russian victories at Stallupà ¶nen and Gumbinnen, a panicked Prittwitz ordered the abandonment of East Prussia and a retreat to the Vistula River (Map). Stunned by this, the Chief of the German General Staff Helmuth von Moltke sacked the Eighth Army commander and dispatched General Paul von Hindenburg to take command. To aid Hindenburg, the gifted General Erich Ludendorff was assigned as chief of staff. Shifting South Just prior to the change in command, Prittwitzs deputy chief of operations, Colonel Max Hoffmann, proposed a bold plan to crush Samsonovs Second Army. Already aware that the deep animosity between the two Russian commanders would preclude any cooperation, his planning was further aided by the fact that the Russians were transmitting their marching orders in the clear. With this information in hand, he proposed shifting the German I Corps south by train to the far left of Samsonovs line, while the XVII Corps and I Reserve Corps were moved to oppose the Russian right. This plan was risky as any turn south by Rennenkampfs First Army would endanger the German left. In addition, it required the southern portion of the Kà ¶nigsberg defenses to be left unmanned. The 1st Cavalry Division was deployed to screen to the east and south of Kà ¶nigsberg. Arriving on August 23, Hindenburg and Ludendorff reviewed and immediately implemented Hoffmanns plan. As movements began, the German XX Corps continued to oppose Second Army. Pushing forward on August 24, Samsonov believed his flanks to be unopposed and ordered a drive northwest towards the Vistula while VI Corps moved north to Seeburg. Germans General Paul von HindenburgGeneral Erich Ludendorff166,000 men Russians General Alexander SamsonovGeneral Paul von Rennenkampf416,000 men Casualties Germany - 13,873 (1,726 killed, 7,461 wounded, 4,686 missing)Russia - 170,000 (78,000 killed/wounded/missing, 92,000 captured) Hindenburg Attacks Concerned that the Russian VI Corps was making a flanking march, Hindenburg ordered General Hermann von Franà §ois I Corps to begin their attack on August 25. This was resisted by Franà §ois as his artillery had not arrived. Eager to begin, Ludendorff and Hoffmann visited him to press the order. Returning from the meeting, they learned through radio intercepts that Rennenkampf planned to continue moving due west while Samsonov pressed XX Corps near Tannenberg. In the wake of this information, Franà §ois was able to delay until the 27th, while XVII Corps was ordered to attack the Russian right as soon as possible (Map). Due to I Corps delays, it was XVII Corps which opened the main battle on August 26. Attacking the Russian right, they drove back elements of the VI Corps near Seeburg and Bischofstein. To the south, the German XX Corps was able to hold around Tannenberg, while the Russian XIII Corps drove unopposed on Allenstein. Despite this success, by the end of the day, the Russians were in jeopardy as XVII Corps had begun to turn their right flank. The next day, the German I Corps began their assault around Usdau. Using his artillery to advantage, Franà §ois broke through the Russian I Corps and began advancing. The Trap Closed In an effort to save his offensive, Samsonov withdrew XIII Corps from Allenstein and re-directed them against the German line at Tannenberg. This led to the majority of his army being concentrated east of Tannenberg. Through the day on the 28th, German forces continued to drive back the Russian flanks and the true danger of the situation began to dawn on Samsonov. Requesting Rennenkampf to divert to the southwest to provide aid, he ordered Second Army to begin falling back to the southwest to regroup (Map). By the time these orders were issued, it was too late as Franà §ois I Corps had advanced past the remnants of the Russian left flank and assumed a blocking position to the southwest between Niedenburg and Willenburg. He was soon joined by XVII Corps which, having defeated the Russian right, advanced southwest. Retreating southeast on August 29th, the Russians encountered these German forces and realized they were surrounded. The Second Army soon formed a pocket around Frogenau and was subjected to relentless artillery bombardment by the Germans. Though Rennenkampf made attempts to reach the beleaguered Second Army, his advance was badly delayed by the German cavalry operating on his front. The Second Army continued to fight for another two days until the bulk of its forces surrendered. Aftermath The defeat at Tannenberg cost the Russians 92,000 captured, as well as another 30,000-50,000 killed and wounded. German casualties totaled around 12,000-20,000. Dubbing the engagement the Battle of Tannenberg, in vindication of the Teutonic Knights 1410 defeat on the same ground by a Polish and Lithuanian army, Hindenburg succeeded in ending the Russian threat to East Prussia and Silesia. Following Tannenberg, Rennenkampf began a fighting retreat which culminated in a German victory at the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes in mid-September. Having escaped the encirclement, but unable to face Tsar Nicholas II after the defeat, Samsonov committed suicide. In a conflict best remembered for trench warfare, Tannenberg was one of the few great battles of maneuver.

Increasing Diversity in University Campuses - 1140 Words

Many universities in the United States are looking to increase the diversity on their campuses and increasing the international student population is an attractive way of doing so. These students add a layer of diversity to the residence halls, campus atmosphere, and classrooms. The mix of international students in classrooms can have a positive, and sometimes negative, impact on the student classroom experience. These students entering American classrooms can face challenges in their critical thinking, speaking, cultural differences, and academic standards. Many international students have to adjust to the difference of learning and thinking in their native language to the learning and thinking style of the American classroom. This transition presents a challenge for many international students. Cultural differences alone can be the biggest obstacle for students. One example is the language differences. Many students are presented with the obstacle of learning in a non-native language. Redden (2014) highlights some of the challenges students face in the classroom by stating that many of the students faced challenges in the following areas: writing, thinking, speaking, grappling with new sociocultural context, and finding balances (Redden, 2014). â€Å"Writing was hard to almost half of the participants not only because they had to write in a non-native language, but because they had to grapple with writing expectations different from Chinas,† (Redden, 2014). This excerpt isShow MoreRelatedImpact Of Diversity On Campus Impact On Academic And Social Effects1413 Words   |  6 Pagescommon expectation nowadays at schools, colleges, and workplaces to be able to respect diversity, speak multi languages and communicate in a highly skilled manner. Humankind and society demand a successful intercultural communication to survive. 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Service Marketing Banking Stability

Question: Discuss about the Service Marketing for Banking Stability. Answer: Introduction: National Australia Bank is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia and has been serving has been serving customers across Australia, New Zealand and Asia serving more than 12.7 million customers. As a major attempt towards development of business, NAB has come up with many strategies. Mergers and acquisitions are common means of expanding their business. In the recent era, to fight against the intense competition, the National Bank has come up with a lot of changes in the business. For instance, initiatives have been taken to launch branchless and direct bank to make banking easier for the customers. Any major organization has to come up with major ideas to fight against the increasing competition and dynamic nature of market. The aim of the report is to evaluate this service organizations working procedure. In order to gain an understanding about the business strategies undertaken by the service organization, a detailed knowledge of the various factors affecting the business operation will be evaluated in this report. In addition to this, the front and back stage function of the Bank. A number of theories will be discussed in this respect. It is based on the findings; a service recovery strategy planning will be made. Blueprint of National Australia Bank: Service blueprints are the action or innovative technique used by a service organization to diagnose problems with certain operational efficiency. This change might cause structural change or repositioning of a part of business operation. The strategies are undertaken keeping the customers perspective in mind. As commented by Cox, Richard and David, in order to frame the Blueprint action it is important to undertake various actions of the organization that include the Front stage, Back stage function along with the support processes and the physical evidences as well. The recent Blueprint action undertaken by National Australia Bank is to make the service digital to the customers of the bank. The attempt made by the Bank is to increase the market share and customer satisfaction. The aim of the Bank is to compete with the other Big 4. In this respect, it has to be mentioned that the bank has received both positive and negative response of its attempt to serve the customers. In this respect, it has to be understood that NAB is one of the larger users of the Siebel and the Teradata CRM system. This has fetched the service company good fame and has been recognized as the early adapter of the customer relationship management. The main aim is to create Blueprint option for the ageing Australia. The service sector has ascertained that the ageing population of Australia is a huge market and any initiative that is taken to target this group of people can be fruitful for the service sector. It has been found that the ageing industry is a growing industry. Therefore, any action taken keeping the perspective of the ageing population in mind will be fruitful. As observed, 50 to 69 years of age, the population of the people is almost 40%. This group of people holds a good amount of national wealth. Therefore, it is important to target this group of people. The plans related to insurance of the ageing people is the blueprint of the Bank. Front stage and back stage functions: Front stage functions are the services that an organization provides to its customers and the services are visible to the customers. These services include reception, customer service where the queries of the customers are solved. Front stage functions are important for any organization because it is the first thing that a customer notices when they visit the organization. The front stage function for a service sector like a Bank holds great importance. It has to be understood that any kind of operation or transaction that a customer makes with the bank are done only when they clear out all their queries. In the view point of the author, a smart customer will always find out the inside and outside criteria of any scheme or package that the organization intends to offer the customers. Therefore, in case of a bank it is expected that the management shall keep the front stage operation very active. The back stage operation is equally important for an organization. The back stage operation include all the inside activities that are carried on in an organization to support the entire business operation. In case of a bank, these operations include managing the resources, planning the operation, handling the accounts of the clients and other processes as well. This is equally important because it is based on these business operations, the success or the failure of the business depends. However, it has to be understood that the back stage operations are not visible to the clients and thus, does not hold must importance on customer servicing. In case of the National Australia Bank, it can be said that the front stage function of the bank is very effective and the customer care executive that remain present at the service of the people create positive impact on the incoming clients or customers. In case of the back stage functions, it has to be said that these operations remain confidential and hidden from the customers. However, the Annual Reports and other reports that the organization come out with at regular interval highlights their regular activities and business operation. This creates a transparency in their operation. These reports create acceptability among the customers. Moments of truth for this service organization: It is important for every organization to understand that in order to attract customers, it should differentiate itself from other existing organizations. In the recent market situation, price has proved inadequate to shape the differentiation between the different companies providing same service. The only thing that matters is the way how customers are treated. Handling customers queries or complaints and keeping a close interaction with the people is the major thing that holds importance. Therefore, when customers are served with the moment of truth, there is a great possibility of satisfying the customers because they seek a kind of importance. This increases their credibility of acceptance among the customers. In case of National Australia Bank, it has to be mentioned that the Bank has successfully been able to gain the confidence of the customers by the means of their customer relationship service. The Bank has its internet service that is accessible to any person who is an account holder of the bank. In addition to this, the customer care service at the front office and back office operation of the bank has helped this service sector to maintain a good reputation among its customers. Determinants of satisfaction or dissatisfaction factors: Gap Model: As stated by Khatri, Jyoti and Kshitiz, in the recent dynamic market situation, customers have become very demanding. Good quality product does not satisfy them but they need good quality service from the organization as well. Delivering superior value to the customers should remain at the top of the priority list for a Company. In addition to this, Diamond, William and Raghavan commented that in case of a Service sector, the demand of the customers increases by many folds. In fact, providing good quality service to the customers can be one of the tools that an organization might undertake to improve their business operations. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge the gap and improve the customer service. Gap theory states that there lies a gap between the customer expectation and customer perception. Customer expectation is what the customers look for as the prime service from the Company. On the other hand, customer perception depends on the outcome of the services that are actually acknowledged by the customers. In order to match the expectation and the perception of the customers, it is important to conduct a market analysis and identify the perception of the customers. It is only on the basis of this finding, the company is expected to frame the strategy. The service provided by the National Bank narrates the idea of supporting the ageing people. Financial support is something that every individual fears of. It becomes challenging for the people and seems like a burden and something to be feared or shunned about. The idea of a healthy living and participate in a society that is advanced in science and health policy. The blueprint strategy should be based on reality and something that makes it more positive experience for everyone. It has to be understood that a good customer servicing can easily differentiate the other organizations belonging to the same sector. In case of a service sector, the expectation of the customers increases. They expect that when they are visiting a particular service sector, they shall receive certain level of positive treatment from the organization. In addition to this fact, it has been found that when a customer is treated with certain special treatment in any service sector, it creates a memorable moment for the customers and in fact, it becomes one of the reason that makes them come back or revisit the organization. There are a number of banks in Australia are proved to be greatest competitors of the National Australia Bank. These are Commonwealth Bank, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, Westpac and others. These financial organizations are equally important in the market of Australia and they are the real competitors of National Australia Bank. It has to be understood that these competitors also come up with different strategies and business plans. In order to fight against this intense competition, it is important to come up with certain strategies that shall be lucrative enough to attract more customers. The blueprint strategy made by the organization to focus on the ageing population is one of the most effective plans that the organization has come up with in the recent time. Again, it has to be mentioned that the customer care service is also an important approach made by the organization. This is helped the Bank to create a positive image on the customers because with this aspect, th e customers have become eligible to operate the function of the bank at any point of time. They are no longer needed to visit the bank personally to serve their requirement. Service recovery strategy plan: In order to gain advantage of the plan set by the organization, it is important to frame a number of strategies that shall identify the potential customers and serve them the right way. Primary thing is to promote the service offered by the organization. Therefore, it is recommended that the bank shall promote the service to the target group of people. In this respect, it can be said that the existing customers can be convinced to understand the importance of making the insurance that shall help them in future. Another important thing is to retain the existing customers. The Bank has to come up with a number of strategic planning that shall be convincing enough to attract more customers. People should be made aware of the importance and the benefits that one gets when they are protected financially by the means of insurance or other financial improvements. The financial organization might take sustainability approach towards their operation and a number of corporate social responsibilities as well to improve their image among the people and the existing customers of the bank. In order to support the idea of providing facilities to the ageing population of Australia, the bank must offer a number of other services as well. This might include providing home service to the people. It is recommended that the Bank should have customer care representatives who shall be appointed for the purpose of personal marketing. If these executives could be responsible enough to convince the people, then there lies the opportunity of getting more customers for the organization. In addition to the existing plans and strategies, it has to be mentioned that the Bank is expected to focus on other group of people as well. Therefore, the bank should come up with a number of plans that shall attract the people belonging to other ages as well. Insurance and long term deposit savings are some of the criteria that the financial organizations always take approach of. Therefore, it is recommended that focusing only a particular group of people might not be fruitful for the organization and it shall not bring the expected return to the company. The management should come up with other operational and blueprints to increase their business productivity. Keeping a watch on the existing competitors in the market and be sure to come up with such business strategies that shall attract people from all sector shall be beneficial. Conclusion: The report has analyzed the blueprint strategy undertaken by the National Australia Bank. The bank has focused on the importance of the need of financial security among the ageing population of Australia. It has been found that there is a good population that belongs to the ageing category of Australia. In fact, being financially stable in order to support the health and other living activities, it is important for the ageing population to think about their security. This has created an alarming situation among the financial sector and has given them the opportunity to think about any kind of planning or strategy that shall benefit the ageing population. The bank has targeted the ageing population of Australia and has come up with a number of plans that included insurance and other bills that shall be beneficial for this group of people. It has also been found that the bank has a well established front and back stage operation. It can be easily assumed that it is based on the front stage operation of the bank that the services that the Bank provides are cleared out towards the customers. The customer care executives are well trained that makes the business strategies undertaken by the organization successful. In order to make the business operation better nod successful, it is expected that the organization shall come up with better plans and schemes that shall benefit both the customers and the bank. 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