When World War I broke out in the summer of 1914, two Russian armies promptly occupied southern and eastern East Prussia. Hundreds of thousands of families fled from the fighting and had to be accommodated in emergency quarters. Again and again the occupying forces violently attacked the civilian population, which also included shootings and abductions.
At the end of August Paul von Hindenburg became commander of the 8th army stationed in East Prussia, which was able to defeat the Russian armies in several major battles by February 1915 and expel them from East Prussia. For the inhabitants of the province Hindenburg was the saviour of the country and later, after the abdication of the emperor, was revered as a substitute monarch.
His success was instrumentalised on a national level early on: The first of these battles took place south of Allenstein (today Olsztyn) and was later called the "Battle of Tannenberg" in memory of the devastating defeat of an army of the Teutonic Order in 1410. Thus the "disgrace" was considered to have been compensated for.
Illustrations:
1.) Call of the Russian commander in Tilsit
2.) The way Russian troops dealt with East Prussian civilians was very different. Many Russian officers were of Baltic German origin, i.e. they spoke German and were quite often related to the noble families of East Prussia. The way they dealt with each other was characterised by respect and decency. However, there is also considerable evidence of arbitrariness and violence, especially where units acted without supervision.