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The planned retreat of the Eighth Army produced consternation at Moltke's headquarters, which had been under the impression that it was holding its own against the invasion. However, Prittwitz's orders were altered again the following day, August 21, when his staff convinced him a southward shift was necessary to block Samsonov's advance before the withdrawal to the Vistula could begin. Most units were accordingly reoriented away from the front of the First Army (which remained quiet), but Prittwitz rejected proposals that he counterattack Samsonov in turn, and in follow-up conversations with headquarters (Oberste Heeresleitung, or OHL), made clear his determination to take up a defensive stance behind the Vistula, and suggested reinforcements from the Western Front would be necessary even to hold that line.
The planned retreat of the Eighth Army produced consternation at Moltke's headquarters, which had been under the impression that it was holding its own against the invasion. However, Prittwitz's orders were altered again the following day, August 21, when his staff convinced him a southward shift was necessary to block Samsonov's advance before the withdrawal to the Vistula could begin. Most units were accordingly reoriented away from the front of the First Army (which remained quiet), but Prittwitz rejected proposals that he counterattack Samsonov in turn, and in follow-up conversations with headquarters (Oberste Heeresleitung, or OHL), made clear his determination to take up a defensive stance behind the Vistula, and suggested reinforcements from the Western Front would be necessary even to hold that line.
==Appointment of Hindenburg==
Although the Schlieffen Plan had accepted the likelihood of a brief occupation of Germany's eastern fringe, until all of its military power could be thrown against the Russian foe, the actual prospect of abandoning East Prussia was not acceptable to the political and military leadership, and pressure was rapidly building for a complete change in policy, and if necessary, commanders. Moltke had for some time wanted to replace Prittwitz, whom he considered too old and temperamentally unfit for his job, and the general's vacillating conduct on August 20-21 was not received well at OHL. The conversation of the 21st, in which Prittwitz expressed his decision to give up most of East Prussia and even implied he would retreat from the Vistula without reinforcements, probably sealed his fate. That evening, Moltke decided to relieve both Prittwitz and his chief of staff, Major General Alfred von Waldersee, of their commands.
To lead the Eighth Army, Moltke and OHL selected a retired Prussian general, Paul von Beneckendorff und Hindenburg, who had served on the Army General Staff and later been a corps commander; though 67 years old and not especially brilliant or vigorous, he was regarded as solid and dependable, which was what the Eastern Front needed at the moment. Hindenburg received the request to take command at his home in Hanover the following afternoon and agreed at once.
==References==
==References==