LATVIA DURING WORLD WAR I

For Russia World War I began on 1 august 1914 with the declaration of war on Russia.
Russia started with an invasion of Eastern Prussia, but in August there was only one German army (the 8th) in the east and after German reverses Paul von Hindenburg get the supreme command of the eastern front. The greatest part of the 8th Army was transformed to a new 9th Army, from September 17 under command of Hindenburg. On 1 November 1914 he became "Oberbefehlshabers der gesamten deutschen Streitkräfte im Osten" (Ober-befehlshaber Ost) (Supreme Commander East). General-major Erich Ludendorff became his General-Chief of staff.
Now the eastern front had a separate command, that could start operations at the eastern front independently. On November 11 a offensive is started, but in western Poland the front get stuck. In the winter of 1914/1915 the front line runs here. On the end of January 1915 Hindenburg get at his disposal four new army corpses: three new formed reserve corpses and a fourth (21 th) corps consisting of Alsatians and soldiers from Lorraine.

The new 10 th Army (under General-Oberst Hermann von Eichhorn) came north of the railway line Königsberg-Insterburg-Eydtkuhnen. South of this line the troops stay by the 8th Army. A spring-offensive started under leadership of the German chef of the general staff, Erich von Falkenhayn.
Mid-1915, the Russians had been expelled from Russian Poland.
After the danger was averted in the east, the function of the 'Oberbefehlshaber Ost' (Supreme Commander East) was stripped more and more: no longer the supreme command of the eastern front, only of the Njemen-Armee, the 10 th Army and the 12 th Army. From 24 August the greatest part of 'Russian Poland' did not fall under the Oberbefehlshaber Ost and became the Generalgouvernement Warschau. Nevertheless there were successes: on August 18, 1915, Hindenburg's 10 th Army conquered Kaunas.
At the end of 1915 German advance in the Baltic was stopped on the line Riga–Jakobstadt–Dünaburg. Riga is occupied 3 September 1917. From 4 November 1915 the area between Poland and the front line is designated administratively as Land OberOst.