Concentrated firepower, domination of the air and the use of flamethrowers and other new weapons led to huge loss of life and many casualties for the French: also huge casualties for the Germans. This placed incredible pressure on one side, then the other, of the French line. To do this Falkenhayn launched flanking offensives. The German strategy was to maximise the damage caused to France. The forts were manned, new lines defended. Troops and resources were rushed to Verdun. However, it took 300 days of fighting and 400,000 casualties to achieve this. Despite having incredibly poor communications with the front and poor routes for troops to get to and from Verdun, he managed to halt the German advance, hold the line and eventually repel the Germans. The French high command appointed General Petain to command the defence of the fortress town. Within days the Germans were advancing and taking many prisoners: one third of the French line was captured in the first 5 days.įalkenhayn was right to think that the French would refuse to let Verdun fall without a huge fight. It was captured without putting up any resistance. The largest fort in the circle around Verdun, a feared structure at Douaumont, was manned by just 56 elderly men. The sector had just 30,000 men defending it. The bombardment and assault at Verdun caught the French by surprise. A 6 mile wide assault was to be launched, preceded by an artillery barrage from 1000 guns. Supply routes for munitions, reinforcements and other supplies were all carefully planned. 168 aircraft were moved into positions close to the intended target. 2.5 million shells were available for the artillery and gun trains to fire at the French positions. 140,000 infantry were readied for the initial attack. The town had 20 forts and 40 smaller defences. How did the Germans go about making the French ‘throw in every man they have’?įalkenhayn decided upon a huge assault on Verdun. If they do so the forces of France will bleed to death. Within our reach there are objectives for the retention of which the French General Staff would be compelled to throw in every man they have. A mass break-through – which in any case is beyond our means – is unnecessary. The string in France has reached breaking point. Falkenhayn said the site of battle would be selected based on: With those objectives of harming the French as much as possible in mind, Verdun was selected. Verdun itself was of historical significance, losing the town would be very damaging psychologically. He was attempting to break their spirit as much as their army. Falkenhayn wanted to drain French resources and inflict as much damage on them as possible. It was close enough to Paris to make the French defend it in huge numbers. To make real progress in that sector, Verdun had to be overcome. This made it a threat to German supplies should they advance any further. Verdun was a fortified town in a salient. Verdun was selected as the site of the German assault. Do that and Britain has no way of fighting a European war. This made attacking the French of strategic importance. He also believed that the Italian front posed little trouble for the Central Powers. Russia were likely to concede defeat and deprive the Western Allies of any benefit they gained from the Central Powers being engaged on several fronts. The Eastern Front, in his estimation, was virtually won. General Falkenhayn believed that the best way of beating the British was to defeat her allies. They also knew that it was impossible to assault the British Isles and that the sectors occupied by British troops, on the Somme and around Ypres, were not suited to an assault. The German assessment of the situation was that Britain posed the real threat. Both sides had become entrenched and huge numbers of men had been engaged and lost in battles in Flanders and Northern France. Why did the Germans attack at Verdun in February 1916?Īs the winter of 1915/16 drew in it had become clear that the war on the Western Front was very different to ones encountered before. By the end of the battle the French had suffered 400,000 casualties and the Germans 350,000 of which 300,000 were dead. In a battle intended to be attritional both sides suffered huge losses. The Battle commenced with a German offensive against the historically significant fortress town of Verdun. Lasting from February 21st 1916 to December 18th 1916, the Battle of Verdun was the longest land battle of the First World War.
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