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  • Battle of Verdun: One of the Longest and Bloodiest Battle of World War I

    Battle of Verdun: One of the Longest and Bloodiest Battle of World War I

    Combat between German and French forces at Verdun raged from February 21 to December 18, 1916. The Germans launched an assault meant to “bleed the French army dry.” In short order, General Pétain was given responsibility for defending this section of the front, and he organized the front’s supply by building the “sacred way,” a road that was widened and maintained to allow two lines of trucks to pass each other without stopping. French resistance forces were able to slow the German advance, but at an unbelievable cost in lives and injuries. France’s victorious offensive at Verdun was widely regarded as a turning point in World War I (1914–1918).

    Why Was the Battle of Verdun Fought?

    French soldiers attacking from their trench Battle of Verdun
    Assaulting French soldiers emerge from their trenches during the Battle of Verdun, 1916.

    Since the Battle of the Marne, the war of movement had been transformed into a war of positions: the combatants buried themselves in trenches, fought in horrible conditions, folded in the mud in the midst of rats, were surrounded by corpses that were not always possible to evacuate, and above all, survived in fear. General Erich von Falkenhayn planned to “bleed the French army white” on the Verdun salient with the fire of thousands of cannons, meaning to exhaust it both morally and physically before completely defeating it. The Kronprinz, William II’s eldest son, who was also intent on destroying the French army and who described Verdun as the symbolic “heart of France,” backed him up in this mission.

    The location on the Meuse in Lorraine and its fortifications made it a strategic issue and a matter of national honor for the French, and the Germans knew this. The military history of Verdun’s defense was extensive, beginning with the construction of fortifications in the 14th century and continuing with the construction of an underground citadel under Louis XIII, its consolidation under Louis XIV with Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban, and its reinforcement once more at the end of the 19th century. The Prussians besieged and conquered the city twice: in 1792 and again in 1870.

    Due to the salient in the front and the dividing Meuse River, Verdun was a very difficult battlefield to defend. The Germans were also aware of the difficulty the French would have in reaching the Verdun-based troops due to the lack of a proper railway line.

    Since Joffre believed the Verdun defenses to be nearly invulnerable, he failed to adequately staff the forts with sufficient numbers of men and equip them with adequate weapons. Also, in August 1915, military leaders decided to relocate around forty heavy batteries and twelve field batteries to safer areas. A battle in Champagne was expected, so the outbreak of fighting at Verdun came as a shock to the French.

    A Meticulously Prepared Offensive

    The German high command had decided in December 1915 that Verdun would be a decisive battle, and they had prepared for it accordingly. German forces were increased from six to eight divisions, and concrete tunnels were constructed as close as possible to the French positions. The German army was spread out over a dozen-kilometer-long front, and 221 artillery batteries were set up to support them. These plans were kept secret, but the French intelligence services were aware of an attack on February 11. Although some reinforcements were dispatched to the site just in case, military authorities didn’t put much stock in this unexpected information. The assault was delayed for a few days due to bad weather.

    A German artillery barrage began at 7:30 a.m. on February 21. It had over 1.2 million cannons, including 13 mighty 420-mm Krupps. Bombs rained down on the three French divisions that were stationed along this fifteen-kilometer front. With only 65 artillery batteries and 270 cannons, von Falkenhayn planned to wipe out as much of the enemy infantry as possible. After nine hours of bombardments, German artillery finally gave way to infantry: German infantrymen launched themselves against French positions, and, for the first time, the formidable weapon of the flamethrower was used.

    Two million shells were fired at French positions in the first 48 hours of the war, and the French front was pushed back about ten kilometers in that time. German artillery was relentless, but the French defenders’ tenacity in the face of isolation and a lack of leadership surprised the occupiers. Joffre ordered the French to resist at all costs, declaring with resolve, “They will not pass!” on February 25, after the French had lost 20,000 men and the fort of Douaumont had fallen. In order to defend Verdun, he put General Philippe Pétain in charge, with support from Generals Nivelle and Mangin of the 2nd army.

    Pétain Organized the Defense

    Pétain had a plan to close the gap the enemy had left and establish communication with the rear starting on February 26. Over the course of 24 hours, reinforcements and supplies of food and ammunition were brought in via the 6,000 trucks that took the “sacred road” connecting Bar-le-Duc and Verdun. They brought back a lot of wounded soldiers when they got home. From that point on, weekly transports included 90,000 men and 50,000 tons of equipment. Additionally, Pétain established a rotation of units that led to two-thirds of the French army taking part in the fighting at Verdun in an effort to minimize losses within each division and provide some respite for the poilus in the area around Bar-le-Duc.

    The French army grew from 230,000 to 584,000 strong between February and April, with the artillery nearing 2,000 pieces, of which a quarter were heavy weapons. But the Germans continued to show their strength; on February 27, they captured the fort of Douaumont, which had been defended by only 60 men. The Germans launched their attack on the left bank of the Meuse on March 6 and quickly gained control of Cumières Wood on March 7, Mort-Homme Ridge on March 14, and Hill 304 on May 24.

    The German offensive launched in the early spring was repelled on both the eastern and western fronts, and by the end of March, the enemy’s breach had been sealed. Despite the initial setback on April 9, the Germans rallied quickly, and General Mangin was unable to retake Douaumont between May 22 and May 24. Massive casualties were sustained in the so-called “hell of Verdun,” but the war of attrition nonetheless continued. The Germans captured Vaux Fort on June 7, and at the month’s end, they launched a fresh assault on Thiaumont, Fleury, and the area around Froi-deterre.

    The Germans advanced three kilometers, endangering French positions on the right bank of the Meuse, and the terrible phosgene bombs made their first appearance. But the situation on the Somme, further north, gradually shifted the balance of power; on July 1, the French and British forces launched a massive offensive that compelled the Germans to reduce their numbers in Verdun in order to hold their positions on the Somme.

    The Battle of Verdun Turns to the Advantage of the French

    On July 11, the Kronprinz attempted a fresh assault on the fort of Souville in Verdun, but the French artillery response and counterattacks saved the situation just in time. In light of the setbacks suffered by the German forces, Marshal Hindenburg, aided once more by General Ludendorff, relieved General von Falkenhayn of his command on August 29, 1916.

    General Robert Nivelle, who had replaced General Pétain as head of the 2nd Army (Pétain was given command of the Army Group Centre), began a counteroffensive against Verdun on the 24th. After losing ground steadily since February, this allowed the Allies to turn the tide and recover quickly, retaking the forts of Douaumont and Vaux within a matter of hours and two months, respectively. Along the right bank of the Meuse, between Champneuville and Bezonvaux, the front had steadied.

    The French triumphed at Verdun on December 18, 1916.

    The “Massacre” of Verdun

    Considering the previous ten months of bloodshed and 37 million shells fired, this victory was monumental. Despite nearly 380,000 dead, missing, and wounded, France maintained its advantage in the Verdun region. It was a double loss for Germany: first, they were unable to break through the French front, and second, their casualty count (estimated at 335,000 killed, missing, and wounded) was nearly as high as France’s. After the Somme, the Battle of Verdun was the bloodiest in World War I.

    KEY DATES OF THE BATTLE OF VERDUN

    Fort Douaumont before the battle (German aerial photograph)
    Fort Douaumont before the battle (German aerial photograph).
    • German forces stormed and captured Douaumont Fort on February 25, 1916. General Pétain was given control of the fortified Verdun area after the French army suffered this symbolic defeat.
    • The Germans made a small gain for their efforts on April 9, 1916, when they captured the Mort-Homme observation point. General Pétain issued a historic rallying cry the following day: “Courage, we will get them!”
    • On May 1, 1916, General Joffre appointed General Nivelle to replace Pétain because Joffre found Nivelle more offensive than Pétain.
    • On May 22, 23, and 24, 1916, General Mangin, acting on orders from General Nivelle, led a major French offensive that ultimately failed to retake the Fort of Douaumont. No adequate artillery preparations were made.
    • On June 7, 1916, the defenders of Vaux Fort signed a document surrendering the fort. When they realized they wouldn’t have enough water to make it, the local troops under Major Raynal’s command surrendered. The Germans took control of the area.
    • Following a nonstop barrage of poison gas shells on June 23, 1916, 60,000 German soldiers attacked along a 6-kilometer front. Fleury was taken. Despite this, Germany’s efforts to capture Verdun persisted in failing, producing disappointing results despite the enormous effort.
    • The German army’s final offensive began in the Souville sector on July 12, 1916. There was no success. The enemy’s greatest advance during the Battle of Verdun occurred here. This was yet another setback for Kronprinz Wilhelm of Prussia’s troops, who had been told to stick to defensive measures.
    Douaumont after the battle
    Douaumont after the battle.
    • After months of planning the “artillery fire” phase, the French forces successfully retook Fort Douaumont from the Germans on October 24, 1916, effectively ending the Battle of Verdun.

    Battle of Verdun at a Glance

    What was the Battle of Verdun?

    The Battle of Verdun was a major battle fought between German and French forces during World War I. It was one of the longest and deadliest battles of the war and took place in and around the city of Verdun in northeastern France.

    What was the significance of the Battle of Verdun?

    The Battle of Verdun is considered significant because it became a symbol of the tenacity and resilience of the French forces. It also represented a turning point in the war, with both sides suffering heavy casualties and the battle ultimately resulting in a stalemate.

    What were the objectives of the German offensive?

    The German objective was to capture the strategic city of Verdun and inflict heavy casualties on the French army, hoping to break their morale and force them to divert resources from other parts of the front.

    What was Falkenhayn’s strategy in the Battle of Verdun?

    German General Erich von Falkenhayn’s strategy was to engage the French in a battle of attrition at Verdun, hoping to bleed the French army and force them to commit significant resources to defend the area. His intention was to wear down French morale and create a favorable situation for German victory elsewhere

    What role did trench warfare play in the Battle of Verdun?

    Trench warfare was a defining characteristic of the Battle of Verdun. Both sides constructed extensive networks of trenches, which served as defensive lines and provided protection from enemy fire. The battle involved fierce fighting over small sections of land between the opposing trench systems.

    Bibliography:

    1. Martin, W. (2001). Verdun 1916. London: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-85532-993-5.
    2. Windrow, M. (2004). The Last Valley: The Battle of Dien Bien Phu. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-297-84671-0.
    3. Horne, A. (2007) [1962]. The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 (pbk. repr. Penguin ed.). London. ISBN 978-0-14-193752-6.
    4. Grant, R. G. (2005). Battle: A Visual Journey through 5,000 Years of Combat. London: Dorling Kindersley Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4053-1100-7.
    5. Greenhalgh, Elizabeth (2014). The French Army and the First World War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-60568-8.
  • Battle of the Somme: One of the Bloodiest Battles of World War I

    Battle of the Somme: One of the Bloodiest Battles of World War I

    From July to November of 1916, the Allies and the Germans fought in the Somme region of northern France in the bloody and protracted Battle of the Somme. The British first engaged some 40 tanks on September 15 at Flers, and the ensuing bloodbath was a turning point in the war. But this initial major Franco-British offensive, led by General Foch and Douglas Haig, did not result in any significant Allied advances on the Western Front (contrary to the expectations of the general staff). Joffre called off the offensive on November 18, 1916, due to bad weather, the exhaustion of the troops, and the small amount of territory gained.

    What was the goal of the Battle of the Somme?

    According to the command, the lack of resources was to blame for the failure of the Allied offensives in 1915. Generals believed they could win with heavy artillery preparations, which would clear the way for the advance of the troops as production of guns and shells increased. On December 6, 7, and 8, 1915, the Allies convened at Chantilly, in the French Grand Quartier Général under the command of General Joffre, with this goal in mind.

    Each of the major players in World War I—the French, the British, the Italians, and the Russians—had the same idea: to launch an offensive at the same time on multiple fronts. The Russians would launch a general attack in the east; the Italians would launch an attack on the Isonzo; and the French and British would launch a massive offensive on the Somme at the end of spring or the beginning of summer 1916. At the same time, the Germans, influenced by Falkenhyan, decided to “bleed the French army dry” by leading an assault on Verdun.

    The Battle of Verdun altered the original plan

    Due to the unexpected start of the Battle of Verdun on February 21, 1916, plans were severely hampered. While the Somme offensive was planned as a joint French and British effort in which both sides would play an equal role, the French demanded in February that the British contribute more to the offensive through the head of the French Military Mission to the British Army. The attack’s front was also drastically shortened, from 70 to 40 kilometers, with the British portion reaching 28 kilometers; the Battle of the Somme would henceforth be fought primarily by the British.

    The area of Albert, which the Allies control, and the surrounding area of Péronne (controlled by the Germans), would be where the operation would take place. There was a lot of room for interpretation in the objectives, which Jean-Jacques Becker claims were as much about wearing down the German army as they were about finding the decisive battle that would lead to final victory.

    Harmful attack, but not much accomplished

    Several days of intensive artillery preparation culminated in an assault on German defenses by French and British armies on July 1, 1916. Although the French VIth saw some success in the south, the British army suffered catastrophic losses, with 10,000 dead and 60,000 wounded by July 1. The attackers were met with partially intact defenses and German machine gun fire despite the extensive preemptive bombardment.

    The battle, which spanned a significant amount of time, can be broken down into three distinct parts: the initial offensive, which occurred from July 1 to 20, the long stagnation that occurred from July 20 to September 3, and the slight advancement that occurred from September 3 to November 18. The British lost 420,000 men, including over 100,000 dead, and the French lost 200,000 men, including over 100,000 dead, for an advance of only a few kilometers. Over 500,000 German soldiers died in the conflict.

    The British Army deployed tanks (Mark IV) for the first time on September 15, 1916, at Flers. Many of them were unable to reach the front lines, but others made remarkable progress. In spite of this, there weren’t enough of them, and they were too sluggish and unreliable.

    Its many flaws, especially its slowness (barely 6 km/h on the road), gave it an effect that was more psychological than real, with most of the examples involved in the fighting being destroyed or captured. This was also true of the French and German tanks that appeared a few months later. A few months later, tanks finally became a game-changer.

    By the end of 1916, it appeared that the Somme offensive had failed because the enemy lines were not breached. With Germany’s continued occupation of northeastern France, the balance of power remained in the hands of the central powers. Worse, it appeared that neither side could win the war decisively.

    Battle of the Somme; a turning point

    The Battle of the Somme was a turning point in the Great War for a number of reasons. While the Battle of Verdun is not prominent in German accounts of the war, the Battle of the Somme is. While fighting on French territory, German soldiers saw themselves as defending their homeland from the British invaders and took a defensive position in underground shelters.

    The French were discouraged after the failure of the Somme, and this fed a weariness that began at the end of 1916 and was expressed more forcefully in 1917. The volunteers, who made up the bulk of the troops sent and were decimated on July 1, 1916, were replaced by conscripts, whose formation had begun at the start of 1916, and the Somme marked the beginning of the end for the volunteer army.

    The French and British worked together exceptionally well on the Somme, marking a turning point in the war. The French and British armies had to employ liaison officers to facilitate better communication between the two sides as liaison tactics began to be put into practice. The Somme campaign failed and cost a lot of lives, but it showed Allied commanders that they needed to work together better and train harder to defeat the Germans. It’s true that the Allies were able to learn from this massive material battle, especially with regards to the use of artillery, which ultimately led to their victory in 1918 despite the terrible weather and serious tactical errors.

    Memory of the Battle of the Somme

    British people’s recollections of World War I will always include the bloody Battle of the Somme. The first day of the offensive was the bloodiest day in British history, and many accounts detail the carnage that ensued. When the Scottish lieutenant and his two men finally reached the German lines, the man in charge is rumored to have exclaimed, “My God, where are the rest of the boys?”

    Also quickly remembered was the Somme Battle. The Thiepval (Somme) Memorial, by Edwin Lutyens, was built between 1928 and 1932 at the behest of the British government. The monument, which stands at 45 meters tall and is shaped like a triumphal arch, honors the 73,367 British and South African soldiers who lost their lives on the Somme. Nearly 160,000 people visit the memorial annually, and it is located next to a military cemetery that adheres to British standards, meaning that all names are engraved on uniform steles regardless of the person’s rank or grade.

    In addition, the “circuit of remembrance” of the Battle of the Somme has been developed, making it possible to see the scars left by the Great War on the landscape and to see the most significant memorials to the conflict: Somme commemorations have recently taken place at the Ulster Tower (Irish memorial) and the ANZAC memorial (Australian and New Zealand memorial).

    TIMELINE OF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME

    The British failed on July 1st, 1916

    The Allies began their assault early in the morning after several days of artillery preparation were delayed, in part, by bad weather. The British, carrying more than 30 kilos of equipment, moved at a snail’s pace because their command didn’t want them to disperse or think about the decimated German forces from the previous days’ bombardments. The majority of British casualties were the result of German machine gun fire.

    July-August 1916: The slow progression

    The British command wanted to halt the attack on the Somme front after the disastrous results of the July 1st offensive, but Marshal Joffre, commander-in-chief of the French armies, refused. During the subsequent two months of attacks and counterattacks, both sides made only minimal gains (at Langeval Wood for the British and Flaucourt Plateau for the French, respectively) and suffered significant casualties.

    Movement of German Troops

    However, the German general staff was concerned that the front lines on the Somme had been breached. As a result, in the month of July, the decision was made to pull thirteen divisions back from the Verdun front and two from the Ypres sector. This relieved some of the stress on the Allies at Verdun. In the weeks that followed, other divisions were scheduled to be deactivated as well. The German writer Paul Zech, who survived Verdun and was sent as reinforcement to the Somme front, testifies in a letter, “Here, everything is brought to its extreme: hatred, dehumanization, horror, and blood (…).” I don’t know anymore what can happen to us.

    September-October 1916: intensification of the allied offensives

    Several German positions were quickly taken despite the persistent rain and the battlefield’s transformation into a quagmire. On September 9, the British recovered Ginchy, in particular. On September 15th, they deployed their first tanks, which they dubbed “tanks” Mark I, with mixed results due to their clumsiness, but which did allow them to seize a number of positions (Courcelette, Martinpuich…). The French were successful in capturing large portions of territory from the Germans and capturing thousands of prisoners. On September 25th, the British and the French launched a combined offensive that would continue until September 28th. They allowed the Allies to retake Combles and Thiepval and strengthen their positions, but their strength waned in October.

    November 1916: Against all odds, the end of the battle

    However, despite some Allied victories in November, the fighting appeared to stall. The weather turned bad in the second half of the month, bringing icy rain, blizzards, and snow to the soldiers and effectively halting any offensives. This, oddly enough, was the catalyst for the end of the Battle of the Somme, as on November 21, General Haig, commanding the British army, decided to end the offensive. On the 11th of December, 1916, General Foch, who was in command of the French army on the Somme, did the same thing. On December 18, French Army Chief of Staff Marshal Joffre declared an end to the Somme offensive. The primary goals of Bapaume and Péronne were not accomplished by this war of attrition, which resembled Verdun.