THE BATTLE OF VERDUN
February 21st - December 18th, 1916
In a letter to the Kaiser, Erich Von Falkenhayn, the German chief of staff, promised to win the war by destroying France. To do this, he wished to start a battle which he stated that he would "bleed France white" and into submission. The same letter also started unrestricted submarine warfare.
The contents of Falkenhayn's letter became reality in February of 1916, when German troops began an attack on Verdun.
To the French however, such an attack was a repeat of the Franco-Prussian war over 40 years earlier. In that war, after Verdun fell, France sued for peace. As their other fortresses fell, Frenchmen began to see fortresses as useless against the German onslaught. In addition, Verdun was one of the oldest and most recognized French forts as it was first built by the Romans almost 2,000 years earlier.
Thus, this meant that France would rather hundreds of thousands of men defending a strategically unimportant fortress in the name of honor and pride. They had reacted just as the Germans had planned and wanted them to and the armies of France hung in the balance...
February 21st - December 18th, 1916
In a letter to the Kaiser, Erich Von Falkenhayn, the German chief of staff, promised to win the war by destroying France. To do this, he wished to start a battle which he stated that he would "bleed France white" and into submission. The same letter also started unrestricted submarine warfare.
The contents of Falkenhayn's letter became reality in February of 1916, when German troops began an attack on Verdun.
To the French however, such an attack was a repeat of the Franco-Prussian war over 40 years earlier. In that war, after Verdun fell, France sued for peace. As their other fortresses fell, Frenchmen began to see fortresses as useless against the German onslaught. In addition, Verdun was one of the oldest and most recognized French forts as it was first built by the Romans almost 2,000 years earlier.
Thus, this meant that France would rather hundreds of thousands of men defending a strategically unimportant fortress in the name of honor and pride. They had reacted just as the Germans had planned and wanted them to and the armies of France hung in the balance...
Allied Powers:
Commander of Fort: Lieutenant Colonel Emile Driant (killed in action) Commander of Army: General Langle de Cary (replaced by Petain) 200,000 soldiers at the start of the battle. 2 smaller forts: Douaumont and Vaux Commander of Army: Henri-Philippe Petain Commander of at Verdun: General Robert Nivelle (replaced Petain who was promoted) Commander of Fort: General Charles Magnin 259 of all the 330 French infantry regiments |
Central Powers:
Overall Commander: Prince Wilhelm Germany Fifth Army (led by Prince Wilhelm) 1,000,000 soldiers at the start of the battle 1,400 large guns (start of battle) |
Overview
Verdun began with a 21 hour bombardment as the Germans thought that a massive bombardment would kill most of the French defenders before the infantry moved in. However, the Germans did not expect that the French had gotten wind of their plans. The French rushed in vain to fortify the town and bring in reinforcements. Still, the French were outnumbered in these earlier days 1,000,000: 200,000 or 5:1.
Believing that only half of the defenders remained, Prince Wilhelm decided to continue the bombardment. In reality, this estimation was incorrect and much over half of the French defenders remained, and this continuation of the bombardment allowed the French to pour in more reinforcements. When the German assault finally began, it took them one day to capture the front line of trenches, although they did kill the French commander, Lieutenant Colonel Emile Driant. Once again, Prince Wilhelm decided to wait, giving the French more time.
On February 24th, the Germans nonetheless still managed to break through and capture the French second line of trenches. On February 25th, the smaller outer fort of Douaumont was captured. Here, Petain replaced General Langle de Cary.
On March 6th, the Germans were re-equipped and restarted the attack, however, any attacks they made that day was pushed back by a French counter attack. More attacks were started and repulsed. Still, the Germans slowly pushed forward. Mort Homme Hill was captured on May 29th, and the other small fort protecting Verdun, Vaux, was captured on June 7th. This boosted the morale of the German soldiers and they almost broke through the entire French line and captured Verdun. During this part of the battle, the Germans used a new weapon, phosphene gas, which reacted to form hydrochloric acid in a person's lungs.
After Petian's promotion, the new commander, General Charles Mangin, began an offensive as opposed to Petain's ideas of a defensive war/battle. On October 24th, Fort Douaumont was recaptured by the French. Later, on November 2nd, Fort Vaux was also recaptured by the French. After these victories, Mangin led the French to more victories and captured the land that the Germans had occupied. By December 18th, the Germans had essentially lost most of the ground that they had won and abandoned the battle.
Verdun began with a 21 hour bombardment as the Germans thought that a massive bombardment would kill most of the French defenders before the infantry moved in. However, the Germans did not expect that the French had gotten wind of their plans. The French rushed in vain to fortify the town and bring in reinforcements. Still, the French were outnumbered in these earlier days 1,000,000: 200,000 or 5:1.
Believing that only half of the defenders remained, Prince Wilhelm decided to continue the bombardment. In reality, this estimation was incorrect and much over half of the French defenders remained, and this continuation of the bombardment allowed the French to pour in more reinforcements. When the German assault finally began, it took them one day to capture the front line of trenches, although they did kill the French commander, Lieutenant Colonel Emile Driant. Once again, Prince Wilhelm decided to wait, giving the French more time.
On February 24th, the Germans nonetheless still managed to break through and capture the French second line of trenches. On February 25th, the smaller outer fort of Douaumont was captured. Here, Petain replaced General Langle de Cary.
On March 6th, the Germans were re-equipped and restarted the attack, however, any attacks they made that day was pushed back by a French counter attack. More attacks were started and repulsed. Still, the Germans slowly pushed forward. Mort Homme Hill was captured on May 29th, and the other small fort protecting Verdun, Vaux, was captured on June 7th. This boosted the morale of the German soldiers and they almost broke through the entire French line and captured Verdun. During this part of the battle, the Germans used a new weapon, phosphene gas, which reacted to form hydrochloric acid in a person's lungs.
After Petian's promotion, the new commander, General Charles Mangin, began an offensive as opposed to Petain's ideas of a defensive war/battle. On October 24th, Fort Douaumont was recaptured by the French. Later, on November 2nd, Fort Vaux was also recaptured by the French. After these victories, Mangin led the French to more victories and captured the land that the Germans had occupied. By December 18th, the Germans had essentially lost most of the ground that they had won and abandoned the battle.
Notable Features
Longest battle of the entire war as it raged for almost 10 months.
The start of the battle was delayed by 9 days due to bad weather, typical of many battles in World War I.
One of the largest artillery barrages with 1,400 for 8 miles of land and 100,000 shells were used per hour.
Verdun was surrounded by Germans on 3 sides. One final side, there was single road named "Voie Sacree" or the "Sacred Road" which fed supplies into Verdun.
Almost 78.5% of all French infantry divisions saw at least some action at Verdun.
This battle could easily have been won by the Germans and their 5:1 advantage if they pressed on instead of pulling back every now and then.
One of the deadliest weapons, phosphene gas, which created hydrochloric acid in a human's lungs, was used in this battle.
Longest battle of the entire war as it raged for almost 10 months.
The start of the battle was delayed by 9 days due to bad weather, typical of many battles in World War I.
One of the largest artillery barrages with 1,400 for 8 miles of land and 100,000 shells were used per hour.
Verdun was surrounded by Germans on 3 sides. One final side, there was single road named "Voie Sacree" or the "Sacred Road" which fed supplies into Verdun.
Almost 78.5% of all French infantry divisions saw at least some action at Verdun.
This battle could easily have been won by the Germans and their 5:1 advantage if they pressed on instead of pulling back every now and then.
One of the deadliest weapons, phosphene gas, which created hydrochloric acid in a human's lungs, was used in this battle.
Implications
France: 550,000 casualties (including 225,000 deaths)
Germany: 434,000 casualties (including 217,000 deaths)
Things were the same as before except that there were an additional 442,000 men dead and 442,000 wounded, and both the German and French armies had suffered losses that they could not replace.
The implications of successfully defending Verdun was actually negligible as Verdun held no strategic importance whatsoever...
It was merely a battle to defend the pride of the French citizens and army.
In fact, if the French had withdrawn out of Verdun and decided to fight in the forests behind Verdun, they would have a much greater advantage than in the open fields in front of Verdun which clearly gave the invading Germans the advantage.
France: 550,000 casualties (including 225,000 deaths)
Germany: 434,000 casualties (including 217,000 deaths)
Things were the same as before except that there were an additional 442,000 men dead and 442,000 wounded, and both the German and French armies had suffered losses that they could not replace.
The implications of successfully defending Verdun was actually negligible as Verdun held no strategic importance whatsoever...
It was merely a battle to defend the pride of the French citizens and army.
In fact, if the French had withdrawn out of Verdun and decided to fight in the forests behind Verdun, they would have a much greater advantage than in the open fields in front of Verdun which clearly gave the invading Germans the advantage.