Battle of Verdun

battle_name=Battle of Verdun

Background

After the Germans failed to achieve a quick victory in 1914, the war of movement soon bogged down into a stalemate on the Western Front. Trench warfare was developed and neither side could achieve a breakthrough.

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In 1915 all attempts to force a breakthrough — by the Germans at Ypres, by the British at Neuve Chapelle and by the French at Champagne — had failed, with terrible casualties the only result.

Related Topics:
Ypres - Neuve Chapelle - Champagne

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The German Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, believed that although a breakthrough might no longer be possible, nonetheless the French could be defeated if they suffered enough casualties. He therefore planned to attack a position from which the French could not retreat, for both strategic reasons and reasons of national pride, and so impose a ruinous battle of attrition on the French armies. The town of Verdun-sur-Meuse was chosen for this "bleeding white" of the French: the town, surrounded by a ring of forts, was an important stronghold that projected into the German lines and guarded the direct route to Paris. Rather than a traditional military victory, Verdun was planned as a vehicle for destroying the French army. Falkenhayn wrote to the Kaiser:

Related Topics:
Erich von Falkenhayn - Battle of attrition - Verdun-sur-Meuse - Paris - The Kaiser

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:"The string in France has reached breaking point. A mass breakthrough — which in any case is beyond our means — is unnecessary. 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. If they do so the forces of France will bleed to death."

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