Battles: Verdun and Somme
How the battle began
- Verdun: This battle was planned by the Germans because they knew that the French would defend the city of Verdun to the last man. The idea was that Germany could eliminate the French from the war by killing “so many French soldiers that France would be “bled white” and would have no choice but to make peace” (Lyons, 2000, p141). The German General Falkenhayn planned the assault and wanted to limit the number of troops used to minimalize German casualties. He began the battle by only having the Fifth Army attack along the east bank of the Meuse, the goal was not to take the city but to kill Frenchmen.
- Somme: Planned by Britain and France, the battle of Somme was a corradiated offensive against the Germans in the summer of 1916. Due to the battle of Verdun, however, much of the French army was diverted leaving the British to hold much of the line on their own. The goal was to wear down and dislodge the Germans, who had dug in and built up strong fortifications.
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The geography of the battlefield
- Verdun: Verdun was located on steep hills along the east bank of the Meuse river with lower hills dissected by ravines on the rivers west bank. It was also heavily fortified boasting “no fewer than 60 forts, 20 of them of major importance, arranged in three concentric rings around the city” (Lyons, 2000, p143). While the forts themselves were without supplies, with many of the guns stropped away to strengthen the army in other areas.
- Somme: The area around the Somme River was at the “hinge between the British and French forces” (Lyons, 2000, p.150). The geography of the battle field greatly benefited the Germans as they held the high ground and had, “established an exceptionally powerful defensive position in the chalk ridges” (Lyons, 2000, p.149). There were two main systems with several lines of trenches that even boasted underground shelters to protect German soldiers from artillery bombardment. Winston Churchill was quoted describing the area as “undoubtedly the strongest and most perfectly defended position in the world” (Lyons, 2000, p.149). The battle field itself became a mire of crater holes and mud that hindered the progress of soldiers and tanks alike.
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The Nature of the Fighting
- Verdun: The nature of fighting in Verdun was akin to a meat grinding machine. Soldiers were shoved into the line as quickly as they were killed with men on both sides describing the battle as being a massacre. The Germans unleased a new weapon, the flame thrower and utilized “the greatest concentration of guns yet arrayed on such a narrow front” (Lyons, 2000, p.143).
- Somme: This battle took the form of trench war fair as artillery attempted to take out enemy fortifications and weapons so that lines of infantry attempted to make their way to the enemy’s position. The British introduced the tank in this battle to break the deadlock but these new tools “proved too few in number and to prone to mechanical failure, to make any real impact” (Epic History TV)
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The Number of Casualties
- Verdun: There were high casualties on both sides. The French suffered an estimated 377,000 casualties with nearly half dead or missing. German forces suffered an estimated 337,000 casualties with more than 10000 killed or missing.
- Somme: The Allies suffered an estimated 600,000 casualties with German losses netting around 450,000
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The Advance or Attempt to Advance of the Attacking Force
- Verdun: German troops made slow progress as their artillery bombardment, although amazingly destructive, was unable to kill all the French in its path. The German infantry met heavy resistance from the French lines that survived. Despite setbacks, however, the Germans came very close to breaking through the French line in late February. They were beaten back, however, once the French sent in fresh reinforcements. The Germans would often gain ground during this battle, even capturing forts, but they were forced to give it back up almost instantly; they eventually gave up the assault on Verdun when the new German Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff visited the site and saw its senseless carnage.
- Somme: The hope was to make a quick break through the line yet the British artillery was unable to destroy the German fortifications. This led to waves of the British infantry being “cut down by machine gun fire as they advance into No Man’s Land” (Epic History TV) The battle wages for five months with the French lines making more headway then the British due to their superior artillery. In the end the Allies only advanced a meager 10 miles and the Germans pulled back to create a stronger more manageable line.
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The Disposition of the Forces at the End of the Battle
- Verdun: “To both French and German survivors, life in Verdun salient was equivalent to being condemned to hell” (Lyons, 2000, p. 148). The French General Henri Petain commanded the force and, knowing the battle would be a long and bloody one, established a rotation system to relieve troops, an approach that was later abandoned when General Nivelle took charge. This led to nearly the entire French army being exposed to the hellish atmosphere that was the battle of Verdun, leading to an overall drop in moral. The German soldiers were only relived once they were exhausted, so although they were also suffering from the memories of Verdun, the low morale was more limited.
- Somme: Near the end of the battle of Somme many German units had shown a weakening of morale similar to the French troops in the battle of Verdun. The British, while suffering heavy losses were not as discouraged as their soldiers were still too new to life in the trenches.
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References
- Lyons, M. (2000). World War I: A short history (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. (140-150)
- Epic History TV (n.d). Epic Histoy: World War One- 1916 [Video file]. Retrieved from Youtube website: http://ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLUOc2qodFHp-3iOGL5MHjWLfTvIM4iNdZ&v=l-b746J2SdI
- Google. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search
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- (2) http://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/battleverdun/battleverdun33/crownprincedugout.jpg
- (3) https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e6/e8/16/e6e81646f407fde6dd3203fe077537d8.jpg
- (4) https://d1ox703z8b11rg.cloudfront.net/uploads_image/a0d3aeb7-4fca-4686-8b3f-899f21c8ba7c/0c9eb016ad533e9b9f55d8ef7dd5f0ba.jpeg
- (5) http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/02/20/00/3160A52100000578-0-One_hundred_years_ago_on_February_21_1916_a_Monday_the_first_sho-m-29_1455929615241.jpg
- (6) https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQQPnELp44SXEIbuTTguMVPWZKouniWDTgFuDIbrlY__APw3m6F
Credit: Amanda