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Verdun - the Start of the War of Attrition

The Battle of Loos, 1915

•  Br. attack (25 Sept–8 Oct) aimed to break Ger. defences in Artois/Champagne & restore movement war.

•  Better methods, more ammo & eqpt BUT Br. gas attack failed, & artillery too short to clear wire or machine gun nests → Br. defeat.

         

Falkenhayn’s Plan

Sept 1914: After Marne defeat, Kaiser sacked Moltke → appointed Falkenhayn as Chief of Army. He aimed to:

    1.  Make peace w. Russ (failed, Russ rejected it)

    2.  Stop A-H opening 3rd front in Italy (failed, A-H attacked May 1916)

    3.  Separate Fr. from Br., (seeing Br. as main enemy) → '' = avoid mass breakthrough, instead attack where Fr. must defend → 'bleed Fr. to death’.

         

Reasons for Attacking Verdun

1.  : Falkenhayn (if truthful in 1920) invented attrition war → wear down Fr. at Verdun.

2.  Defence hub: Verdun = key Fr. forts. Ger. took Belgian forts easily (1914), hoped same here.

3.  Joffre: Had weakened Verdun forts → Fort Douaumont (largest) had only 56 men.

4.  Strategic: Close to Ger. rail, Fr. supply lines weak.

5.  ‘’: Verdun bulged into Ger. lines → Ger. arty could hit from 3 sides; Fr. counter-attacks had 1 route.

6.  Tie up Br. forces: Ger. kept attacking Verdun to delay Somme prep.

         

Main Events of the Battle

    •  21–24 Feb 1916: Ger. attack (Operation ) took Fr. by surprise, but failed to take eastern heights.

    •  25 Feb: Joffre replaced by Pétain. Ger. captured Fort → huge Fr. morale blow.

    •  Mar–June: Ger. gained ground (Fort Vaux, 7 June). Pétain advised withdrawal (23 June) but told to hold.

    •  June: Brusilov Offensive forced Ger. to send artillery to A-H.

    •  July: Br. Somme attack stopped Ger. reinforcements → Verdun offensive faded.

    •  July–Aug: Ger. attacks failed, none after 3 Sept.

    •  21 Oct: Fr. counterattack (Gen. ) recaptured Douaumont (24 Oct) & Vaux (2 Nov), but w. huge losses → Mangin called 'Butcher'. Battle faded by Dec; historians debate exact end date.

         

Why Ger. Lost Verdun

1.  Horne (1962) blamed Falkenhayn who 'squandered' Ger. chance to win. Churchill: Verdun lost Ger. the war.

2.  Russ & Somme: Ger. diverted artillery to Brusilov; after July, no reinforcements due to Somme.

3.  Abandoned plan: initial gains, but instead of defence/attrition, Ger. kept attacking → massive losses.

4.  Prestige: Fr. saw Verdun as a must-win; Fr. attrition won.

55.  Pétain’s tactics: Used (motorised reinforcements), troop rotation ('Noria'), & creeping barrage.

6.  Eastern heights: Ger. never took them → couldn't bombard Fr. counterattacks from above.

         

Results of the Battle

1.  Mythologised later in both Ger & Fr.

2.  Start of attrition war? Not really = a later excuse for losses (Haig used the same excuse at the Somme).

3.  Not as deadly as 1914 war of movement.

4.  Proved soldiers’ endurance on both sides.

5.  Showed ’s importance in war.

6.  First battle where was a key factor.

7.  First use of (26 Feb).

8.  First recognition of .

9.  Somme partly launched to relieve Verdun.

10.  Fr. recapture of Douaumont boosted attack-focused '' → led to 1917 mutiny.

11.  Hindenburg: "The battles there exhausted our troops like an open wound."