The battle at Verdun continued to December – ironically after the Somme conflict was considered to have ended. By the end of October 1916, the French had re-captured the two forts at Vaux and Douaumont but the surrounding land where the battle had been fought since February was a wasteland. On June 24th, the bombardment on the Somme could be heard at Verdun and with days, the battle at the Somme was to dominate military planners on the Western Front. By June 23rd, they got within 2.5 miles from Verdun itself – but this attack faltered as the German army itself had given all that it had and it could give no more. On June 1st, Germany launched a massive attack at Verdun. The rumblings of discontent in the French army could be heard in the summer of 1916 – in 1917 it was to mutiny. A French factory worker earned sixty times the pay of a French soldier over the course of a week. French soldiers found their pay did not go far in Paris. Theatres were open and few – due to a government clampdown on the truth – talked knowingly about what was really going on just 150 miles away. Food was plentiful and the one day in the week that was meant to be meat-free was not kept by the majority. Here, those French soldiers lucky enough to get leave from Verdun found an alien world. Just 150 miles away, life in the French capital went on as ‘normal’. “To die from a bullet seems to be nothing parts of our being remain intact but to be dismembered, torn to pieces, reduced to pulp, this is the fear that flesh cannot support and which is fundamentally the great suffering of the bombardment.”

“I saw a man drinking avidly from a green scum-covered marsh, where lay, his black face downward in the water, a dead man lying on his stomach and swollen as if he had not stopped filling himself with water for days.” Humanity is mad it must be mad to do what it is doing.” “An artery of French blood was spilt on February 21st and it flows incessantly in large spurts.” Senior officers at the fort complex around Verdun complained to Joffre about the state of the defences in the area. Also the trenches dug for defence had not been completed. In fact, all the forts around the area had been weakened as the French High Command had moved ammunition out of the forts to other areas on the Western Front. However, Falkenhayn’s plan also had one major weakness – it assumed that the French would be an easy opponent and that it would be the French who would take massive casualties – and not the Germans. The forts were very much part of the French psyche and they would fight ferociously to keep the Germans out of the area. If they do so the forces of France will bleed to death.” Falkenhayn to Kaiser William IIįalkenhayn’s plan had credibility. 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. A mass break-through – which in any case is beyond our means – is unnecessary. It boosted their morale and showed that they were also a strong nation with logistical ability.“The string in France has reached breaking point. Instead the French proved to be determined and fought on to win the battle. The battle was meant to cripple France and force them out of the war. If Verdun was in German hands, then it was hoped.

This battle came at a time when the French were down and out. The strategic position and patriotic significance of Verdun made it a perfect point for the Germans to attack. Paul von Hindenburg was to be later appointed. The contrary happened Germany lost the battle along with many soldiers. All this was to be done with massive French casualties in mind. The Germans had thought that they would quickly capture Verdun and consequently Paris. This was because the original plan failed terribly.

Firing of the German chief of general staff Erich Von Falkenhayn.

This was so as to make sure that Verdun and its forts were captured by German forces.The casualties were estimated at 550,000 men for the French and 430,000 for the Germans. This was because of the desire held by the Germans to fight to the last man.

Battle of verdun significance