![]() He who possesses the hills of the eastern bank and has captured the fortifications on these heights is also in possession of the fortress….Indeed, even if the forts on the western bank are not occupied at first, the fortress will have lost its value for France when the eastern bank has been taken by us.ĭrawing on the experience of the war to date, the 5th Army believed seizing the French positions on the eastern bank in one quick manoeuvre was well within their ability. Their attack order of 5 January 1916 set the eastern heights as their objective: If Falkenhayn’s goal for the offensive was the ‘ exsanguination’ of the French army and people, the 5th Army’s objectives in early 1916 were more down to earth. ![]() These new tactics were crucial to the plans of both the German Chief of the General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, and the unit carrying out the offensive at Verdun, the 5th Army under the command of the German Crown Prince Wilhelm with Constantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorf as his chief of staff. It could, however, draw upon a range of experiences to develop new offensive tactics that would be employed over the course of the battle. ![]() Prior to the Verdun offensive in February 1916, the German army had not launched a major offensive on the Western Front since November 1914. This series explores the German strategic, operational, and tactical planning for the battle. Indeed, for France and Germany today, the battle of Verdun is as synonymous with the First World War, as the battle of the Somme is for Britain. Although it is not as well remembered in Britain today, the ‘hell of Verdun’ left an enduring mark on not only on the millions of Frenchmen and Germans who fought there, but also on their societies. This month marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of this battle, which would last, including French counter-offensives, until the end of 1916. ![]() The massive loss of life at Verdun-143,000 German dead out of 337,000 casualties, to France’s 162,440 out of 377,231-would come to symbolize, more than that of any other battle, the bloody nature of trench warfare on the Western Front.This is the third of three posts covering German planning for Operation Gericht, their offensive at Verdun. By early December, under Robert Nivelle, who had been appointed to replace Philippe Pétain in April, the French had managed to recapture much of their lost territory, and in the last three days of battle took 11,000 German prisoners before Hindenburg finally called a stop to the German attacks. In July, the Kaiser, frustrated by the state of things at Verdun, removed Falkenhayn and sent him to command the 9th Army in Transylvania Paul von Hindenburg took his place. READ MORE: Life in the Trenches of World War IĪs fighting at Verdun stretched on and on, German resources were stretched thinner by having to confront both a British-led offensive on the Somme River and Russia’s Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front. Among the weapons in the German arsenal was the newly-invented flammenwerfer, or flamethrower that year also saw the first use by the Germans of phosgene gas, ten times more lethal than the chlorine gas they previously used. From the beginning, casualties mounted quickly on both sides of the conflict, and after some early gains of territory by the Germans, the battle settled into a bloody stalemate. Falkenhayn believed that the French army was more vulnerable than the British, and that a major defeat on the Western Front would push the Allies to open peace negotiations. The battle had begun on February 21, after the Germans-led by Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn-developed a plan to attack the fortress city of Verdun, on the Meuse River in France. The Battle of Verdun, the longest engagement of World War I, ends on this day after ten months and close to a million total casualties suffered by German and French troops.
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