The Battle of Verdun: The Horror of Trench Warfare
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About this ebook
50Minutes.com provides a clear and engaging analysis of the Battle of Verdun. By 1916, the First World War had turned into a bloody stalemate, leaving both sides desperate for a decisive breakthrough. That year, the Germans launched a major offensive in France, which the French soldiers were able to repel at an enormous human cost. With hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides, the Battle of Verdun was one of the longest and most destructive battles of the First World War.
In just 50 minutes you will:
• Identify the key players in the First World War and the countries which made up the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente
• Understand the events that led to the battle and how they contributed to the outbreak of deadly violence
• Analyse the outcome of the battle and the human and material losses resulting from it
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The Battle of Verdun - 50minutes
Key information
When: 21 February-19 December 1916
Where: Verdun, France
Context: The First World War (1914-1918)
Belligerents: France against the German Empire
Commanders and leaders:
Philippe Pétain, French general (1856-1951)
Erich von Falkenhayn, German general (1861-1922)
Outcome: French victory
Victims:
French camp: approximately 146 000 dead or missing and 216 000 injured
German camp: approximately 140 000 dead or missing and 196 000 injured
Introduction
A historic engagement of the First World War, the Battle of Verdun was nevertheless one of the most atrocious and inhumane battles in history.
The attack began on 21 February 1916 at 7:15am, ordered by German Chief of the General Staff Erich von Falkenhayn, who wanted to end the war of position and bleed the French army dry
. Since November 1914, the war of movement, which involved advancing as far as possible into enemy territory in order to gain ground, was no longer current. The armies were trapped in trenches dug into the ground and neither of them managed to gain an advantage. The conflict became a war of position where each defended the sector that had been assigned to them.
By launching an attack on Verdun, the Germans hoped to change this situation and achieve a victory over the French army. Thus, the French and the Germans were locked in a fierce battle for nearly ten months, which could have determined the outcome of the war. However, contrary to the expectations of the Germans, the French soldiers, now nicknamed the Poilus
(literally meaning the hairy ones
), resisted with the support of their general, Philippe Pétain. In the lunar hell of Verdun, they eventually defeated the Germans, but suffered significant losses, and in the end the battle turned