It was to make General Philippe Pétain a hero in France. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. The casualties from Verdun and the impact the battle had on the French Army was a primary reason for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916 in an effort to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. It can only be hoped that the scale of the devastation, in deterring either side from further skirmishes of the sort, saved as many lives in the long run as were lost in those 10 bloody months.The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War One. So, there were not even a lot of gains for either side. The remaining 2 months was spent trying to drive the Germans back to their previous position, in which aim they only partially succeeded. In the end, France did recover Fort Douaumont, but took 8 full months to do so. It was a devastating fight all round, and that is without considering the extra months’ worth of casualties sustained at the Somme. Many villages and woods in the area were so mangled that they never recovered. About 130,000 of those lost, from both sides, were never identified and lie in Verdun still. France, meanwhile, reported 351,000 casualties, including 56,000 confirmed dead, with 100,000 missing and presumed dead. Over 1,400 field guns, 32 million rounds of ammunition, 150 aircraft, 4 airships and several artillery balloons were devoted to the campaign, and the German Army amassed 330,000 casualties, about 143,000 of whom were killed. It worked, but the ferocity of the French retaliation forced Germany to commit nearly as many resources of its own. It later transpired that the German government’s aim in the campaign was not to take over Verdun, which they felt would be impossible in the long-run, but to grind the French down by forcing them to throw everything they had at the region. The Battle of the Somme had actually been intended to kick off in August 1916 at the very earliest, with generous French support, but was hurried forward to July since Britain was warned that, if they waited too long, there might be no French Army left! In the end the British helped France out by drawing a large chunk of the German focus away from Verdun, giving their opponents a much-needed break. This had a knock-on effect throughout the Western Front. Cursing their mistake in leaving it largely defenceless in the first place, they shipped in masses of supplies – supposedly a supply cart arrived in the area every 14 seconds – and the bulk of their army. The French were not about to roll over and let Germany keep their fortress, though, they came back with just about everything they had. The people of Germany rejoiced at this easy victory, and bells rang out throughout the land. Then, just four days later on 25 th February, the troops took the fort without a shot being fired. The army didn’t charge all at once, instead parties of Stormtroopers were sent in to deal with the remaining pockets of resistance using fearsome flame-throwers. Its ultimate loss would have severely dented the nation’s pride.īefore they went in with 100,000 troops, the Germans dropped a grand 1 million shells on the unfortunate city, flattening most of the existing defences. When it happened, though, France clung to the ground against the odds. The area’s defences had actually been scaled down in 1915, as an attack at Verdun had been pronounced to be an unlikely possibility. The region surrounding Fort Douaumont was unusual in being simultaneously a stronghold and a weak point in France’s defences although it was overlooked by a generous 19 forts and 40 redoubts, these were poorly equipped. In fact, it took so much out of the German Army that, once it was over (with the Somme already behind them), the Germans avoided initiating any further Western Front offences for almost two years, until spring 1918. Designed to ‘bleed the French white’, the attack lasted an epic 10 months, and was the longest and second deadliest of the Great War. Verdun was not a campaign that Germany entered into lightly.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |