Part a Assignment: What Was the Short Term Significance of the Battle of Verdun (1916) on the German War Effort?

Part A Assignment: What was the short term significance of the Battle of Verdun (1916) on the German war effort?

The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest single battle of World War One. 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. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916. Verdun itself was surrounded by a ring of 19 defensive forts and was considered to be one of the best defended places in the world. When considering the short term significance of the Battle on the German war effort three main areas must be addressed. The impact of the battle on German morale needs to be determined alongside Germany’s fighting capacity and their strategic position also needs to be assessed.

At the beginning of the battle it seemed to be going rather well from a German viewpoint. The German chief of staff Falkenhayn was the architect of the siege on the town of Verdun had an aim to “bleed the French army white”. Falkenhayn had not wished to take Verdun itself but had wanted to draw more and more French troops into the battle in order to kill them and deplete French supplies and soldiers. He had wanted 5 dead Frenchmen for every 2 dead German soldiers. This therefore tells us that the Battle of Verdun was to be a classic battle of attrition where it would be a battle of material in which the victor would be those who could sustain fighting for the longest. Attritional battles due to their very nature will have a negative effect on the morale of the German troops. By the 24th of February the German advances on Verdun had reached Fort Douaumont which was the highest and largest fort surrounding the area. Many French officials had refused to believe Verdun was under any threat and therefore, the area was not heavily guarded, for example only 56 French Soldiers manned Fort Douaumont. This Fort was previously considered as the most secure place on the planet and the German advancing troops had managed to capture it in only a few days without a shot being fired as the terrified French troops had instantly surrendered. The majority of German newspapers had reported