Bombs rained down on the three French divisions that were stationed along this fifteen-kilometer front. It had over 1.2 million cannons, including 13 mighty 420-mm Krupps. The assault was delayed for a few days due to bad weather.Ī German artillery barrage began at 7:30 a.m. Although some reinforcements were dispatched to the site just in case, military authorities didn’t put much stock in this unexpected information. These plans were kept secret, but the French intelligence services were aware of an attack on February 11. The German army was spread out over a dozen-kilometer-long front, and 221 artillery batteries were set up to support them. German forces were increased from six to eight divisions, and concrete tunnels were constructed as close as possible to the French positions. The German high command had decided in December 1915 that Verdun would be a decisive battle, and they had prepared for it accordingly. A battle in Champagne was expected, so the outbreak of fighting at Verdun came as a shock to the French. Also, in August 1915, military leaders decided to relocate around forty heavy batteries and twelve field batteries to safer areas.

Since Joffre believed the Verdun defenses to be nearly invulnerable, he failed to adequately staff the forts with sufficient numbers of men and equip them with adequate weapons. The Germans were also aware of the difficulty the French would have in reaching the Verdun-based troops due to the lack of a proper railway line. The Prussians besieged and conquered the city twice: in 1792 and again in 1870.ĭue to the salient in the front and the dividing Meuse River, Verdun was a very difficult battlefield to defend. The military history of Verdun’s defense was extensive, beginning with the construction of fortifications in the 14th century and continuing with the construction of an underground citadel under Louis XIII, its consolidation under Louis XIV with Vauban, and its reinforcement once more at the end of the 19th century. The location on the Meuse in Lorraine and its fortifications made it a strategic issue and a matter of national honor for the French, and the Germans knew this. The Kronprinz, William II’s eldest son, who was also intent on destroying the French army and who described Verdun as the symbolic “heart of France,” backed him up in this mission. General Erich von Falkenhayn planned to “bleed the French army white” on the Verdun salient with the fire of thousands of cannons, meaning to exhaust it both morally and physically before completely defeating it. Since the Battle of the Marne, the war of movement had been transformed into a war of positions: the combatants buried themselves in trenches, fought in horrible conditions, folded in the mud in the midst of rats, were surrounded by corpses that were not always possible to evacuate, and above all, survived in fear. Why Was the Battle of Verdun Fought? Assaulting French soldiers emerge from their trenches during the Battle of Verdun, 1916.

France’s victorious offensive at Verdun was widely regarded as a turning point in World War I (1914–1918). French resistance forces were able to slow the German advance, but at an unbelievable cost in lives and injuries. The Germans launched an assault meant to “bleed the French army dry.” In short order, General Pétain was given responsibility for defending this section of the front, and he organized the front’s supply by building the “sacred way,” a road that was widened and maintained to allow two lines of trucks to pass each other without stopping. Combat between German and French forces at Verdun raged from February 21 to December 18, 1916.

Battle of verdun battle strategies