WW13+Verdun

=Overview of strategies and tactics to break the stalemate including key battles: Verdun, the Somme, Passchendaele=

Verdun
//Battle of Verdun (21 February – 16 December 1916). The most sustained battle of the First World War, in which the French suffered more than 400,000 casualties and the Germans nearly 350,000. The battle arose from a plan of General von Falkenhayn (1861-1922), chief of the German General Staff, who claimed that it would be possible ‘to bleed France white’ by launching a massive attack on a narrow sector where national sentiment would force the French to ‘throw in every man they had’. He chose Verdun, a fortified city on the Meuse, whose fall in 1792 had precipitated panic in Paris. The 300-day battle destroyed French reserves and left the French too weak and shell-shocked for a resolute offensive without help from other allies. But the Germans, too, suffered considerable loss of morale for, although two key forts (Douaumont and Vaux) were captured by the Germans and although in June the French were dependent on a single second-class road for supplies, Verdun itself never fell. French counter-attacks from 23 October onwards recovered the forts and most of the shell-cratered wasteland overrun by the Germans. Verdun was a triumph for French fortitude and the Generalship of Charles Mangin, Robert Nivelle and Pétain.// Alan Palmer, //Dictionary of Twentieth Century History//, Penguin, 1979, p.386


 * A German offensive against French lines.
 * Date: Feb – Dec 1916
 * Place: Verdun, a fortress of symbolic importance for the French. The Germans chose this site with the knowledge that the French would defend it.


 * Aim**: To “bleed the French white” according to Falkenhayn. France would defend this place with everything they had and would be worn down. To annihilate France.




 * The Battle**:[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/French_87th_Regiment_Cote_34_Verdun_1916.jpg align="right" caption="French soldiers of the 87th Regiment, 6th Division, at Côte 304, (Hill 304), northwest of Verdun, 1916"]]
 * 25 February Fort Douaumont taken by the Germans.
 * 9 June Fort Vaux taken by the Germans.
 * General Pétain: “Ils ne passeront pas!”. The French defended Verdun, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

//If you surrender Verdun, you will be cowards, cowards! And you needn’t wait till then to hand in your resignation. If you abandon Verdun, I will sack you all on the spot.// French Prime Minister **Aristide Briand** to General Joffre.


 * The Germans used phosgene gas and flamethrowers for the first time.
 * By the end of June, the Germans were almost successful in breaking through. They then had to divert men and arms to defend the Somme and the French were able to push them back.
 * 24 October Fort Douaumont retaken by the French.
 * 2 November Fort Vaux retaken by the French.
 * August 1916 – Falkenhayn was replaced by Hindenberg and Ludendorff.


 * Result**: The French were seriously weakened by the losses in the battle, but the battle came to symbolise their fortitude. The Germans also suffered great losses. There was no gain for either side.

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//Le Mort-Homme and Hill 287, May 1916// //The ruins of Fort Vaux in 2003// //Memorial at the Trench of the Bayonets, 2006//
 * Some more photos**:


 * Douaumont** Ossuary and Cemetery