Battle Of Verdun Research Papers

The Battle of Verdun

Abigail Fenske

Honors World Cultures Period 7

Ms. Beck

May 19th, 2017

The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle in World War I. It started on February 21st, 1916 and ended December 16th, 1916. The battle would become one of the most important on the Western Front. It was fought between the French and the Germans in the northeastern French city of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The battle would take 250,000 lives and 500,000 would be wounded. For centuries Verdun had played a key role of in defense of its hinterland, because of its location near the Meuse river. The Battle of Verdun produced the largest number of casualties during World War 1 because of its’ length, military tactics, and lack of British involvement.

On July 1st the Anglo-French Somme offensive began, which drew the Germans away from Verdun. In mid July the last major German offensive of Operation Gericht failed to take Souville. At the end of the summer Erich von Falkenhayn resigned and was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg as the Chief of Staff. Paul von Hindenburg ordered that all offensive operations stop at Verdun. The final months before the battle was over were extremely important in the Germans retreat. In October, the French began to prepare for bombardment on the German lines at Verdun. The French also were able to make a 3km advance on the Germans and were able to take back Fort Douaumont. By November, they were able to take back Fort Vaux. Finally, in December, the French were able to push the Germans out of Verdun, and take Verdun back. The Battle of Verdun was filled with major events that helped the French get back Verdun, but it was also full of key events that contributed to the war in its

Even though the French were defending the British by not allowing the Germans into Britain, the British still did little to assist the French in their defense against the Germans. The British had their own reasoning for this however, as they had just come off of a crushing defeat during the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. The British had to spend copious amounts of money in order to rebuild their Navy after the campaign and lost a large number of soldiers in it as well. Should the Germans had been putting up a much stronger offensive, the British may have decided to help with the defense. Even still, the French were able to successfully hold the Germans with no help from the British. However, with the strength of the British army, the Battle of Verdun may have had a far more decisive