21 Feb-18 Dec 1916 — Falkenhayn attacks Verdun, a fortress France cannot abandon. Attrition is his goal: French forces must keep fighting for it. Over ten months, about 300,000 die on the two sides and nine villages are erased forever. The fighting bleeds Germany white as well. “Ils ne passeront pas.”
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Why did Germany choose Verdun? The fortress city had political and emotional importance for France, and Falkenhayn expected the French to fight for it. His later memorandum described an intention to drain French manpower, although historians dispute the document and its relation to his original plan. The French did defend Verdun, but German losses mounted too. Pétain kept supplies moving along the road to the city and rotated divisions through the battle, spreading its burden across much of the French army.
Why it happened — The bargain at Verdun. The attritional interpretation of Verdun depended on France losing men faster than Germany. That exchange was difficult to secure when German troops…
The turn — Verdun holds; German command changes. By July the fighting at Verdun had failed to produce the favorable exchange associated with Falkenhayn's later account. He was dismissed in August.…
What it changed — Losses and resources. The estimated losses are staggering: roughly 300,000 dead at Verdun, another 300,000 on the Somme, and perhaps a million Austro-Hungarian and…
