WEEK 10
Attritional Warfare: 1916-17
The Strategy of Attrition in the Great War
- What is an attritional strategy?
o Came to dominate thinking about how WWI was to be fought
o Means that you set out to win the war by exhausting the enemy before your own
side collapses from exhaustion
 Doesn’t require an operational breakthrough or master strike on the
battlefield; it is a measure of endurance
o Measured through casualties in a conflict and physical damage inflicted on the
enemy
- Why was attrition the last resort on the Western Front in 1916 and 1917?
o This was not the strategy that either side wanted to pursue at the beginning; they
wanted to avoid it
o It doesn’t appear that there’s any other way to settle the war on the Western Front
aside from peace negotiations, which isn’t really an option at this point
o The war on the Western Front became a test of endurance at this time
German Strategy for 1916
- Falkenhayn as Chief of the General Staff
o September 1914 – August 1916
 i.e. immediately after Moltke’s mental breakdown
- Western Front strategy
o Falkenhayn didn’t believe that Germany would secure complete victory until the
war was won in the West
 Believed that the Western Allies were stronger militarily and
economically
o Saw the key to winning on the western front as a test of endurance (i.e. attrition)
- Goal of the Verdun offensive in early 1916
o Engage the French Army in an attritional battle that would do enough damage to
French manpower, rendering them incapable of continuing in the war
o Objective was to launch a surprise offensive on the Verdun sector which would
succeed in Verdun’s capture almost instantly
 Falkenhayn claimed that if Verdun could be captured quickly, he could
inflict a lot of damage on French forces that would be drawn into counterattacks
-
The entire area inside the French salient has a multitude of comparatively modern forts
capable of withstanding heavy German artillery fire.
o This is a battle that doesn’t favor the Germans in attritional terms as once the
element of surprise had worn off, the French had the advantage.
o The Germans and the French lose roughly the same amount of soldiers but the
French have the advantage because of their allies.
Logistics at Verdun
- The Sacred Way
o Only one road leads to the Verdun salient
o The battle of Verdun was the first major operation sustained entirely by
automobiles
 The French took every vehicle they could get their hands on (~3,000) and
ran supplies constantly into Verdun and transporting French casualties out
of the area.
- ‘Noria’ system
o Because the fighting in the Verdun sector was so fierce, troops were rotated
frequently every few weeks in and out of Verdun so that the French soldiers could
have a chance to recuperate in a quitter area of the western front.
Allied Strategy for 1916
- Chantilly Conference, December 1915
o The high commands of the Allies came together to come up with a unified
approach for the fighting in 1916
o At this point there was no such structure that combined all of the Allied war
efforts
o It was agreed that eh Russians would pursue a series of offensive on the eastern
front against Austro-Hungarian forces in the southern part of that front
 The Russians destroyed about 50% of Austro-Hungarian military power in
1916, but weren’t as successful against German sectors in the area
o The British and French planned to engage in a coordinated attack at the Somme
River
- What was the original objective for the Somme?
o Joffre understood this would be an attritional battle and initially the French were
going to invest the majority of the troops
o Haig thought that a meaningful strategic breakthrough could be achieved in the
Somme attack which could win the war by destabilizing the German front and
launch more offensives behind their lines, forcing the Germans to retreat.
- Impact of Verdun offensive on Allied plans?
o By the time the Somme was underway, there were more British forces involved
than French as the French were forced to send more divisions to help in the
Verdun sector
o 14 British Divisions
o 9 French Divisions
Aftermath of the Somme
- The Somme campaign is a good example of attritional warfare
- 12 km total advance
- 420,000 British casualties
- 200,000 French casualties
- 500,000 German casualties
-
-
o Haig believed that WWI was won after Germany’s defeat in this battle the best
soldiers that Germany had at this point were lost in this campaign and could not
be replaced
‘muddy grave’ of the German field army?
Popular memory and Haig’s command
o Collective memory of the campaign seemed to be positive and one that was
favorable toward Allied leadership, especially Haig
 After he died in 1928, his reputation changed with the narrative: political
leaders after the war wrote about their war experience and wrote about
Haig in a bad light and with criticism
o Although there was no major breakthrough, the Germans were worn down
It took 5 months to advance only 10 miles.
Robert Nivelle’s Spring Offensive, 1917
- Nivelle took over Joffre’s job because politicians didn’t like Joffre’s view that the way to
win the war was by attrition
- Nivelle proposed that the Brits and French would attack in a north and south direction
respectively in a pincer movement with a French push through the middle that would
capture St. Quentin
o This would never work because by the time the battles of Arras and the second of
Aisne, the frontlines had changed
- German retreat to the Hindenburg Line (14 March – 5 April)
o Operation Alberich
 German retreat of forces back from Péronne to St. Quentin a.k.a the
Siegfried Line
 Because they caught wind of Nivelle’s plan and withdrew their
forces before they could be surrounded.
 This in effect shortened the German frontline allowing them to defend a
smaller area.
- Battle of Arras (9 April)
o Costs the Allies more troops per mile than the Somme
o BEF component
o Initial strong advances on British front at Arras (e.g. Vimy Ridge)
o Limited advances beyond mid-April
o Catastrophic casualty rates: Canadian Corps lost nearly 11,000 men in about 4
days
- Second Battle of the Aisne (16 April)
o PM Borden enacts compulsory military service as the amount of Canadian
casualties begins to outnumber the amount of Canadian volunteers.
o Costs the Allies more troops per mile than the Somme
o French component
o 134,000 casualties by 9 May
o Advanced less than 4 miles after 30 days
o Mutiny

-
French soldiers break out into mutiny, refusing to attack until certain
accommodations are made by the French high command: better food,
more time away from the frontlines, etc.
Neville was shortly replaced by Phillippe Petin
Normandy to the Rhine: 1944-45
The Battle of Normandy, June-August 1944
- It was frustrating for the Allies trying to break out of the Normandy peninsula
o The Nazis had the advantage on the ground
o The only reason they were able to break out was because of Allied air power, but
this is only part of the equation
- What was accomplished?
- Allied capabilities on the ground
- Victory through brute force or operational and tactical skill?
- Could the war end in 1944?
o The Germans lost somewhere around 250,000 men, roughly the same as in the
Battle of Stalingrad
 This left the German front almost completely open, which lead to the
Allies discussing the possibility that the war could end before Christmas
The Pursuit to the Seine, August – September 1944
Upon the collapse of German forces in Normandy, they were unable to establish a defensive line
on the Seine river in September 1944 – so what’s next?
- The Germans were hoping to get across the Seine and get as far away from Normandy as
possible while they still could.
Allied Strategy after Normandy?
- Narrow Front?
o Montgomery’s preference
o The top group is under control of Montgomery
 Montgomery wants Eisenhower to give him much of the available supplies
still being delivered to Normandy, and let 21 Army Group undertake a
deep invasion through France and Belgium and directly through the Rhine
o This is not a popular approach among American commanders
o This was still an appealing option as there was a possibility that the war would
end quicker with this approach and save more lives in the end.
-
Broad Front?
o Eisenhower’s preference
o All army groups would proceed in tandem and not directly head for Berlin
 Eisenhower doesn’t want to lose more Allied lives going to Berlin as it
was already agreed that Berlin would come into the Soviets’ control after
the war
o This is popular among the American armies as everyone’s getting an equal piece
of the action
o
Summary of Key Operations in Northwest Europe, 1944-45
- Operation Market-Garden
o September 1944
- Antwerp and the Scheldt
o October-November 1944
- Hürtgen Forest
o September 1944-January 1945
Victory in 1944? Operation Market-Garden
- Was victory possible in 1944?
- A risky attempt to a narrow front approach
o Success of this operation depends heavily on surprise
o US and British airborne bridgeheads
o XXX Corps to follow on the ground
o This operation was ultimately a failure as the Allies were unable to secure a Rhine
crossing into Germany
o “A Bridge Too Far” is a film about Operation Market-Garden