By: Shaun Oliver
About The War
• The battle began on
February 21, 1916.
• It was fought on the
Western Front in France.
• The battle was between
France and Germany
(Phillips and Axelrod).
Forts Surrounding Verdun
• When Germany attacked France, “it ran up against a ring
of 18 large forts and 23 smaller strong points the French
called ouvrages.”
• During the 10 months in which the battle took place, two
of the major forts, Douaumont and Vaux, fell.
• Douaumont was the strongest and largest fort – taken
without a shot being fired “virtually single-handedly by a
German sergeant.”
• When Vaux, the smallest fort in Verdun, was taken, the
Germans lost 3,000 lives in 7 days (Zabecki).
Facts About Verdun
• Verdun “occupied a strategic blocking position in the Meuse
River valley.”
• Germany attacked France because they knew “it was still of great
symbolic significance to France.”
• Since there was a stalemate on the Western front, “the French
would not willingly allow a German breakthrough at the ancient
fortress.”
• The German commander believed that by strongly and forcibly
attacking this one point in France, the French would have no
choice but to continue sending reinforcements. This would be
their only option because if Germany took Verdun, they would
have made a breakthrough and would then have an open
pathway to Paris (Phillips and Axelrod).
Leaders During The Battle
• The German leaders were General Erich von
Falkenhayn and Crown Prince Frederick
William (Roberts).
• Commander in chief of the French
was Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre
(Phillips and Axelrod).
• He replaced General Langle de Cary
(who was in command of the Verdun
defenses) with Henri Philippe Pétain
(Phillips and Axelrod).
Leaders Continued
• Pétain was
replaced at
Verdun by
Robert Nivelle.
• Falkenhayn was eventually
replaced by Erich
Ludendorff and Paul von
Hindenburg.
• Shortly after this, Charles Mangin was
brought in as the new commander at
Verdun (Phillips and Axelrod).
The First Attack
• With the Fifth Army, the German Crown
Prince was supposed to launch the first
attack at Verdun (Phillips and Axelrod).
• The prince wanted the assault to be on
both sides of the Meuse River, “but the
conservative Falkenhayn overruled him
and ordered the attack to be confined to
the east bank of the river” (Phillips and
Axelrod).
• “Their offensive was intended to cause so
many French casualties that the French
public would demand peace” (Battle of
Verdun).
Reinforcements
• Due to bad weather, the operation
was delayed and Joffre was able to
be informed of the upcoming
attack (Phillips and Axelrod).
• This gave him time to call in
reinforcements (Phillips and
Axelrod).
• “The French position was saved
by the arrival of reinforcements
under the command of Gen.
Philippe Pétain” (Battle of
Verdun).
The French Battle Cry
• Fort Douaumont fell to the Germans on
February 25.
• “Joffre responded with a promise to courtmartial any commander who voluntarily
gave up ground.”
• This was when he put Henri Philippe
Pétain in charge of the German defenses.
Pétain “pledged ‘Ils ne passeront pas!’—
‘They shall not pass!’ The phrase instantly
became the battle cry of Verdun and,
indeed, the French motto for the rest of the
war” (Phillips and Axelrod).
Henri Philippe Pétain
• “Pétain was certainly willing to
spend lives in the defense of
Verdun, but he was also skilled at
exacting tremendous casualties from
the Germans as well.”
• He “used artillery to bombard the
German columns as they threaded
forward through the steep, narrow
valleys east of the Meuse.”
• “Pétain also understood the crucial
importance of keeping Verdun
supplied with ammunition,
provisions, and reinforcements”
(Phillips and Axelrod).
The Sacred Way
• General Pétain designated a road
named Bar-le-Duc that would be
used to bring supplies to the French
army at Verdun.
• The road ran 50 miles westward.
• A whole division “was assigned to
repair the road continually, filling in
shell craters as soon as they were
made.”
• Eventually the road was entitled
Voie sacrée, which meant The
Sacred Way (Phillips and Axelrod).
The New Focus of the Fighting
• The Germans made another assault on March 6, and although
it was very intense and deadly, it was repelled by the French.
• “Over the course of the month Falkenhayn sent wave after wave
against the reinforced French.”
• Then, he hesitantly committed “an entire reserve corps for an
attack up the left bank of the river toward a small ridge.”
• This ridge was called Le Morte-homme, which means The
Dead Man.
• “This would be the focus of the back-and-forth fighting for the
rest of the campaign through April and May, when at last
German energy and resources flagged” (Phillips and Axelrod).
Is it time to withdraw?
• “In June, the Germans made a concerted effort to
take the heights along the Meuse River, but again
the French were able to prevent the Germans
from obtaining any strategic advantage over
Verdun” (Battle of Verdun).
• Also, the Germans took Fort Vaux, which
“reinvigorated them sufficiently to renew their
efforts.”
• “In late June and early July, the Germans
unleashed their newest form of poison gas,
phosgene, which worked by turning into
hydrochloric acid in the lungs.”
• Pétain “recommended withdrawal from Verdun”,
but Joffre refused (Phillips and Axelrod).
The German Offensive Ends
• “A Russian offensive in the East
put a sudden demand on
German forces, and 15 German
divisions had to be withdrawn
for duty on the eastern front”
(Phillips and Axelrod).
• “The German offensive ended
in July, when the German high
command was forced to
concede that their plan was a
failure” (Battle of Verdun).
• This event caused Verdun to be
saved (Phillips and Axelrod).
The Forts are Retaken
• On August 29, 1916, “Erich von Falkenhayn was
relieved of command” and this is when he was replaced
by Erich Ludendorff and Paul von Hindenburg.
• Also, this is when Charles Mangin was brought in as the
new commander at Verdun for the French.
• “During the closing months of 1916, Mangin took his
army on the offensive.”
• He retook Fort Douaumont of October 25.
• Fort Vaux was retaken on November 2
(Phillips and Axelrod).
The Battle of Verdun Ends
• Mangin pushed his army forward, “nearly to the position the French
had held at the beginning of the battle” (Phillips and Axelrod).
• “The cost to the French of the Verdun campaign was 542,000 killed
and wounded, whereas German losses for the period totaled 434,000”
(Phillips and Axelrod).
• “Though the French had won, their army had been so weakened that
after this time the burden of the war fell entirely upon the British, until
the Americans became involved” (Salem).
• It was “an immense artillery battle, but also one of great individual
sacrifice on both sides” (Roberts).
• The battle was also “the largest German offensive of the war”
(Roberts).
• The Battle of Verdun was a “terrible waste of war” (Battle of Verdun).
• The fighting finally stopped after 10 months, in mid-December.
Works Cited
"Battle of Verdun." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 19 Dec.
2012.
Phillips, Charles, and Alan Axelrod. "World War I On The Western Front." Encyclopedia
of Wars. New York: n.p., n.d. American History Online. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
<http://http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE52>.
Roberts, William J. France: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present,
European Nations. New York: n.p., 2004. N. pag. American History Online. Web. 19
Dec. 2012. <http://http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE53>.
Salem, Press. "Nearly One Million Die In The Battle Of Verdun." Great Events. 139. US:
Salem Press, 1999. History Reference Center. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.
Zabecki, David T. "Verdun." Military History 26.5 (2010): 56-63. History Reference Center.
Web. 19 Dec. 2012.