The horror of the battle was magnified by the extensive use of poisonous gasses, flamethrowers and, obviously, extensive and devastating use of artillery that basically created a "moon" landscape on Earth!Īt the end nobody really "won" as we are used to think of a normal battle: the Germans were repelled and went back to their starting trenches but the "victorious" French paid a terrible price, that greatly damaged their army, to defend a place that was, basically, strategically useless. The French, under Petain, were forced to defend every inch of ground suffering terrible casualties. As part of its strategy of war by attrition, Germany selected the fortress of Verdun as the site it believed France would defend to the last man.
The initial idea of the German commander in chief Falkenhayn was to nail down the French in a position they were forced to defend at any cost (for reasons of historical and of national pride, the fortress of Verdun) and in doing so get bled to death loosing as many soldiers as possible (battle of attrition), annihilate their army and possibly be forced to sue for peace. 21July 1916) Major engagement of World War I between Germany and France. Although there was a large amount of casualties, the objective of the battle was not achieved as the war continued on for almost two years afterwards.In total Germans and French lost during the battle about #500,000# men (or more) and while for the French was a "glorious" victory (they were able to defend and retain a place of historical importance but strategically irrelevant) for the Germans was the first serious defeat of their mighty and proud army.Īlso, for both the contenders was a battle that decimated their armies without giving a decisive victory for the outcome of the war. Each one covers a particular battle/campaign from the First World War: Mons, Tannenberg, Gallipoli, Loos, Verdun, Somme, 3rd Ypres, Cambrai, Kaiserschlacht. The Battle of the Somme was the most significant battle in all of World War 1.
The Battle of the Somme is the worst battle recorded in history in terms of the number of casualties, especially considering there were 60,000 deaths in one day. The French lost 200,000 men and the Germans nearly 500,000. The Battle of the Somme is the worst battle recorded in history in terms of the number of casualties, especially considering there were 60,000 deaths in one day. In total Germans and French lost during the battle about 500,000 men (or more) and while for the French was a glorious victory (they were able to defend and retain a place of historical importance but strategically irrelevant) for the Germans was the first serious defeat of their mighty and proud army. By the end of the battle, the British Army had suffered 420,000 causalities including 60,000 on the first day alone. By the end of the battle, the British Army had suffered 420,000 causalities including 60,000 on the first day alone. The British commanders have received a lot of criticism for the way the battle was fought. The British were mowed down from machine gun fire and more than 20,000 soldiers lost their lives. These objectives were not achieved, mainly for the fact that the British army made a slow, massive advance onto the German lines, however this was no match for the new weapons of the war. The aim of this was to cut the Germans off from behind and make them so demoralized that they would have to surrender. French forces defending against the long-running German assault further south, at Verdun. After this, a wave of 1.2 million soldiers would advance in wave formations along a 40km front. The Battle of the Somme, also known as the Somme Offensive. In 2000, Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann calculated that the French.
The assault would begin with an intense artillery bombardment of German defenses. The battle lasted for 302 days, the longest and one of the most costly in human history. The main battle objectives, which were to launch a major attack on German lines in the Somme River valley.
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