#Battle of verdun significance series#

On May 1, after the change of the French 2nd Army commander from Henri Philippe Petain to Robert Nivell, the French troops attempted to take Fort Duamon on May 22, but were repulsed. After intense fighting, the German troops managed to advance by May only six to seven km. The French organized the so-called “sacred road” through which their troops were supplied. In March, on the Eastern Front, Russian troops carried out operations which helped the situation of the French troops. The German offensive was halted by French superiority in manpower. For the period from February 27 to March 6, about 190,000 soldiers and 25,000 tons of military cargo were delivered by motor vehicles to Verdun. On the only highway linking Verdun with the rear, troops were transferred from other sectors of the front. However, the French command took measures to eliminate the threat of encirclement of the Verdun fortified region. Almost without resistance, the Germans managed to take the important fort of Duamont. In the following days, the offensive was conducted along the same lines: during the day the artillery destroyed the next position, and by evening the infantry occupied it.īy February 25, the French had lost almost all their fortifications.

During the first day of the offensive, German troops advanced two km and occupied the front position of the French. In front of the first chain were scouts and assault groups, consisting of two or three infantry divisions reinforced with grenade launchers, machine guns and flamethrowers. Each battalion created three chains advancing at a distance of 80-100 m. The battalions in the regiments advanced on sections of 400-500 men and were echeloned in depth. The divisions had two regiments in the first line and one regiment in the second. The formations were built in one echelon. The German infantry led the offensive in dense battle formations. After a massive 8-hour artillery barrage, the German troops launched an offensive on the right bank of the Meuse River, but were met with stubborn resistance. The Verdun operation began on 21 February. Both sides sought to dominate the airspace. The sky was cleared of French aviation allowing the unimpeded efforts of German fire and bomber spotters, but by May, France had deployed a squadron of fighters of the “Newport” Company. To maintain a continuous offensive, additional reserves were introduced. On a small section of the front, a length of 15 km, Germany concentrated 6.5 divisions against two French divisions. The encirclement and defeat of eight French divisions in the Verdun ridge meant the breach of the French defenses on a broad sector of the front, followed by the possibility of striking the flank and rear of the Allied forces defending Paris. Germany did not have the strength to attack on a broad front, so the goal of the offensive was a powerful blow to a narrow sector – in the area of the Verdun fortified area, which stood out in the form of a small ledge on the French-German front.

#Battle of verdun significance series#

Thus, the war turned into trench warfare, in which neither side achieved any breakthroughs.Īfter a series of bloody battles on both fronts in 1914-1915. The Germans failed to win quickly, right at the beginning of the war, as outlined by the Schlüffen Plan. During the battle, French troops were able to repel a large-scale German offensive near Verdun. One of the largest and one of the most bloody military operations in the First World War and history in general, it went down in history as the Verdun meat grinder, a textbook example of a war of attrition. The battle of Verdun is the largest and longest battle between German and French troops during the First World War on the Western Front, from February 21 to December 18, 1916.