![]() ![]() ![]() By December, France had won back nearly all the territory it had lost in February. Maps of the Western Front in the Great War depicting British and German trenches. It would be another four months before the conflict ceased. British First World War Trench Maps, 1915-1918. Falkenhayn's successors, Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, upheld the decision to suspend attacks at Verdun, but Germany defended its new positions there. We took great inspiration from visiting the actual battle sites to observe. Falkenhayn eventually halted the offensive in July.īut in August, with Germany and Austria-Hungary facing synchronised Allied summer offensives, Falkenhayn tendered his resignation. The environments in Verdun are based on real world battlefields or trench maps. Some commanders, such as the Kaiser's son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, wanted attacks to cease, while others encouraged Falkenhayn to reapply pressure. Without a clear strategy, there was confusion about how to conduct the offensive.Īs the conflict wore on, division within the top ranks of the German army became apparent. Maps of German combat actions in France, including Verdun annotated in. General Falkenhayn was notoriously secretive and shared very little with his staff about his strategy or aims for the battle.Īs a result, German commanders had different objectives, ranging from capturing the town of Verdun to destroying the French army. line of advance was plotted on a map, and artillery. Germany accumulated huge losses and gained little territory, leading it to throw more and more men into the conflict: Verdun soon became a battle of prestige for the Germans, as well as the French. He used many more divisions than planned. The two campaigns together should have brought France and Britain to terms.īut Falkenhayn's plan for an attack that would economise on German resources failed to work out as he had expected. In 1916, the Germans launched a vast offensive on. Falkenhayn hoped to combine the Verdun offensive with a U-Boat offensive against British shipping. Discover the history of the battle of Verdun on the very spot where it took place. The fact that Verdun formed a French salient into German lines only served to help Falkenhayn, since it meant that it was open to attack from three sides at. He planned to use a relatively small number of men to capture the high ground to the north of Verdun and then to inflict enormous casualties on the French using his superior German artillery to halt their counter-attacks. Britain was Germany’s most formidable military foe, but remained out of reach across the Channel. Britain via Verdunįalkenhayn was convinced by 1916 that the war could only be won on the Western Front. He hoped that France would “throw in every man they have” to defend it, draining its army of resources. General Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the General Staff and Germany’s principal strategist, targeted the French town of Verdun because of its position on the Allied line and its sentimental value to the French people. ![]()
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