The battle of Verdun was the longest battle of World War I, it began on February 1916 and ended roughly on December 18, 1916. The war was on the Western Front right between the French and German armies which was on the hills of the Verdun-sur-Meuse around the Northeast side of France. The Germans initiated the fighting when the German Fifth Army bombarded the French second army around the Meuse river bank and the Fort of Verdun, The battle of Verdun was one of the most bloody wars of World War I. The French and German forces combined for around 750,000 people, on the german side, general Erich von Falkenhayn led his army against the French and Philippe Petain in the first world war. Overall, the Battle of Verdun is one of the longest and most interesting wars in World War I and will go down in the history books as one of the greatest battles ever.
Erich von Falkenhayn was born on November 11, 1861 around West Prussia, Germany. He earned his experience in the military by being an instructor in the Chinese army with the Prussian staff around 1900. From around 1913 until 1915 von Falkenhayn was a Prussian war minister in which he was responsible for the equipment and guns of the german army. He led the German fifth army attack on the Fort of Verdun to start the Battle of Verdun. Von Falkenhayn wanted to “bleed France white” (Historylearningsite.co.uk). To do that he launched a very large German attack on a very small piece of land that was very valuable for the French. The area that von Falkenhayn was trying to hit contained twenty major forts and forty minor forts, during the early twentieth century those forts protected the eastern border of France. Falkenhayn was talking to his ally Kaiser William II and he said “The string in France has reached breaking point. A mass break-through – which in any case is beyond our means – is unnecessary. Within our reach there are objectives for the retention of which the French General Staff would be compelled to throw in every man they have. If they do so the forces of France will bleed to death” (Historylearningsite.co.uk). Following that statement 140,000 soldiers from Germany started an attack on the French, the Germans were so loaded that they needed around 1,300 ammunition trains to supply all the guns they had used.
The French needed to respond to the war efforts that the Germans had put in, therefore they chose general Philippe Petain in charge to defend the French and Fort Verdun. Unfortunately for the French they still suffered badly, even though the French had tried a few tricks. Two French soldiers after the failed efforts said “You eat beside the dead; you drink beside the dead, you relieve yourself beside the dead and you sleep beside the dead. People will read that the front line was Hell. How can people begin to know what that one word – Hell – means” (Historylearningsite.co.uk). Even though the French struggled the Germans did as well, they suffered a loss of 120,000 men by the end of April. While the French were struggling Petain asked for more men to fight for him in the war but he was declined and replaced by General Nivelle who was a soldier that thought during the war the defensive was irrelevant and the only thing that mattered was the offensive. During the war due to a government issue French soldiers were making sixty times less than a factory worker in France, overall this didn’t help France and people were very discontent about the issue. Right around then, German put an attack on Verdun and at first the attack went really well for the Germans, but after they put everything they had into it, all went down hill. The Germans couldn’t give any more and on June 24, 1916 the French dominated the Germans and the French military really took over the Germans. The French then re-captured two forts that they had lost by the end of October, but the war went on until December of 1916. The French took 11,000 German soldiers to prison during the last few days of the war. The prisoners caused the Germans to stop the attacks and give French the victory in the war of Verdun. Overall, the Battle of Verdun was the longest battle in World War I and one of the most memorable in history.