Descriptions of the Battles of Verdun and Somme

Descriptions of the battles of Verdun and Somme

The Battle of Verdun in 1916 was the longest battle of World War One, which yielded many casualties and was the catalyst for the British starting the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. The objective of the Battle of Somme was to help alleviate the pressure on the British that the Germans had been exerting at the battle Verdun. “The attack on Verdun (the Germans code-named it 'Judgment') came about because of a plan by the German Chief of General Staff, von Falkenhayn (Verdun).” The objective of the Germans during the battle of Verdun was to exhaust all the French resources by forcing them to protect the 20 major forts in the area that served as a source of national pride. By attacking the area and attempting to exhaust the French resources the Germans plan was to bring national shame to the French.
The Germans did not plan on the British supporting the French in the battle of Somme, which began with bombarding and led the Germans to focus resources from Verdun to Somme. “For many people, the Battle of the Somme was the battle that symbolized the horrors of warfare in World War One; this one battle had a marked effect on overall casualty figures and seemed to epitomize the futility of trench warfare (Somme).”
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The Battle Field and Nature of Fighting
The battle of Verdun was a bloody battle that saw the Germans locate its air force and ground troops in the region. “The German attack and the subsequent battle were to last over 300 days. Flame throwers were used in large numbers for the first time to help the Germans advance the eight miles they needed to if they were to capture Verdun (Verdun).” The Germans had set up a six mile long row of machine guns, which cut French troops in half. "Men were squashed. Cut in two or divided from top to bottom. Blown into showers; bellies turned inside out; skulls forced into the chest as if by a blow from a club (Verdun).” The road to Verdun was a small and twenty-foot narrow road in which vehicles could barely pass one another. "You eat beside the dead; you drink beside the dead, you relieve yourself beside the dead and you sleep beside the dead (Verdun).” The battle at the Somme started with a weeklong artillery bombardment of the German lines. 1,738,000 shells were fired at the Germans. The logic behind this was so that the artillery guns would destroy the German trenches and barbed wire placed in front of the trenches (Somme).” Upon the end of the shelling the British advanced on the ground war and the trench fighting began with machine guns, barbwire and hand to hand combat. “By the end of the battle, in November 1916, the British had lost 420,000, the French lost nearly 200,000 men and the Germans 500,000. The Allied forces had advanced along a thirty-mile strip that was seven miles deep at its maximum (Somme)”.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_verdun.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/somme.htm