Battle of Verdun and Somme
The Rise and Fall of the Western Front
The Western Front on the border with France and Germany was established with the innovation of trench warfare in an effort to keep the Germans from invading Paris. Trench warfare was born on this Western Front. Conditions were meager, telephone lines to communicate to the front lines were often cut by artillery, so communications were often difficult to relay to the commanders. The Western Front comprised of German, French, and British forces battling in 1916. The Battles of Verdun and Somme began on this Western Front on July 1, 1916. These two battles came to be some of the bloodies battles for the Allies and the German forces.
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After the bloody battles of 1915, Germany planned an offensive on the city of Verdun which lied aside the Meuse River. Verdun, a historical city where the Treaty of Charlemagne was signed and divided the Charlemagne empire into France and Germany. In December 1915, General Falkenhayn persuaded the German government to approve his plan for the Battle of Verdun. On February 12, 1916, the start of the Battle of Verdun was delayed by a blizzard which delayed the commencement of this battle until February 21st. At dawn, the commencement of artillery bombardment had begun and destroyed the poorly constructed French trenches. The battle started with small German patrols pushing forward into France, but they were soon met with French resistance that halted their advancement. Another first in battle during this conflict was the use of flame throwers by the Germans. The French, in panic, used this to their advantage by shooting the fuel tanks on the German troops, creating human torches and causing the Germans many casualties. The reinforcements at this battle formed the new Second Army for the French. The battle field was that of muddy trenches and horrible conditions for the French. After ten months of battling, the high casualties in the Battle of Verdun were very alarming. The French allied forces suffered 377,000 casualties, 162,000 of them killed and the rest were captured. German casualties were 337,000 in which 100,000 were killed or missing. This was one of the most bloodies battles fought in World War I.
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On February 14, 1916, General Joffre and British General Haig devised a plan to increase their artillery on the border between France and Germany to prevent the Germans from entering France and increasing their superiority. The allies agreed that this joint offensive would take formation on the Somme River. Not the ideal location for a battle considering the German barbed wire and their control of the high ground in this location. The Allies had an advantage with 18 divisions of forces whereas the Germans only had six divisions to fight in this battle. Although, of the 14 British divisions to participate in this battle, many of them were inadequately trained volunteers. The initial assault was to be an artillery bombardment that would last several days. After the initial bombardment, the troops would leave their trenches and advance on the German army. The Allied offensive commenced on June 29, 1916 in which the British would supply over 1,500 guns on this 18-mile stretch and the French would supply 2,000 guns on their 7-mile stretch with over 900 being heavy artillery. The German barbed wire was holding up to the over a million rounds of ammunition from the British. The French forces were more successful with their attack due to the greater experience of their forces compared to the volunteer forces of the British. Also, the French forces opposite their British counterparts whom advanced towards the Germans, the French advanced in smaller groups attacking the smaller groups of Germans. The terrain offered the French some protection against gunfire. These battles were described as battles of heavy losses on both sides with very little positive gain in the war. With the intense heat and flies, many of the soldiers died because of these conditions. British casualties during this initial assault were approximately 57,000 with 20,000 deaths. This Battle of Somme continued over the next four months in which the death toll increased with very little gains, if any. The British death toll at the end of this battle exceeded 420,000 casualties, the French had 200,000, and the Germans casualties amassed 450,000. The German forces suffered heavy casualties on the West Front and the battle after 4 grueling months ended in a stalemate. Reference:
Lyons, M. J. (2000). World War I: A Short History (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 140-154. |