Terror on the Western Front: Death, Destruction and Dismemberment Verdun and the Somme Terror on the Western Front: Death, Destruction and Dismemberment

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Artillery at Verdun

Death in the trenches at Verdun

The Battle of the Somme Remembered primarily for the unparalleled loss of life 58, 000 British troops killed on the first day alone, July 1, 1916 Primary scope of the battle was to drain the German forces of reserves, and also to gain territory Attack actually began on June 24 with an eight day bombardment of German lines

The Somme – North Eastern France

View from Elevated trenches

British Trenches – “Over the Top”

Britain is Key Germany believed that Britain formed the foundation of the Allied effort, and must be removed Began implementing a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare against British shipping in an attempt to starve Britain out Problem: This ran the risk of bringing the U.S. into the war

Significance of Place Verdun, itself, held specific meaning to the French It was the last fortress to fall during the Franco- Prussian war, and it had been improved since Hence, it was of great symbolic significance and maintained a psychological hold on the minds of the French people Germany knew this… and counted on it!

German Strategy Subject Verdun to intense bombardment to draw in and divert French troops from all over the Western Front “bleed France white” until it can stand no longer Formidable opposition: 1 million Germans vs. 200, 000 defenders Battle begins: 07:15 on February 21st

The Beginning 1,400 guns packed along the eight mile front, served by nearby railway facilities 100, 000 shells poured into Verdun every hour Intention? Kill as many French defenders as you can before an infantry advance By the end of the first day, German forces had only captured front line trenches

Result After Day 1 French Lieutenant Colonel, Emile Driant had been killed and his battalion had been reduced from 600 to 180 men Germany lost some momentum, after infantry is withdrawn to allow further artillery bombardment The French situation was pretty bad

French Sentiment Upon losing Douaumont, the French sentiment was one of unwavering resolve: > Popular sentiment demanded its recapture, making a withdrawal from Verdun impossible The French commanding officer, Joffre, issued a warning stating that anyone leaving would be court- martialed

French Soldier killed at Verdun Controversial: Staged or true?

Change of Course For the remainder of the next few months, German attacks were met with counter attacks, with casualties mounting on both sides By the time the battle ended almost 1 million casualties were tallied in roughly equal numbers for both side

Continued French Losses French forts could only hold out for so long, reserves of water were gone, and the forts themselves begin to crumble New chemical warfare: Germany, at this point, began unveiling phosgene gas, which was acted by forming hydrochloric acid once in the lungs

*A Fundamental Shift In an attempt to drain German manpower from Verdun, a major offensive was staged elsewhere at the Battle of the Somme Originally planned to begin August 1, it was moved to July 1 to help divert German resources elsewhere Fortune comes: a sudden drain in German resources to the Eastern Front provides a sense of vindication

Final Results of Verdun By the time it ends casualties were listed at 550, 000 French losses and 434, 000 German losses The only impact? Wounding of both armies!

The hope? The expectation of this was that German defenses would be destroyed, enabling British troops to walk across no man’s land 1,500 British guns were employed 750, 000 men went into the attack One problem: many of the advance artillery munitions were ‘duds’ –poorly made and ineffective

No Surprise! The attack was of no surprise to the Germans, in fact the eight day bombardment served merely to alert Germans of an imminent attack. HOW CAN THE ALLIES EFFECTIVELY COORDINATE AN ATTACK? The majority of soldiers who went over the top were killed instantly, or forced back into their trenches by machine gun fire By the end, poor weather had brought a halt to the Somme on November 18

Final Results British and French had gained 12 kilometers of ground British casualties were estimated at 420, 000 French casualties were 200, 000 German casualties were around 500, 000 Critics argue that an inflexible approach was a main issue, or that the British were compelled into battle to relieve the French at Verdun

Homework Read Handout and answer this question in one page: “How do we assess responsibility for such an immense, unnecessary, loss of life?”

The Roots of Verdun On Christmas day 1915, a letter is sent to Kaiser Wilhelm II The letter outlines that the key to winning the war was not to be found on the Eastern Front, but on the Western Front Rationalization: If France could be defeated, Britain would also seek terms, or be defeated as well