The Battle of Verdun is the longest single battle of World War One. The Battle of Verdun started on February 21st, 1916 and lasted nine months, until December 19th, 1916. The Germans originally planned to start attacking on February 12th but bad weather forced them to wait to start the attack. Verdun France is about 80 miles from the border of Germany. The Battle of Verdun took place in the hills of Verdun in the north east of France. The battle was waged in a 10 square kilometer area.
The Battle of Verdun was lead by German Chief of General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn. The reason that he started the Battle of Verdun (or the codename the Germans called the battle “Judgment”) was because he thought that key to winning the war was not to confront the Russians in the east but to defeat the French in a major battle on the western front. The reason why the Germans decided to attack Verdun was because Verdun was a main hub for many major fortresses for the French and it would have been a key area to have control over.
Erich Von Falkenhayn
The Battle of Verdun had the forth most casualties out of all of the battles of World War One with over 700,000 thousand casualties. 700,000 was the original number of casualties thought to have died in the Battle of Verdun, but a new study suggests that the number of casualties is well over 950,000. These numbers are partially due to the use of new weapons. The big one being used for the first time was the flamethrower.
French losses: 337,231 of which 162,308 dead or missing
German losses: 337,000 of which 100,000 dead or missing
Total: 714,231 of which 262,308 dead or missing
Battle of Verdun begins, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-verdun-begins
The Battle of Verdun by C N Trueman, April 27th, 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/battles-of-world-war-one/the-battle-of-verdun/
The Battle of Verdun 1916- the greatest battle ever, http://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/battleverdun/index.htm#start
The Battle of Verdun was lead by German Chief of General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn. The reason that he started the Battle of Verdun (or the codename the Germans called the battle “Judgment”) was because he thought that key to winning the war was not to confront the Russians in the east but to defeat the French in a major battle on the western front. The reason why the Germans decided to attack Verdun was because Verdun was a main hub for many major fortresses for the French and it would have been a key area to have control over.
Erich Von Falkenhayn
The Battle of Verdun had the forth most casualties out of all of the battles of World War One with over 700,000 thousand casualties. 700,000 was the original number of casualties thought to have died in the Battle of Verdun, but a new study suggests that the number of casualties is well over 950,000. These numbers are partially due to the use of new weapons. The big one being used for the first time was the flamethrower.
French losses: 337,231 of which 162,308 dead or missing
German losses: 337,000 of which 100,000 dead or missing
Total: 714,231 of which 262,308 dead or missing
Battle of Verdun begins, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-verdun-begins
The Battle of Verdun by C N Trueman, April 27th, 2015, http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/battles-of-world-war-one/the-battle-of-verdun/
The Battle of Verdun 1916- the greatest battle ever, http://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/battleverdun/index.htm#start