Verdun. Alongside the Somme, the name of the fortress town in eastern France is synonymous with the worst horrors of World War One. The endless rows of white crosses that now cover the area are testament to the war’s longest and hardest-fought battle which lasted 10 months, from 21 February – 18 December 1916.
Just why was it so important that the French were successful in the Battle of Verdun, and what strategic implications did this have for the rest of the war?
Why Verdun?
Significance to Germany:
Germany aimed to crush the French army before the Allies grew in strength with the full deployment of British forces. Without France’s 96 divisions, the Allies would be unable to continue fighting in the west.
Erich von Falkenhayn, the chief of the German General Staff, believed the key to German forces making a breakthrough on the Western Front was to launch a concentrated offensive against the French.
