![]() This made it a threat to German supplies should they advance any further. Verdun was a fortified town in a salient. Verdun was selected as the site of the German assault. Do that and Britain has no way of fighting a European war. This made attacking the French of strategic importance. He also believed that the Italian front posed little trouble for the Central Powers. Russia were likely to concede defeat and deprive the Western Allies of any benefit they gained from the Central Powers being engaged on several fronts. The Eastern Front, in his estimation, was virtually won. General Falkenhayn believed that the best way of beating the British was to defeat her allies. ![]() They also knew that it was impossible to assault the British Isles and that the sectors occupied by British troops, on the Somme and around Ypres, were not suited to an assault. The German assessment of the situation was that Britain posed the real threat. Both sides had become entrenched and huge numbers of men had been engaged and lost in battles in Flanders and Northern France. Why did the Germans attack at Verdun in February 1916?Īs the winter of 1915/16 drew in it had become clear that the war on the Western Front was very different to ones encountered before. By the end of the battle the French had suffered 400,000 casualties and the Germans 350,000 of which 300,000 were dead. In a battle intended to be attritional both sides suffered huge losses. The Battle commenced with a German offensive against the historically significant fortress town of Verdun. Lasting from February 21st 1916 to December 18th 1916, the Battle of Verdun was the longest land battle of the First World War.
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