Deleted member 1487
In late June, the 22nd-25th, the Germans got close to breaking through the French line and finally obtaining the heights overlooking Verdun and with that the defensive line they had been pushing for since February. A combination of factors, including weather, got in the way and prevented the breeches in the French line from being exploited in time, but what if this last major push before the Battle of the Somme started got the Germans through the French line and they took the Fleury-Fort Souville-Fort Tavannes line?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun#Third_phase.2C_16_April_.E2.80.93_1_July
Would the French then launch the suicidal counter offensives that would bleed them white as Falkenhayn had originally planned? I'm reading through Alistair Horne's "The Price of Glory" about the battle and he seems to think so and that late June was the last chance for a German victory. By this point the French were locked into Verdun as a symbol of the nation and its loss would have not only toppled the government, but according to Horne perhaps percipitated a worse mutiny than in 1917 and crushed civilian morale.
There is too the issue of the Somme. Its likely then the French couldn't participate in the Somme due to the needs of the Verdun front, which frees up the Germans on the Somme somewhat, but still locks them into fighting off the French counteroffensives at Verdun.
Might this final necessary victory give Falkenhayn the reprieve he was looking for and prevent his fall?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun#Third_phase.2C_16_April_.E2.80.93_1_July
Fort Souville dominated a crest 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south-east of Fleury and was one of the original objectives of the February offensive. The capture of the fort would give the Germans control of the heights overlooking Verdun and allow the infantry to dig in on commanding ground.[61]
Would the French then launch the suicidal counter offensives that would bleed them white as Falkenhayn had originally planned? I'm reading through Alistair Horne's "The Price of Glory" about the battle and he seems to think so and that late June was the last chance for a German victory. By this point the French were locked into Verdun as a symbol of the nation and its loss would have not only toppled the government, but according to Horne perhaps percipitated a worse mutiny than in 1917 and crushed civilian morale.
There is too the issue of the Somme. Its likely then the French couldn't participate in the Somme due to the needs of the Verdun front, which frees up the Germans on the Somme somewhat, but still locks them into fighting off the French counteroffensives at Verdun.
Might this final necessary victory give Falkenhayn the reprieve he was looking for and prevent his fall?