Meat and Meatgrinders
As the Great War dragged on, German planners became increasingly convinced that it would no longer be possible to break through the French line and force surrender. In 1916, Erich von Falkenhayn, the German Chief of Staff, adopted a newer strategy; inflicting massive casualties in order to "bleed France white". Accomplishing this required him to corner the French in a position from which they could not retreat. He selected the French town of Verdun as the site of this slaughter. Unternehmen Gericht, or Operation Judgement, had begun.
Beginning February 21st, 1916, German troops advanced rapidly, capturing the towns of Haumont and Bois de l'Herbois, leaving thousands of French soldiers dead. On February 25, Fort Douaumont fell into German hands virtually without a fight, a loss that would haunt the French for the duration of the war. Douaumont had been the largest fort in the area defending Verdun. It had been taken by a small group of less than 100 German soldiers, constituting an embarrassing defeat for the French. The Allies would unsuccessfully try to retake the fort throughout the Spring, each attempt more costly than the last.
The staggering casualties that Verdun caused prompted some on both sides to question the wisdom of continuing the battle, however, the French and Germans both continued as a matter of national pride. French General Robert Nivelle famously declared "On ne passe pas!" "They shall not pass!" while Falkenhayn refused to allow the line to budge, even in the face of devastating French artillery barrages. Following a disasterous French counteroffensive in May and the fall of Fort Vaux to Germany in June, the battle stagnated, with both sides digging in and Germany relying heavily on diphosgene gas to maintain their position. By June 1st, there were over half a million casualties.
Meanwhile, the Battle of the Somme, which began on July 1st, forced the Germans to divert valuable troops from Verdun. The British and French would devastate the German 2nd Army at the Somme, allowing the first Anglo-French offensive since 1914. Some resources would be transferred from Verdun, but Falkenhayn believed that victory at Verdun was the key to victory in the war, and continued to commit troops to winning the battle. The French would launch yet another counteroffensive in August, with mixed results. Much of the ground that had been lost was recovered, but Vaux and Douaumont remained under German control. On October 24, a French attempt to retake the fort left three infantry divisions in ruins and failed once again to achieve its goals. Douaumont would become a symbol of the perceived incompetence of the French leaders and the military failures caused by them. As total casulties of the Battle eclipsed one million, the French resigned themselves to the fact that the Battle could not be won before the Winter. However, this demoralizing news would be followed quickly by reports of a decisive victory at the Somme, and an Anglo-French advance to the East.
The Battle of Verdun would go down as the then-costliest battle in human history, leaving a total of over a million French, British, and German troops dead. Lasting nearly a year, it concluded with a German Pyrrhic victory, with both sides sent reeling from the staggering losses. Bodies littered the crater-pocked fields, left to decompose where they had fallen. Many of them had choked to death on diphosgene gas, whose faint, corn-like odor hung like a specter over the battlefield. Nearly 12 months of fighting had left the area a desolate wasteland, void of life. The extensive use of chemical weapons, continuous shelling of enemy positions, and repeated failed attacks and counterattacks were largely responsible for the colossal death toll. Despite their victory, the German position on the Western Front remained perilous until the February Revolution struck Russia in early 1917, throwing the Empire into chaos. They would officially withdraw from the war in the aftermath of the October Revolution several months later.
However, the fall of Russia would be followed swiftly by the entrance of the United States into the conflict. Facing the reality that the German Empire lacked the resources to sustain conflict against France, Britain, and the United States, the German high command became increasingly desperate to end the war quickly, using any means necessary to secure victory