This way, Germany would inflict a huge number of French casualties, thus rendering France the ultimate losers in the battle.
In his words, the Germany’s army commander claimed that France would be compelled to bring in all its strong men to the war in an attempt to repel the conquering attempts of its historical forts (Doyle 2014, 137). Therefore, Germany adopted an attrition strategy that would see French soldiers killed in large numbers as they mobilized to defend the city from the impending seizure. Therefore, according to Germany, the greatest enemy in the war was Britain. Other allies of the war including Italy and Russia were considered harmless by the Germans. From the German soldiers’ point of view, weakening the French army would result in ultimate success for Germany since Britain, which was the key ally of France, would be compelled to enter a peace agreement with Germany to end the war McNab 2013, 89).īritain and France were the strongest forces in the war and conquering French soldiers would make Britain the sole strong power in the war and it would eventually give in on grounds of fear of defeat by Germany (Griffith 2008, 123). Germany believed that by capturing the city, French soldiers would be deployed in large numbers to counter the seizure, thus affording the opportunity to kill them in order to weaken the French army (Tunstall 2008, 38). The primary objective of Germany was to divert the attention of the French army, which had focused mostly on the western front, by attempting to capture Verdun (Foley 2005, 152). The causes and circumstances that led to the battle The deployment coupled with the French soldiers’ weak weaponry instilled confidence among the German troops that they would eventually win the battle (King 2008, 123). Germany sought to take advantage of the war on the western front, which had seen French soldiers warding the city deployed to the battlefield. The forts had been renovated few decades before the attack (Tunstall 2008, 35).
The city hosted about 60 forts, which were deemed as historical sentiments for the French. Germany’s primary objective was to conquer Verdun, which was a city that hosted the historical monuments for France, and thus prompt the French administration to send troops to the area. The battle ended in December 1916 when the German troops retreated and left Verdun following a resounding defeat by their opponents (Ousby 2009, 134).
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