Featuring specially commissioned artwork, archive photography, and
full-color maps, this engrossing study investigates the doctrine,
training, equipment, and combat record of the French and German troops
who clashed in three key battles during the epic struggle for the Verdun
sector at the height of World War I.
On February 21, 1916, the German Army launched a major attack on the
French fortress of Verdun. The Germans were confident that the ensuing
battle would compel France to expend its strategic reserves in a savage
attritional battle, thereby wearing down Allied fighting power on the
Western Front. However, initial German success in capturing a key early
objective, Fort Douaumont, was swiftly stemmed by the French defenses,
despite heavy French casualties. The Germans then switched objectives,
but made slow progress towards their goals; by July, the battle had
become a stalemate.
During the protracted struggle for Verdun, the two sides' infantrymen
faced appalling battlefield conditions; their training, equipment, and
doctrine would be tested to the limit and beyond. New technologies,
including flamethrowers, hand grenades, trench mortars, and more mobile
machine guns, would play a key role in the hands of infantry specialists
thrown into the developing battle, and innovations in combat
communications were employed to overcome the confusion of the
battlefield. This study outlines the two sides' wider approach to the
evolving battle, before assessing the preparations and combat record of
the French and German fighting men who fought one another during three
pivotal moments of the 101/2-month struggle for Verdun.
