Secondly, it was the Northern gate to theĬhampagne plain and therefore Paris. It played an important part in the line of defence, which was built after Verdun was an important stronghold at the Eastern border. Would 'bleed to death' (the Germans called this 'weissbluten') andĬould then easily be defeated. That is why a target had to be found that would be so important to theįrench, that they would be willing to sacrifice their entire army. He believed England would collapse as soon as France, their most important ally, would be defeated. The German commander-in-chief General Erich von Falkenhayn considered England to be The allies tried to realise their victory through a joint operation at the river Somme. Both parties were convinced that 1916 would be the year of their crucial However, these attempts all failed and only lead to terrible In 1915 several attempts were made to forcibly achieve a decisiveīreakthrough. By the end of that year all movement of the armies had ceased and the war had become an immobile trench war. The Great War, or as we now call it - the First World War, began on 4 August 1914. Phase 1 - The preparations before the Battle Verdun Phase 6 The French offensive (21 October - 19 December) Verdun Phase 5 - The Last German Offensive (23 june - 6 September) Verdun Phase 4 - The Battle for the Flanks - the Left Bank of the Meuse Verdun Phase 3 - The Battle of the Flanks - the Left Bank of the Meuse Verdun Phase 2 - The German offensive (21 February - 2 March) Verdun Phase 1 - The preparations (December 1915 - 12 February 1916) Battle of Verdun 1916 - the greatest battle ever