The German Plan for the Battle of Verdun 1916

82 The Verdun Plan

The city of Verdun on the River Meuse had been a fortified city since the days of the Roman Empire. From the early 17th century it was one of France’s main army depots and a powerful fortress. In 1914 it had famously held out against a German attack.

German commander von Falkenhayn studied French history. He believed that the French would do almost anything to stop the Germans from capturing Verdun.

The area around Verdun was a quiet sector. On one occasion a sudden flash flood washed away the earth between a German trench and a French trench. The men ignored their enemies while they hurriedly dug new trenches.

The steep hills and deep gullies of the area around Verdun were good for defence. On them the French had built a series of forts, each containing underground shelters and guns set in concrete and metal emplacements.

The most powerful was Fort Douaumont. It had heavy artillery, light artillery, machine guns and miles of underground tunnels.

Falkenhayn decided to attack Verdun, but not with any intention of capturing the city or forts. Instead he planned merely to pretend to try to capture them.

This would persuade the French to pour reinforcements into Verdun. Once the French were within range of German artillery, the guns would open fire and wipe them out.

Falkenhayn hoped that he could inflict huge casualties on the French army, without the Germans losing too many men. “We will bleed France white”, he said.

Kaiser Wilhelm liked the plan so much that the asked Falkenhayn to send Crown Prince Wilhelm, heir to the German throne, to be the commander. Falkenhayn arranged for experienced generals to have real control on the battlefield.

The French garrison at Verdun considered that they were safe in their forts. They allowed the outer defences of trench and barbed wire fall into disrepair.