The War of Attrition (1915-1916)

Battle of Verdun

Between 1916 and 1918, the opposing sides (France and Germany) focused their efforts on wearing the enemy down. It became a 'war of attrition'.

War of attrition

Attrition warfare is a military strategy where each side tries to wear the enemy down by continually depleting their personnel and resources.
In these wars, the side with the most resources usually wins.

Battle of Verdun: background

Germany attacked Verdun because it hoped that it would weaken the Allied Powers.
The Chief of the General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, wanted to time Verdun so that it happened at the same time as a U-Boat attack.
Falkenhayn hoped to use a small number of German troops to attack the French. This turned out to be a serious underestimation.
Falkenhayn had to use many more troops than planned.

Battle of Verdun: facts

Verdun (February 1916 to December 1916) was the longest battle in the WW1 - it lasted 300 days.
This battle was between France and Germany.
In the first eight hours of the battle, Germany fired over two million shells.
At Verdun, von Falkenhayn wanted to 'bleed France white' with a massive offensive.

Battle of Verdun: facts

Germany thought that if it captured Verdun, the Allies' morale would be so low that Germany would win the war.
140,000 German troops led the attack, supported by 1,200 artillery guns.

Result

Verdun became a battle of pride - France and Germany did not want to admit defeat.
The French suffered around 380,000 casualties and the Germans suffered around 340,000 casualties.
Eventually, Germany withdrew because they needed to use their troops elsewhere.

Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme (July - November 1916) was the most famous battle of the First World War.

Background

The Battle of the Somme was fought to help the French troops in Verdun. It was intended to accelerate a victory for the Allies.
The battle began with the heaviest artillery bombardment of the war.
- The Allies planned for seven days of continuous artillery bombardment.
Field Marshal Douglas Haig thought that the lengthy bombardment would destroy any German barbed wire defences and kill Germans in the trenches.

Day one

1 July 1916: The Allies sent 100,000 to attack German lines.
- Allied soldiers had to cross hundreds of metres of no man’s land before the Germans could reach their weapons and machine guns.
In some places, British soldiers did reach the German trenches but many were shot down by German machine guns.
Britain suffered 57,000 casualties in one day.

The battle continues

Progress was very slow, and by 4 July 1916 Britain had suffered a further 25,000 casualties.
Britain was supported by its Empire. Troops from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand all contributed to the war effort.
By the end of August, Germany had suffered almost 250,000 casualties.
15 September 1916: Britain used the tank for the first time.
- Eventually, the British gained Morval and Thiepval Ridge.

Consequences of the Battle of the Somme

The battle turned into a disaster for both sides, with thousands of troops lost.

War Office film

The War Office decided to make a film about the Battle of the Somme to boost morale. This was very popular.
- But the public at home were shocked by the thousands of wounded troops returning and the long casualty lists being published in the newspapers.
- These lists were so long that the government stopped publishing them in 1916.
Seeing so many fellow soldiers being injured and killed seriously affected morale.

The end of the battle

In November, after 141 days fighting and combined losses of around one million men, the Somme offensive came to an end.
The British had advanced just seven miles and failed to break the German defence.
In March 1917, the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg line instead of resuming the Battle of the Somme.

1The Causes of the First World War

1.1The Alliance System

1.1.1The Threat of Germany & The Triple Alliance

1.1.2The Franco-Russian Alliance & the 'Entente'

1.1.3End of Topic Test - The Alliance System

1.2Crisis in Morocco and the Balkans

1.2.1The Crisis in Morocco

1.2.2The Crisis in the Balkans

1.2.3The Balkan Wars

1.2.4Impact on International Relations

1.2.5End of Topic Test - Morocco & the Balklans

1.3Anglo-German Rivalry

1.3.1Britain & Splendid Isolation

1.3.2Kaiser Wilhelm II's Foreign Policy

1.3.3European Rearmament

1.3.4End of Topic Test - Anglo-German Rivalry

1.4Outbreak of War

1.4.1Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

1.4.2The July Crisis

1.4.3The Schlieffen Plan and Belgium

1.4.4Reasons for the Outbreak of Hostilities

1.4.5End of Topic Test - Outbreak of War

2The First World War: Stalemate

2.1The Schlieffen Plan

2.1.1Reasons Behind the Schlieffen Plan & its Failure

2.1.2Stalemate

2.1.3End of Topic Test - The Schlieffen Plan

2.2The Western Front

2.2.1Technology

2.2.2Military Tactics

2.2.3The War of Attrition (1915-1916)

2.2.4The War of Attrition (1917)

2.2.5End of Topic Test - The Western Front

2.3The Wider War

2.3.1The War at Sea

2.3.2The War in the Air

2.3.3Other Theatres

2.3.4End of Topic Test - Wider War

3Ending the War

3.1Changes in the Allied Forces

3.1.1The Bolshevik Revolution

3.1.2Reasons for the Entry of the USA

3.1.3The Impact of US Entry on the War

3.1.4End of Topic Test - Changes in the Allied Forces

3.2Military Developments in 1918

3.2.1Tactics & Technology

3.2.2Ludendorff & the German Spring Offensive

3.2.3The Allied Advance During The Hundred Days

3.3Germany Surrenders

3.3.1The Impact of the Naval Blockade

3.3.2Abdication of the Kaiser

3.3.3Armistice

3.3.4The Contribution of Haig and Foch

3.3.5End of Topic Test - Developments & Surrender

Jump to other topics