![]() ![]() Their offensive in the East was most fruitful. In the West, thanks to an energetic defensive, they had held firm against the Allies’ onslaughts in Artois and in Champagne. The year 1915 was rich in successes for the Germans. The Object of the Battle, and the Preparation for It Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. The British, while suffering heavy losses were not as discouraged as their soldiers were still too new to life in the trenches. Somme: Near the end of the battle of Somme many German units had shown a weakening of morale similar to the French troops in the battle of Verdun.The German soldiers were only relived once they were exhausted, so although they were also suffering from the memories of Verdun, the low morale was more limited. This led to nearly the entire French army being exposed to the hellish atmosphere that was the battle of Verdun, leading to an overall drop in moral. The French General Henri Petain commanded the force and, knowing the battle would be a long and bloody one, established a rotation system to relieve troops, an approach that was later abandoned when General Nivelle took charge. Verdun: “To both French and German survivors, life in Verdun salient was equivalent to being condemned to hell” (Lyons, 2000, p.The Disposition of the Forces at the End of the Battle In the end the Allies only advanced a meager 10 miles and the Germans pulled back to create a stronger more manageable line. This led to waves of the British infantry being “cut down by machine gun fire as they advance into No Man’s Land” (Epic History TV) The battle wages for five months with the French lines making more headway then the British due to their superior artillery. Somme: The hope was to make a quick break through the line yet the British artillery was unable to destroy the German fortifications.The Germans would often gain ground during this battle, even capturing forts, but they were forced to give it back up almost instantly they eventually gave up the assault on Verdun when the new German Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff visited the site and saw its senseless carnage. They were beaten back, however, once the French sent in fresh reinforcements. Despite setbacks, however, the Germans came very close to breaking through the French line in late February. The German infantry met heavy resistance from the French lines that survived. ![]()
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