The Battle of Verdun &
the Battle of the Somme
Agenda:
1. Battle of Verdun & the Somme Notes
2. Two Soldiers View Points Analysis
The Battle of Verdun
• One of the biggest battles of WWI
▫ Fought in 1916, from Feb – Dec
• Fought between the French and Germans
▫ Part of the Schlieffen Plan
• Key to determining who would win on the
Western front
• At the time: the longest battle history had ever
known
Goals of the Germans:
• German Army’s chief of staff wanted to strike a
fatal blow
▫ Verdun had important symbolic value to the
French
▫ Germans thought the French would bleed out
their army trying to defend it
▫ Thus, they saw Verdun as a chance to destroy the
French army
Soldier’s Experiences of Verdun
The Toll
• Verdun resulted in 306,000 battlefield deaths
▫ 163,000 French
▫ 143,000 German
• And at least 1/2 million wounded
In the end
• Counts as a strategic victory for France
• But – was a costly stalemate for both countries
in terms of death tolls
Verdun today
• Land around Verdun is still marked by war
▫ Thousands of shell holes in countryside
▫ Trenches slice through the woods
▫ Mine craters still visible
▫ Barbed wire and remains of fortresses still can be
seen
• War memorial
▫ Remains of 130,000 French and German soldiers
Battle of the Somme
An overview of the battle
Overview
• July 1 – Nov. 18,
1916
• One of the costliest
battles of WWI
• Approximately 1.2
million casualties
• 420,000 British
• 200,000 French
• 500,000 German
Dead German soldiers at Battle of the Somme
British gains
Cause and effect
• Attempt by the British to “push through”
the German lines
• Fought along northwestern part of the
Western Front
• After months of fighting, and several
assaults up and down the front, resulted
in small gains in land for England
• Greatly weakened German war effort
overall
Causes of high death toll
Massive loss of life
due to new military
technologies:
• machine guns
• artillery/mines
• hand grenades
• gas
• airplanes
• first use of tanks
British gun crew wearing PH-type anti-gas helmets
Two Soldiers Viewpoints Analysis
• Read the two excerpts from WWI soldiers.
• Use the two excerpts to answer the reading and
analysis questions.
▫ Answers should be in complete sentences
• Due Monday for a stamp!