German assaults continued into early July, and Petain, who had been promoted and replaced as local commander by Gen. Robert Nivelle, recommended withdrawal. At the significance of the Battle of Verdun became a symbol of French determination, inspired by Petain’s declaration “they shall not pass”. Going even further back to understand that factors that lead to irrational exuberance that permeated this desire to go to war over what can be described as a worthless piece of land, one would come across a variety of historical snippets (as indicated by Horne) which show that the land itself was heavily contested between the French and Germans even before the start of WWI. Going even further into human aspect of the war elaborated on by Horne, this paper will examine the reasons that drove both combatants to fight over what was basically a useless piece of land and how the end result was nothing more than a war of costly attrition with a pyrrhic victory at the end. In my eyes, when you are appreciative that you are... Rate this post United States Army guidon the practice of carrying colours, requirements or Guidons, to act As described in Army Guideline 840-10, Chapter 6, US Army guidons are swallow-tailed marker flags in branch-of-service colors, measuring 20 in. It was fought between the Germans and French from 21 February to 19 December 1916. 1. General, The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of Stalingrad may well be the most gruesome battles in recent history. Despite the overwhelming loss of life on both sides over something that had nothing to do with actually winning the war it can be seen from the account of Horne that extreme nationalism urged both sides to keep on fighting with German Field Marshall Von Falkenhayn famously saying that they would “bleed the French white”. (“They shall not pass!”), reorganized his command and brought up reinforcements while the weary German troops paused. Some 300,000 were killed. (2020) 'Battle of Verdun'. This essay on Battle of Verdun was written and submitted by your fellow student. The Battle of Verdun and the Battle of Stalingrad both have significant similarities. During these uncertain times, politicians exploit this at the drop of a dime. It contains thousands of paper examples on a wide variety of topics, all donated by helpful students. In 1914, Germany’s population was recorded at 67 million and, major offensive under the command of Prince Frederick William against Verdun. Blend, Georges, Verdun, trans. The area wasn’t situated in what can be described as a strategically viable position in terms of allowing Germany to push further into France nor would holding the area allow the French army to cut off any German supply routes or allow the Germans to access any viable resources from the region since Verdun itself held little, if any, “war potential” in terms of munitions factories or stockpiled resources.