Battle of Verdun Passage

“The Germans attacked in mass formation, by big columns of five or six hundred men, preceded by two waves of sharpshooters. . . . It is absolutely impossible to convey what losses the Germans must suffer in these attacks. Nothing can give the idea of it. Whole ranks are mowed down, and those that follow them suffer the same fate. Under the storm of machine gun, rifle, and [artillery] fire, the German columns are plowed into furrows of death. Imagine if you can what it would be like to rake water. Those gaps filled up at once. That is enough to show with what disdain for human life the German attacks are planned and carried out.

In these circumstances, German advances are inevitable. These advances may startle the public, but at the front nobody attaches any importance to them. As a matter of fact, our trenches are so near to those of the Germans that once the barbed wire is destroyed the distance between them can be covered in a few minutes. Thus, if one is willing to suffer a loss of life corresponding to the number of men necessary to cover the space between the lines, the other trench can always be reached. By sacrificing thousands of men, after a formidable bombardment, an enemy trench can always be taken.”

Account by a French army officer of the Battle of Verdun, 1916

Explain the cause of the conflict alluded to in the passage.

Explain the impact of new military technology on the Battle of Verdun based on the above passage.

How is the battle described in the passage significant in developments of the First World War?