There are many misconceptions about the First World War. The point was to simply turn the battlefield into a death machine. Nor was any kind of breakthrough desired. Indeed, Verdun itself had no strategic importance.

The super-concentrated assault was designed by Erich von Falkenhayn, and it was meant to drain France of its ability to fight. Perhaps the most potent example of this strategy was The Battle of Verdun - the longest sustained siege of the First World War. Some generals remained convinced that a decisive breakthrough was possible - as witnessed by the catastrophes at The Battle of the Somme and the Nivelle Offensive - but most understood that it was simply a matter of wearing the enemy down. The challenge for the generals was to turn a seemingly defensive system into something more offensive.Īs a consequence, and for the most part, each side attempted to exhaust the other - to sap the enemy of the will to fight, or to exhaust them of resources and manpower. What’s particularly remarkable - and even disturbing - about the Great War was how each side insisted on taking it to the enemy in hopes of eventually winning the struggle. But perhaps most importantly, the necessity of trench warfare emerged owing to the state of technology in the second decade of the 20th century.īut the Allies and the Central Powers were not ready to call it quits. On either side of this bitterly fought over line were massive accumulations of armies - and the combined industrial strength of the primary combatants. Unlike the situation in the East, the Western Front settled along a relatively short stretch of land. Trench warfare - or what could also be referred to as siege warfare - was forced upon the combatants for a number of other reasons. It was meant to be temporary, but the realities of 20th century warfare would prove otherwise. Once things settled after the First Battle at the Marne, troops were ordered to seek cover in trenches.

The appalling battles of August showed that moving troops on open ground was a prescription for mass suicide. Owing to exhaustion, dwindling reserves, and the horrific loss of life, both sides dug in and assumed a defensive posture. As the war raged and spread in 1914, a curious development occurred on the Western Front.

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