New technologies, including flamethrowers, hand grenades, trench mortars and more mobile machine guns, would play a key role in the hands of infantry specialists thrown into the developing battle, and innovations in combat communications were employed to overcome the confusion of the battlefield. The Germans then switched objectives but made slow progress towards their goals by July, the battle had become a stalemate.ĭuring the protracted struggle for Verdun, the two sides' infantrymen faced appalling battlefield conditions their training, equipment and doctrine would be tested to the limit and beyond. However, initial German success in capturing a key early objective, Fort Douaumont, was swiftly stemmed by the French defenses, despite heavy French casualties. The Germans were confident that the ensuing battle would compel France to expend its strategic reserves in a savage attritional battle, thereby wearing down Allied fighting power on the Western Front. “On 21 February 1916, the German Army launched a major attack on the French fortress of Verdun. The publishers’ notes include this summary of Campbell’s book: The Table of Contents provides for the basic outline: Campbell provides a logical approach to this ground combat at Verdun.
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