Verdun: The Battle Of The Inferno

The French soldiers called Verdun “the inferno” because everything about the battle was hellish. After all of the shelling, the landscape was so cratered and barren that it looked like craters on the moon. The constant shelling drove soldiers insane on both sides, the effects lasting long after the battle for many of the “shell shocked” soldiers. Particularly for the French conditions were bad as the rotation of men from the front line trenches was not as often as it should have been. Many of the soldiers would be at the front lines for much longer than was healthy.
The assault on Verdun was purely an attempt by the Germans at destroying French morale, as well undertaking the traditional goal of capturing a strategic position. As the German general Erich von Falkenhayn believed, the French would defend Verdun “to the hilt” and if any positions were lost the French would fight to retake them at any cost. He was right in his belief that the French would commit as many men as it would take to recover Verdun, but what he didn’t plan for was the cost of German lives in the process. The Germans faced nearly the same casualty count as the French.

3. The Caporetto campaign also played a role in the “descent into barbarism” in this period. Based on your readings (A …show more content…
The fighting was intense and devastating with massive use of German and Austro-Hungarian gas attack. As a result a massive retreat of Italian troops occurred, resulting in the capture of men, guns, and supplies. The Italian morale was completely shattered and they had sustained huge losses. The Italian general Luigi Cadorna’s response to the low morale and disorder was to order the executions of officers whose units had retreated in the battle. Cadorna was particularly cruel to his men and his staff. He is responsible for making Italy the country with the highest number of executions of their own soldiers, with a count of around