“If they do so,” he wrote in his memo, “the forces of France will bleed to death.” Falkenhayn called his ruthless scheme Operation Gericht-a term loosely translated as “judgment” or “place of execution.”Ģ. Rather than outmaneuvering them or breaking through their lines, Falkenhayn planned to lure the French into a trap that would force them to throw troops into a battle of attrition where the conditions favored the Germans. In late-1915, German General Erich von Falkenhayn wrote a memorandum to Kaiser Wilhelm II in which he argued that the war would only be won by inflicting mass casualties on the French army and sapping its will to fight, which would then force the British to sue for peace. World War I battles often started with tactical objectives and devolved into bloody stalemates, but most historians believe that Verdun was intended to be a “meat grinder” from the very beginning. The Germans Designed Verdun to be a Battle of Attrition. By the end, casualties numbered about 400,000 for the French and 350,000 for the Germans. In the battle that slogged on for 10 months, the French held off a major German offensive.
In a war known for its brutality, the Battle of Verdun, (February 21–December 18, 1916), was among the longest and bloodiest conflicts of World War I.
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