Battle of verdun battle strategies12/6/2023 Reviewed by Bryan Ganaway (Department of History, Presbyterian College) German Strategy and the Path to Verdun: Erich von Falkenhayn and the Development of Attrition, 1870-1916.Ĭambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. These may have been established battle tactics for many miltary leaders but it is inteteting to see the Prussian strategies put into practice many years after they were documented by Clausewitz.Robert T. In conclusion, Falkenhayn’s strategy of attrition at the Battle of Verdun can be viewed as seeing some of Clausewitz’s observations and tactics on warfare put into practice. In his memoirs, Falkenhayn stated that he knew it was an unlikely probability that he could completely disarm the French at Verdun but he did believe that he could smash the willingness of the French army to continue fighting ( ). At the Battle of Verdun this tactic can be seen in the strategy of Falkenhayn as he attempted to use the superior German war machine to continually wear down the French army. He goes on to illustrate that the goal of doing as much general damage to your enemy as possible erodes the enemy’s will to fight by placing constant “wear and tear” on their forces (On War, p. In chapter two of On War, “End and Means in War” Clausewitz notes that the disarmament of the enemy is very hard to achieve strictly through the use of force (On War, pp 51-2, 1946 ed.). The probabilities of greatly reducing the enemy’s will to fight is another important concept for Clausewitz. In this way, a battle of attrition is a disarmament strategy. There is also great cost in loss of armaments and resources. The Battle of Dunkirk during the Second World War illustrates that the cost of retreat is greater than simply the loss of territory or position. Retreat, particularly a hasty one, forces the enemy to abandon many weapons and materials and has the effect of disarmament. Falkenhayn’s strategy of continual offensive maneuvers had the goal of bleeding the enemy dry and forcing them into retreat and eventual defeat. The attempt to bleed the enemy dry of men and materials is a very old battle tactic and can be studied in ancient and medieval warfare in the form of the siege. The first is Clausewitz’s concept that the goal of war is to disarm the opposing side (On War, chapter 1, section 4. The battle of attrition strategy waged by Falkenhayn at Verdun during The Great War reflects Clausewitz’s thoughts on war in at least a couple of important ways. With this in mind there are bound to be influences of Clausewitz on Falkenhayn’s strategy and tactics at the Battle of Verdun. Although the machines of war and therefore tactics would have changed at least somewhat between the time of Clausewitz and Falkenhayn the overall approach to warfare would have been very similar as to that laid down by Clausewitz. It would make logical sense to assume that Falkenhayn was a student of Clausewitz’s thinking as they were both Prussian officers. How did Falkenhayn’s strategy of “bleeding out” at the battle of Verdun reflect a certain interpretation of Clausewitz’s thinking? I wrote a few more discussion papers about topics specific to the Great War and will post the remainder before 2018 closes. I meant to post this during the Remembrance Day weekend of 2018 as this was the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the Great War but didn’t get to it until later in the week. What follows below is a brief discussion paper that I wrote on the strategy employed by the German General Erich von Falkenhayn during the period of the Great War known as the Battle of Verdun (1916).
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