History Channel Documentaries

1916 Total War - The Battle of Verdun (2006x26)

Air date: Jul 01, 2006

Major General Julian Thompson, commander of land forces during the Falklands war, brings his years of soldiering experience to bear on this extraordinary battle. The battle of Verdun was one of the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I. Two million men were involved in the struggle. It began on February 21st 1916, when the Germans, commanded by Crown Prince Frederick William, launched a massive offensive against Verdun, an awkward salient in the French line.The outlying forts of Douaumont and Hardaumont soon fell, but the French rallied under General Pétain and resistance stiffened. A British offensive on the Somme relieved the pressure on Verdun in July, 1916, and by December the French had recovered most of the ground lost. The intention of the Germans had been a battle of attrition in which they hoped to bleed the French army white. In the end, they sustained almost as many casualties as the French; an estimated 328,000 to the French 348,000.