The Road to Verdun
World War I's Most Momentous Battle and the Folly of Nationalism
Chapter One
1 The Bois des Caures
To foresee “the war of tomorrow” was not difficult: it was bound to come. To predict this attack on Verdun . . . was more daring. We’re about to have it. Lieutenant Colonel Émile Driant, letter to a friend, 20 February 1916 Surprise and speed, assets that military commanders have always been schooled to prize above virtually all others, were rarely at their disposal in the First World War. The Germans still hoped to enjoy them at Verdun, but first they had to put their faith in the lessons of mass warfare as they had learned them since 1914. Elaborate preparation, it seemed, was the key to victory. Falkenhayn might have hesitated to provide resources on a scale that met the large promises of his memo to the Kaiser or the specific needs that the Crown Prince discerned, yet what he authorized in the compromises hammered out immediately after Christmas 1915 was still a massive concentration of force. Indeed, it was the most massive yet gathered in a war that had already proved a deadlock ... read full excerpt from The Road to Verdun ebook
