Not unless you look at the long-term attrition of the Western Front, I say. The word of the day is “Why?” Next to the opaque objective and the current reputation of Verdun as the ultimate expression of senseless slaughter, Jankowski sees little to no gain. If I recall my Alistair Horne correctly, Falkenhayn left the Fifth Army commander as much in the dark as the ranks as to the ultimate goal. The state of elation at the initial gains in various ‘live’ sources such as Crown Prince Wilhelm's diary is supposed to be proof to the contrary. I will agree that putting the French losses at 2.5 times his own is hyperbole, but not that Falkenhayn wasn’t a man with a plan. He takes the customary moment to lament the destruction of the Potsdam archives, before dismissing the predetermination in Falkenhayn's memoirs as unreliable. Jankowski questions Falkenhayn's strategic intent of Ausblutung because all the evidence comes from post-war sources*. The battle narrative can be refreshing in places, I’ll give him that. Even if the next generation will pick up the shards & build something new with them. If you can’t offer an alternative for iconoclasting the established significance of Verdun, don’t. He takes the customary moment to lament the de How revisionist are you? Not as wholeheartedly as all the awards would suggest.

How revisionist are you? Not as wholeheartedly as all the awards would suggest.

And, for France and Germany, the battle would symbolize the terror of industrialized warfare, 'a technocratic Moloch devouring its children,' where no advance or retreat was possible, yet national resources poured in ceaselessly, perpetuating slaughter indefinitely.more It is said that Verdun made France, he writes but the question should be, What did France make of Verdun? Over time, it proved to be the last great victory of French arms, standing on their own. It has an almost unique status among the battles of the Great War and yet, he argues, it was not decisive, sparked no political changes, and was not even the bloodiest episode of the conflict. In many ways, Jankowski writes, the battle represents a conundrum. Unusually, this book draws on deep research in French and German archives this mastery of sources in both languages gives Verdun unprecedented authority and scope. A leading expert on the French past, Jankowski combines the best of traditional military history-its emphasis on leaders, plans, technology, and the contingency of combat-with the newer social and cultural approach, stressing the soldier's experience, the institutional structures of the military, and the impact of war on national memory. In Verdun, historian Paul Jankowski provides the definitive account of the iconic battle of World War I. As the barrage lifted, German troops moved forward, darting from shell crater to shell crater. The massive weight of explosives collapsed dugouts, obliterated trenches, severed communication wires, and drove men mad. For the next ten hours, twelve hundred German guns showered shells on a salient in French lines. As the barrage lifted, German troops moved forward, dart At seven o'clock in the morning on February 21, 1916, the ground in northern France began to shake.

At seven o'clock in the morning on February 21, 1916, the ground in northern France began to shake.

Battle of verdun significance