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Essay The Results of Operation Judgement

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Introduction In 1915 the Allied and German forces were both seeking a decisive victory to end the war. The German army decided that the location of this victory would be the city of Verdun. Verdun is located 150 miles from Paris, France were the French Army headquarters was located. General Falkenhayn believed that the French Army would never accept the loss of a major defensive city so close to the headquarters. Operation Judgment became the code name for this battle which was to bleed the French Army of Soldiers through the defense of Verdun. The result of this operation was the longest and most gruesome battle of World War 1.

History
General Falkenhayn replaced General Von Molke in 1914 because Von Molke’s offensive in France and …show more content…

The French headquarters believing these forts worthless removed most of the artillery pieces and Soldiers to be reassigned to locations that were believed to be a higher priority to the German Army. The largest weapons they left at these forts were 155mm artillery and heavy machine guns to combat the 420mm guns of the Germans located less than ten miles away.3
The French Army realized that the Germans were preparing for an offense operation when they villages surrounding Verdun began to be evacuated. General Herr, the commander of Verdun, requested additional Soldiers and equipment from General Joffre, the French Commander and Chief. General Joffre did not believe the Germans would attack Verdun, but sent on of his aides to investigate the situation at Verdun. When it became apparent that Verdun was the target, two divisions were sent to General Herr which would not arrive until 12 February 1916.
General Falkenhayn briefed his commanders that they were to attack the city of Verdun in a battle of attrition. The commanders appeared to believe that the intent was to capture the city itself. When they presented General Falkenhayn with Courses of Action he agreed to the plan believing the troops would be more motivated by an offensive attack. General Falkenhayn did not believe they could attack both the west and east

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