he Germans attacked in mass formation, by big columns of five or six hundred men, preceded by two waves of sharpshooters. . . . It is absolutely impossible to convey what losses the Germans must suffer in these attacks. Nothing can give the idea of it. Whole ranks are mowed down, and those that follow them suffer the same fate. Under the storm of machine gun, rifle, and [artillery] fire, the German columns are plowed into furrows of death. Imagine if you can what it would be like to rake water. Those gaps filled up at once. That is enough to show with what disdain for human life the German attacks are planned and carried out. Account by a French army officer of the Battle of Verdun, 191 The passage above can best be explained in the context of: The development of new technologies that impacted military strategy The use of soldiers from colonies empires The influence of nationalism on European troops The employment of racial genocide on minority populations

he Germans attacked in mass formation, by big columns of five or six hundred men, preceded by two waves of sharpshooters. . . . It is absolutely impossible to convey what losses the Germans must suffer in these attacks. Nothing can give the idea of it. Whole ranks are mowed down, and those that follow them suffer the same fate. Under the storm of machine gun, rifle, and [artillery] fire, the German columns are plowed into furrows of death. Imagine if you can what it would be like to rake water. Those gaps filled up at once. That is enough to show with what disdain for human life the German attacks are planned and carried out. Account by a French army officer of the Battle of Verdun, 191 The passage above can best be explained in the context of: The development of new technologies that impacted military strategy The use of soldiers from colonies empires The influence of nationalism on European troops The employment of racial genocide on minority populations