Notes

Event (Battle in WW1 Western Front) 1914-1918

Have alot battle in world war 1 but the 2 big battle is

1.Battle of Verdun (Schlacht um Verdun) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun (RFV, Région Fortifiée de Verdun) and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry , Poor weather delayed the beginning of the attack until 21 February but the Germans captured Fort Douaumont in the first three days. The advance then slowed for several days, despite inflicting many French casualties. By 6 March, 20 French divisions were in the RFV and a more extensive defence in depth had been organised. Philippe Pétain ordered there to be no retreat and that German attacks were to be counter-attacked, despite this exposing French infantry to the German artillery. By 29 March, French guns on the west bank had begun a constant bombardment of Germans on the east bank, causing many infantry casualties. The German offensive was extended to the west bank of the Meuse to gain observation and eliminate the French artillery firing over the river but the attacks failed to reach their objectives.

In early May, the Germans changed tactics again and made local attacks and counter-attacks; the French recaptured part of Fort Douaumont but then the Germans ejected them and took many prisoners. The Germans tried alternating their attacks on either side of the Meuse and in June captured Fort Vaux. The Germans advanced towards the last geographical objectives of the original plan, at Fleury-devant-Douaumont and Fort Souville, driving a salient into the French defences. Fleury was captured and the Germans came within 4 km (2 mi) of the Verdun citadel but in July the offensive was cut back to provide troops, artillery and ammunition for the Battle of the Somme, leading to a similar transfer of the French Tenth Army to the Somme front. From 23 June to 17 August, Fleury changed hands sixteen times and a German attack on Fort Souville failed. The offensive was reduced further but to keep French troops away from the Somme, ruses were used to disguise the change.

In September and December, French counter-offensives recaptured much ground on the east bank and recovered Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux. The battle lasted for 320 days, the longest and one of the most costly in human history. In 2000, Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann calculated that the French suffered 377,231 casualties and the Germans 337,000, a total of 714,231 and an average of 70,000 a month. In 2014, William Philpott wrote of 976,000 casualties in 1916 and 1,250,000 in the vicinity of Verdun. In France, the battle came to symbolise the determination of the French Army and the destructiveness of the war.

Leader In Battle of Verdun

German Empire Erich von Falkenhayn
German Empire Paul von Hindenburg
German Empire Erich Ludendorff
German Empire Crown Prince Wilhelm
German Empire Konstantin Schmidt von Knobelsdorf
German Empire Ewald von Lochow
German Empire Max von Gallwitz
German Empire Georg von der Marwitz
(50 Division) 336,000–355,000 casualties

French Third Republic Joseph Joffre
French Third Republic Noël de Castelnau
French Third Republic Fernand de Langle de Cary
French Third Republic Frédéric-Georges Herr
French Third Republic Philippe Pétain
French Third Republic Robert Nivelle
French Third Republic Adolphe Guillaumat
French Third Republic Auguste Hirschauer
French Third Republic Charles Mangin
(75 divisions) 379,000–400,000 casualties

2.Battle of the Somme (Bataille de la Somme)
The Battle of the Somme also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the upper reaches of the Somme, a river in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies. More than three million men fought in the battle of whom one million were wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history.

The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during the Chantilly Conference in December 1915. The Allies agreed upon a strategy of combined offensives against the Central Powers in 1916 by the French, Russian, British and Italian armies, with the Somme offensive as the Franco-British contribution. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, supported on the northern flank by the Fourth Army of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). When the Imperial German Army began the Battle of Verdun on the Meuse on 21 February 1916, French commanders diverted many of the divisions intended for the Somme and the "supporting" attack by the British became the principal effort. The British troops on the Somme comprised a mixture of the remains of the pre-war army, the Territorial Force and Kitchener's Army, a force of wartime volunteers.

On the first day on the Somme (1 July) the German 2nd Army suffered a serious defeat opposite the French Sixth Army, from Foucaucourt-en-Santerre south of the Somme to Maricourt on the north bank and by the Fourth Army from Maricourt

Leader In Battle of the Somme

German Empire Rupprecht of Bavaria
German Empire Max von Gallwitz
German Empire Fritz von Below
(60 Divisions) 1,000,000 men

Great Britain Douglas Haig
Great Britain Henry Rawlinson
Great Britain Hubert Gough
French Third Republic Joseph Joffre
French Third Republic Ferdinand Foch
French Third Republic Émile Fayolle
French Third Republic Joseph Alfred Micheler
(122 Divisions) 2,500,000 men

important people In the world war 1 (western front) 1914 - 1918

Central Power
1.Kaiser Willhem II
2.Paul von Hindenburg
3.Erich Ludendorff
4.Hermann Göring
5.Adolf Hitler

Allies Power
1.Philippe Pétain
2.Charles de Gaulle
3.Winston Churchill
4.Joseph Joffre
5.Noel de Castelnau