Fill in the Blanks VERDUN BATTLEOnline version A description of one of the bloodiests battles in WW1 by Alfonso Poza 1 The of Verdun started on February 21st 1916 and ended on December 16th in 1916 . Germany wanted to " bleed France " by launching a massive German attack on a narrow stretch of land that had historic sentiment for the French . The area around Verdun contained twenty major and forty smaller ones that had historically protected the eastern border of France . Germany believed that the French simply could not these forts to fall as the national would have been too much . By fighting to the last the French would lose so many men that the battle would change the course of the war . 140 , 000 German started the attack . They were supported by 1 , 200 artillery guns that targeted 2 , 500 , 000 shells at the Verdun region . 1 , 300 ammunition trains were needed to supply these guns . The Germans also had complete air with 168 planes located in the area , the largest concentration of planes in history up to that point . On the day the battle started , February 21st , 1000 German artillery guns fired on a ten kilometers line along the French front . One French wrote about the artillery bombardment : " Men were . Cut in two or divided from top to bottom . The loss of life and those was huge at Verdun . It is said that the French lost over 360 , 000 and the Germans nearly 340 , 000 .
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