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
.
