Why 1916 was the bloodiest year of WWI

As winter began to fade at the start of 1916, the first major attack was launched at the fortified town of Verdun in France.

It began on February 21st and lasted for ten months, until the 18th of December. 

Verdun had been fiercely defended by the French armies during 1914 and 1915, and it had become a symbol of the nation's pride.

However, the Germans knew that the French would defend it with all their strength, and they believed that they could use Verdun as a way of wearing the French troops down.

So, the German Chief of Staff, General von Falkenhayn, decided to launch a prolonged attack on the town, believing that it would force the French to throw all their resources into defending it.

By doing this, Falkenhayn hoped to exhaust the French armies, or, as he said, to "bleed the French army white". 

Over the ten months of the Battle of Verdun, the Germans launched several waves of attacks.

While the French were able to hold their ground, the high casualty rates were taking their toll, and they were not able to send their troops to fight anywhere else along the western front.

As the fighting became fiercer, both sides used poisoned gas in an attempt to achieve a clear victory.

Unfortunately, this only added to the horrific suffering of the soldiers, regardless of which army they were in.

At the conclusion of the Battle of Verdun, there was no clear victor. It would turn out to be one of the longest battles of World War One, and it was also one of the bloodiest.

Around 750,000 men (350,000 German and 400,000 French) were killed or wounded in the battle.

The growing tragedy at Verdun actually led to another battle which is probably the most famous of the entire war: the Battle of the Somme.

General Douglas Haig, the British Commander-in-Chief, wanted to help relieve pressure on the French at Verdun.

To do this, he planned to launch the largest infantry attack ever seen so far in the war, along a huge stretch of the Western Front near the river of the Somme.

Before the attack, the British army bombarded the German trenches using artillery for over a week.

Then, Haig ordered the all-out attack on the 1st of July 1916. An estimated 120,000 men were sent towards the German trenches and quickly encountered heavy resistance.

It turned out that the prolonged artillery barrages had not significantly reduced the number of German defenders.

Instead, the British were met by sustained machinegun fire. The soldiers who were marching through no-man's-land had nowhere to hide and became 'sitting ducks'.

By the end of the first day, the British army suffered massive casualties. In fact, it was the bloodiest day in British military history.

It is estimated that the British casualties on the first day of the Somme were about 60,000. 

However, the Battle of the Somme would last until November 18th, and by that time, over a million men were killed or wounded in the battle.

Despite this unbelievable death toll, there were some minor territorial gains made by the British army. 

When comparing the staggering cost in human life that resulted from such meagre successes, the campaign was considered to be a strategic failure.

The Battle of the Somme has become more important because it was during the fighting that the British army began to learn from their mistakes.

Rather than relying upon successive waves of infantry attacks, which resulted in high casualties, the military started experimenting with new tactics and technology.

For example, during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette on the 15th of September, a sub-battle of the Somme campaign, the British deployed the first battle tank.

A Mark I tank was deployed in attempt to break the deadlock of trench warfare.

While it struggled to complete its mission, it showed some promise for how tanks could be used if they became more reliable.

The Battle of Pozieres was another key battle fought between the British and German armies, which took place from 23 July to 7 August 1916.

The French village of Pozieres was considered to be a valuable strategic location which had been seized by the Germans in 1914. 

The Allied armies wanted to take it back. Since many of the British army troops were tied up at the Battle of the Somme, Haig drew upon the ANZAC units that had recently arrived in France following their withdrawal from Gallipoli in December 1915.

The Australians troops in particular were ordered to capture the village of Pozieres from the Germans, which they successfully did on the 23rd of July.

However, the Germans decided to counter-attack by bombarding the village with artillery.

As a result, the Australians suffered heavy casualties: over 23,000 Australians were killed or wounded in the battle. 

Then, on the 7th of August, the Germans believed that they could take back the village and ordered an infantry attack.

The remaining Australian forces, which were still trying to regroup from the artillery barrage, managed to fight them off and the Germans never again sought to capture the village.

The Battle of Pozieres was considered a resounding strategic victory, but it was a costly one for the Australian troops.

Finally, another key battle of the Western Front of 1916 involving Australian troops was the Battle of Fromelles. 

Taking place between the 19th and 20th of July, it was fought in order to capture the German-held village of Fromelles.

The purpose of the attack was to act as a 'feint (fake) attack' to keep German reserve forces from moving south to engage in the Battle of the Somme.

However, the initial attack was a failure and, once more, the Allies suffered heavy casualties. 

It resulted in over 5,500 Australian casualties, 2,000 of which were killed. The only key positive from the battle for the Allies was the capture of around 400 Germans.

This battle is significant because it was the first time that Australian troops fought in a major battle on the Western Front, since it took place just before the Battle of Pozieres, but it one of the costliest battles for Australian forces during the war.

As the year of 1916 came to an end, both sides in the war saw clearly that the grinding attrition of trench warfare was not going to be the means by which the war would be decided.

The Somme and Verdun had failed to achieve any clear victory and the countries involved could not sustain the number of deaths their armies had suffered.

So, military planners quickly sought new ways to attack and defend if they wanted to win the war.

This is where the emerging technologies started to play a crucial part. As the new year began for 1917, aircraft, tanks, and bold new tactics like combined arms warfare would all feature heavily in the battlefields of WWI.