Olaf Jessen

If you have ever wondered 'what were they thinking?' about the battle of Verdun, this is the book for you. However, if you are expecting a blow by blow account of the operations, or a description of the experience in the trenches, you better look elsewhere. There is some of both, but many other books do that better. In this respect, the book would have profited by a less general title.
This book mainly focuses on the decisions made in high command, especially on the German side. We see the squabbles and tensions around the emperor, rivalries between Knobelsdorf and Falkenhayn, the rise of Ober Ost, the navy playing the card of submarine warfare, the Kronprinz getting impatient...
The overall impression is that neither Knobelsdorf nor Falkenhayn knew very well what they were doing, and tried to shift blame and provide self serving explanations when things didn't go exactly as desired. None of the German war leaders come out particularly well.
The author shows two contrasting developments: in France the crisis around Verdun led to an undermining of the position of the military, Joffre in particular, and a strengthening of the position of the government. In Germany, this led to what was effectively the military dictatorship by Hindenburg and Ludendorff;… (más)