GW9: Verdun

Key Battles of American History

History

4.6 • 936 Ratings

🗓️ 4 February 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode Sean and James examine the Battle of Verdun, the first of 1916’s colossal offensives and one of the longest and bloodiest battles in world history. They discuss German commander Erich von Falkenhayn’s plan to “bleed France white” by attacking the fortress city of Verdun, and how General Philippe Pétain’s leadership and innovations kept the French from collapse. The hosts trace the battle’s brutal back-and-forth fighting, staggering casualties, and the ultimate failure of the German strategy. Finally, they explore Verdun’s lasting symbolic power as the embodiment of both the horrors and the endurance of the First World War.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for a simple way to stay rooted in God's Word every day.
0:03.6	The Daily Bible Devotion app by Salem Media gives you morning and evening devotionals
0:08.2	designed to encourage, inspire, and keep you connected with scripture.
0:12.5	Plus, you'll enjoy Daily Bible trivia and humor, a fun way to learn and share a smile while
0:17.4	growing in your faith.
0:18.6	Get the Daily Bible Devotion app for free on both iOS and
0:22.4	Android. Start and end your day with God's Word. Search for the Daily Bible Devotion app in the App Store
0:28.3	or Google Play Store and download it today.
0:41.9	War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its
0:47.5	size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for
0:53.1	understanding American history. Welcome to
0:55.8	Key Battles of American History, a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens
1:00.8	of the most important battles of America's wars. Here is your host, James Early.
1:21.0	Thank you. Hello and welcome back to The Great War, our 10,000-foot survey of the cataclysmic conflict that changed the world forever.
1:29.7	I'm your host, James Early, as always. And as always, I am joined by my co-host and my good buddy, Sean McIver.
1:40.6	In our last episode, Sean and I took you to the Eastern Mediterranean to examine the Ottoman Empire's entry into the Great War and the tragic allied attempt to seize the Dardanelles.
1:45.0	We traced how Turkey joined the central powers, setting the stage for the Gallipoli campaign, an ambitious plan to knock the Ottomans out of the war that instead
1:50.5	ended in disaster and immense loss of life on both sides. The fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula
1:56.2	became a defining moment for both the Turks who rallied under Mustafa Kamal and the Anzac forces of Australia,
2:03.3	New Zealand. The campaign's failure reshaped Allied strategy, toppled political careers, and helped
2:09.6	lay the foundations of modern Turkey. This week, as promised, Sean and I move into 1916, the bloodiest year, to that point at least, of a war that
2:19.7	had already seen the loss of millions of lives.
	...

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