We shall probably not know till the end of the
war how great the failure at Verdun has been, and therefore how great the disappoint- ment of the German General Staff and the Government. We may, however, even now guess something of its nature. We have little doubt that the Germans argued something after this manner: "A successful attack on Verdun, for it is bound to be successful, will convey a triple blessing. In the first place, it will give us command of a very important strategic point.. Next, it will greatly depress the French. But, best of all, it will upset the whole of the carefully prepared plans of the Allies for an advance in the late spring of early summer. While we are pushing the French our hardest at Verdun, the French Government are almost certain to get into a panic and order counter-attacks all along their line intended to distract our attention and weaken our offensive. What is even more important, they will call upon the English to assist them by similar counter-attacks. The result of this will be premature movements made in the wrong places and at the wrong time which will entirely upset the schemes of our enemies. In fact, we shall make the British and Allied gun go off at half-cock and before it is properly aimed."
