For the French command, led by Generalissimo Joffre, the war of movement remains topical. The head of the armies pays all his attention to the preparation of a major offensive on the Somme. You have to break through, resume the movement warfare and end it.
For the German command, in the person of General von Falkenhayn, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, this is not quite the same way of approaching the problem. Indeed, we must end this conflict, because for him, England seeks to asphyxiate the central empires in a war of attrition. But for that it is necessary to make war costly to the English by a new method, submarine warfare, and above all, it is necessary to destroy the French forces:"the forces of France will be bled to death... that we reach our objective or not ". The extremist nature of this thought suggests the savagery of the battles to come. The goal is to discourage France, which will ask for mercy.
The Verdun site was chosen for many reasons.
* It is an important strategic position because it is in the immediate vicinity of the Briey-Thionville shell factories and the Metz railway complex.
* It is a popular symbol which cannot be abandoned to the enemy (Partition of Verdun in 843 between the grandsons of Charlemagne:appearance of Western Francia). From this fact it is assumed that the French troops would prefer to die on the spot rather than retreat.
* It is also clear that the Germans implemented their plan of attack more quickly than the French. Otherwise, the confrontation would most certainly have taken place on the Somme.