Ian Ousby World War 1 Summary

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Recommended: Aggressive nationalism in World War 1

Historian Ian Ousby, the author of several historical pieces on European history, clearly demonstrated the brutality and conflict of the great war. He paints the pictures of decrepit soldiers fighting a war of attrition in one of the deadliest and largest battles of World War 1.He also gives an insight into the prideful nationalism that was behind the war in the first place. Ousby begins by giving us peeks into the French and German society and how each side hated each other.He goes even further to state the French were mostly to blame for the horrible battle.Ousby blames the nationalistic countries for the brutal conflict pushing that each should be put to blame for the battle of Verdun. Ousby as a historian sorts through plans and strategies from both sides and makes observations on the real purpose and effects of the war.The battle itself lasted for months and claimed the lives of over 700,000. He determines that the Frenches inability to give Verdun their full attention cost the nation close to 90,000 French soldiers.It all started with germans launching a massive surprise attack that reeked havoc on the French front lines.This began a stalemate of trench warfare that lasted for months to come.Ousby depicts scenes of mangled and malnourished soldiers who had to fight

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