the French are exposed to a
converging fire; they are inside the German semicircle. Moreover, the
salient is so narrow that the effect of converging fire is not to be
exaggerated.

When the French attacked the Germans in Champagne last fall they
advanced on a wide front from a line parallel to the German line. As
they pierced the first German lines they were exposed to the
converging fire of the Germans, because they were pushing a wedge in.
Ultimately they got one brigade through all the German lines, but it
was destroyed beyond by this converging fire. But as the Germans
advanced upon Verdun they were breaking down a salient and possessed
the advantage they had had on the defensive in Champagne.

Finally, one-half the French army of Verdun fought with its back to a
deep river, connected with the other half only by bridges, some of
which presently came under German fire, and there was every
possibility that these troops might be cut off and captured if the
German advance were pushed home far enough on the west bank of the
Meuse and the German artillery was successful in interrupting the
passage of the river. It was a perilous position and there were some
days when the situation seemed critical.

Accordingly, when the German drive at Verdun was at last disclosed in
its real magnitude Joffre prepared to evacuate the town and the east
bank of the river, to straighten his line and abolish the salient and
give over to the Germans the wreck of Verdun. The position behind the
river was next to impregnable; the lines would then be parallel; there
would be no salient, and in the new position the French could
concentrate their heavy artillery while the Germans were moving up the
guns that they had fixed to the north of the old front.

But at this point the French politician interfered. He recognized the
wisdom of the merely military view of Joffre, but he saw also the
moral value. He recognized that the French and the German public alike
would not see Verdun as a mere point in a trench line and a point
almost impossible to defend and destitute of military value. He saw
that the French and German publics would think of Verdun as it had
been thought of before the present war changed all the conditions of
conflict. He recognized that the German people would be roused to new
hope and confidence by the capture of a great fortress, and that the
French would be equally depressed by losing what they believed was a
great fortress.