Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"The attack opened with a furious bombardment by 1220 German guns on a narrow eight-mile front. Falkenhayn's plan saw this section of the Western Front turned into a 'mincing machine' as artillery inflicted slaughter on an industrial scale. . . . Falkenhayn's plan failed, but Verdun's debilitating effect corroded the French army's morale, contributing to widespread mutinies the following year. In the long term, it also played a part in sapping the French will to fight another war with Germany in 1940." [Furtado: 1001 Days]