Battle of Verdun: The Germans And The French War

The low morale of French Army

The fortresses and places in the Verdun

The Map of Europe of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun is considered the greatest and the longest in world war history. Never before or since has there been such long battle, involving so many men with many casualties, situated on such a small piece of land. The battle, which lasted from 21 February 1916 until 19 December 1916 caused over an estimated more than 600,000 casualties (dead, wounded and missing). The battlefield was not even ten kilometres radius. From a strategic point of view there can be no justification for these tremendous losses. The battle degenerated into a matter of prestige of two nations literally for the sake of fighting and honour.  This World War I siege stemmed from German General Erich von Falkenhayn’s edict to elicit major bloodshed from the French defense of the fortress complex around Verdun. German forces advanced quickly in February 1916, claiming Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux after brutal subterranean melees. Despite coming within two miles of Verdun cathedral, the Germans called off their offensive in mid-July, and Falkenhayn was relieved of his position. The French retook their forts and by the time their forces ground to a halt in December, both sides were left with more than 600,000 casualties. On February 21, 1916, more than 1000 opened fire. It was the sort of shell storm that would distinguish the battle. 75% of the French Western Front divisions would eventually serve there. “Meuse Mill” did not achieved ratio Falkenhayn had predicted. At the end of the first week, the Germans had advanced six more miles, a few men walked into an unprepared Fort Douaumont and took the ground. For the French, that marked the low point. Forcing the French ill-prepared but successful defence-in-depth. At the beginning of June, the Germans took important stronghold, Fort Vaux, after hideous subterranean melees. A few of their troops actually reached a point from which the twin towers of Verdun cathedral were visible, two miles away. Then, on July 14, the Germans called off their offensive. Falkenhayn was dismissed shortly after, largely for his failure at Verdun. Now it was the turn of the French to counteroffensive. In the autumn they retook Douaumont and then Vaux. By the time their advance ground to a halt in mid-December, they were close to the line where the battle had started ten months earlier. Casualties for both sides totalled between 600,000 and 700,000 and were roughly equal. (The total casualty figure for the entire war in the Verdun sector approaches 1.25 million.) Even today the skeletons of Verdun still surface, to be added to the towering bone piles in the basement of the Douaumont ossuary.