A major military engagement of World War I, the Battle of Verdun was a ten month long ordeal between the French and German armies. The battle was part of an unsuccessful German campaign to take the offensive on the western front. Both the French and German armies suffered an incredible loss of life (estimated casualties: France 540,000 men and Germany 430,000 men) and no strategic advantages were gained for either side. The Battle of Verdun is considered to be one of the most brutal events of World War I, and the site itself is remembered as the "battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard." (Horne, 1)
In the years preceding World War I, Germany became Europe's leading industrial power. France felt increasingly threatened by German industrialization; and although France ruled the second largest colonial empire in the world (Britain was the largest), French leaders realized that France could not protect itself on its own from the burgeoning power of Germany.
As a response to the German threat of invasion, France built a continuous line of sunken forts in the hopes that an invading army would not be able to maneuver through it. The line of fortifications extended from the Swiss frontier to the French city of Verdun, thus making Verdun a vital strong point for the French war effort.
The German attack began on February 21, 1916 with an intense artillery bombardment of the forts surrounding Verdun. The French army retreated to predetermined positions while the German army pounded through the French lines. On February 25 1916, Fort Douaumont, near Verdun, surrendered to German forces. On that same day, General Joseph Joffre, the French Commander and Chief, dedicated to ceasing further French retreat, assigned General Henri Philippe Petain to command the French army at Verdun. Petain fought with the motto " Ils ne passeront pas," which means, "They shall not pass!" While the exhausted German army was lingering at Fort Douaumont, Petain restructured his troops and transported reserves to the region continuously.
On March 6 1916, the German commanders ordered an attack, and on March 22, 1916, another French fort near Verdun, Harcourt, surrendered to the German army. A week later, on March 22 1916, Malancourt, a French fort near Verdun, had fallen to the Germans. Although three French forts near Verdun had capitulated to German forces, Verdun itself remained undefeated.
German attacks ensued, but by April, the French Air Force had secured the sky over Verdun, which would help the French to successfully defend the area. However, the French forts of Thiaumont and Vaux had fallen to the German army in June, although the pressure on France had diminished due to the British attack on German forces near the Somme River. This British attack and a Russian offensive in the east forced the German army to transfer troops away from Verdun. These events put Germany in a defensive mode, and the French quickly took the offensive.
By November of 1916, Fort Vaux, Fort Thiaumont, and Fort Douaumont had been reclaimed for France. By December, the French had advanced to their February 1916 lines, their original position. No new advantage had been gained for either side.
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The casualties from both sides must be honered and remembered by everyone and when you go to a battlefield please visit a cemetery or a monument to pay your respects.
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Copyright 1996-9 by David W. Koeller. dkoeller@northpark.edu. All rights reserved.
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