Battle of Verdun

The Battle of Verdun was a WW1 military engagement which took place in northeast France, on the Meuse River, from February 21st to December 18, 1916. It was fought between the German 5th Army, led by Crown Prince Wilhelm, and the French 2nd Army, under Henri-Philippe Petain. It was the longest and most vicious military encounter of World War I as more than 2 million men saw combat action, fighting for almost a whole year. Verdun is a small French town on the Meuse, but it was famous in history for its system of defensive fortresses, with the first one, Fort Vauban, dating back to the 17th century.

Summary

The Battle of Verdun started as a massive German offensive against the French fortifications system at Verdun, which consisted of a series of forts, of which Fort Douaumont, Fort Moulainville, Fort Vaux, and Fort la Chaume were the strongest and best armed. The rationale for the attack was that a powerful onslaught on the fortified French line would lure other French units from other points in the front line to reinforce Verdun, thus weakening other sectors of the front. Using heavy artillery in large numbers, followed by successive infantry attacks, General Falkenhayn, commander of all the German armies on the Western Front, planned to bleed France into submission. Verdun was also a bulge in the French line into the German-held territory and it had to be reduced.

The battle began at 04:000 hours, on February 21, with a massive artillery bombardment, which included Big Bertha, the 420-mm mortar-howitzer. The infantry attack started at 04:45 hours and it was carried out by the XVIII, the III, and the XV Corps of the German 5th Army, under the command of Crown Prince William. Verdun was defended by the French 2nd Army (Army Group Center), under Henri-Philippe Petain.

In the first wave of the offensive, the most forward Forts, Douaumont and Hardaumont, were taken by the German forces after ferocious fighting. However, Henri-Philippe Petain managed to massively reinforce the French positions resorting to the use of trucks as means of transportation of the troops, as well as to rail artillery to provide additional fire support for the French counterattacks. However, the British Expeditionary Forces offensive on the German positions on the Somme River in July, 1916, greatly reduced the intensity of the German attacks on Verdun, enabling the French 2nd Army to launch successive counteroffensives. By mid December, 1916, the French had regained the Forts and the territory they had lost at the beginning of the battle.

Below, map of the German and French positions at Verdun when the offensive began

Below, the ruins of Fort Douaumont long after WW1, in 1944.

Below, German stormtroops attacking the Douaumont Fortress at the end of February, 1916. Original photo