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BATTLE OF VERDUN (VERDUN BATTLEFIELD)

December 9, 2015 By Howard Kramer Leave a Comment

Verdun, France (1916 AD)

The Battle of Verdun was actually a campaign that lasted nearly a year and was one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I.  One of the largest offensives launched by the Central Powers on the Western Front, it involved over two million soldiers, cost nearly a million casualties, and resulted in no strategic change of significance in the trench warfare stalemate which had bedeviled both sides since the outset of the war.  The successful defense of Verdun, despite the casualties, was attributed to Henri Petain, who later went on to serve as marshal of the French armed forces.  The restored fortresses of Verdun, which were all-but flattened by artillery shelling during the battle, are among the most popular World War I military sites anywhere.

History

The region between Germany, France and the Low Countries has been one of the world’s bloodiest frontiers since earliest times, and as a result has historically been one of the most heavily fortified.  The wars became ever more terrible with the advent of gunpowder weapons, which increasingly made fixed fortifications obsolete.  This didn’t stop the region’s residents from attempting to build them, and one of the greatest, was the massively fortified French city of Verdun.

By early 1916, World War I had already been raging for well over a year, and the Western Front had settled into a stalemate of trench warfare.  All attempts at breaking through by either side had failed, but that didn’t stop the Germans from trying again.  This time their target was the city of Verdun.  Surrounded by a ring of immense, heavily armed fortresses, this French bastion jutted deep into German territory, and blocked one of the main routes towards Paris.

The campaign began on February 21, 1916, and was one of the largest single military engagements in history.  Well over a million soldiers fought on each side of the battle.  After some initial German advances, the battle stagnated by March.  Their greatest success was the capture of Douamont, one of the largest and strongest of the French defensive positions.  Throughout the rest of the year, much of the French efforts, led by Marshal Petain, were spent in trying to retake this key position, which was eventually retaken in October at great cost.

By the time the German campaign was called off, it had lasted ten months, and in the end failed to achieve its objective.  The casualties on each side were staggering: an estimated half a million French and four hundred thousands Germans by the time the battle was over, with seven hundred thousand total killed in action.  In the end little changed from a strategic standpoint, and Verdun remained a thorn in the side of the Germans for the rest of the war.

Visiting

The Verdun Fortress can be traced back to the reign of Charlemagne, and perhaps even earlier.  It was fought over many times, including during the Napoleanic Wars, Franco-Prussian War and World War I.  Virtually the entire site was laid waste during the latter, and most traces of the old citadel on the surface are long gone.  However, extensive sections of Verdun’s underground fortifications can still be visited, from trenches to bunkers to a labyrinth of communication tunnels.  Also on site is the Doaumont Ossuary, where the unidentified skeletal remains of over 100,000 soldiers are stored.

The Verdun Battlefield spreads out to the northeast of the city of Verdun, approximately 160 miles east of Paris.  The primary visitor destinations are the fort (actually known as Fort Douaumont) and the Douamont Ossuary.  As of this writing no visitor information was available.  Web: www.verdun-tourisme.com (official tourism website of the city of Verdun.

Filed Under: Battlefield Tagged With: France

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About Howard Kramer

Howard Kramer is the creator and author of The Complete Pilgrim. He first took an interest in religious sites in his early twenties when traveling through Italy after college. In the two decades since he has traveled to more than two dozen countries and almost every state, visiting and photographing hundreds of the world’s greatest churches, synagogues and other places of religious interest. Howard has been writing about religious sites for the better part of the last decade, and The Complete Pilgrim is a culmination of years of his work and passion.

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Welcome to The Complete Pilgrim(TM)! This site, created by Howard Kramer, is a combination travel blog and online guide to the world's greatest sites of religious interest (with some historic and recreational places thrown in for good measure). All written content has been originally researched and produced and is provided free for public research and enjoyment. Thank you for visiting!

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Africa (North) Africa (Sub-Sahara) Arabia Armenia/Azerbaijan/Georgia Australia/Pacific Austria/Switzerland Balkans Belgium/Netherlands British Isles Canada Caribbean Central Asia China Czech Republic Egypt France Germany Greece Hungary/Romania/Bulgaria India (NE)/Nepal India (NW) India (South)/Sri Lanka Iran/Iraq Israel Italy/Malta Japan/Korea Latin America Mexico Palestine Poland/Lithuania Russia Scandinavia Southeast Asia Spain/Portugal Syria/Jordan/Lebanon Turkey/Cyprus Ukraine US-California US-Mid Atlantic US-Midwest US-New England US-New York US-Pacific Northwest US-South US-Southwest

Contact Us

Have a comment, a great photo or a religious site you'd like to nominate for the weekly spotlight? We would love to hear from you. Email us at hkramer@thecompletepilgrim.com.

About the Author

Howard Kramer is the creator and author of The Complete Pilgrim. He first took an interest in religious sites in his early twenties when traveling through Italy after college. In the two decades since he has traveled to more than two dozen countries and almost every state, visiting and photographing hundreds of the world’s greatest churches, synagogues and other places of religious interest. Howard has been writing about religious sites for the better part of the last decade, and The Complete Pilgrim is the culmination of years of his work and passion.

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