Verdun. Alongside the Somme, the name of that unlovely fortress town in eastern France is the most synonymous with the worst horrors of World War One.
The endless rows of white crosses that now cover the area are testament to the war’s longest and hardest-fought battle, which began in February 1916 and dragged on until the year was almost done.
For Germany, defeating France quickly before turning on Russia was the essence of the Kaiser’s plan in 1914, and when war broke out in August the Germans launched a lightning assault. At the Marne in September, however, just a few miles outside Paris, the German advance was halted in its tracks by a Franco-British victory.
“Bleed the French white”
Following the establishment of a relatively static front, the heavily fortified area of Verdun remained a formidable salient into German territory.
As the war carried on into 1916 and with neither side able to forge a decisive advantage, the German high command began to plan a huge assault on the area, designed to “bleed the French white” and break their morale.
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