The First World War, which took place between 1914 and 1918, was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. Among the times and places where most people died is the Battle of Verdun, fought by Germans and French for 10 months, causing more than 600,000 deaths.
The battlefield was located near the town of Verdun, on the banks of the River Meuse, in northeastern France. The Germans were commanded by General Erich von Falkenhayn, who started the artillery and bombing attacks on 21 February. On the French side, General Philippe Pétain was commanding the troops that resisted the German attacks.
The Germans achieved important victories at the beginning of the battle, mainly with heavy bombing carried out mainly on the French trenches. However, Pétain's entry into the command of French troops represented the strengthening of French resistance to the German attacks. With the motto “Not Passing”, the French adopted a tactic of rotating troops in the forts and trenches, intending to do so. In this way, reduce the fatigue of soldiers and the harmful effects on fighting morale resulting from long periods of standing in the same local. This form of battle became known as the Noria system, which had as one of its initiators, alongside Pétain, General Charles Nivelle.
They also built a road connecting Verdun to the rear, ensuring the supply of supplies and war supplies. The road was called Voie Sacrée, the Via Sagrada, through which about 12 thousand vehicles, 50 thousand tons of food and 2 million soldiers passed.
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The German bombing made it even more difficult for the battle to develop, due to the large number of craters created in the field. Added to this was the rain and snow that fell during the long months of battle, turning the place into an immense bog. The fighting took place both with the use of toxic gas bombs, by the Germans, and in hand-to-hand confrontations between the soldiers.
Trench warfare also led to the accumulation of hundreds of thousands of bodies on the battlefield. Bomb attacks raked the earth, bringing buried bodies to the surface. The smell resulting from the putrefaction of the bodies, combined with the lack of hygiene in the latrines and forts, led soldiers putting garlic cloves in their nostrils when they had to build new trenches.
The battle that was characterized by the capture and recapture of fortifications ended on December 15, when the Germans decided to retreat in the face of their inability to defeat the French. French resistance, coupled with British offensives on German positions, would mark the downfall of the Second Reich in World War I.
By Tales Pinto
Master in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PINTO, Tales dos Santos. "Battle of Verdun – 1916"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/batalha-verdun-1916.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
