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The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun [bataj də vɛʁdœ̃]; German: Schlacht um Verdun [ʃlaxt ʔʊm ˈvɛɐ̯dœ̃]) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun.
Although the blockade of Verdun began on 25 October, [2] on 7 October, two German Artillery crews were made to create conditions for the infantry and advanced a few hundred steps and established its positions [7] The Germans then cleared all obstacles. [2] On 13 October Verdun was officially locked down. [2]
The Treaty of Verdun (French: Traité de Verdun, German: Vertrag von Verdun), agreed to on 10 August 843, ended the Carolingian civil war and divided the Carolingian Empire between Lothair I, Louis II and Charles II, the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I. The treaty was the culmination of negotiations lasting more than a year.
France, the great victor of this long conflict, expanded its territory eastward: Metz, Toul, and Verdun were recognized as de jure French after a century of de facto protectorate. France annexed part of Alsace, in particular the Landgraviate of Upper Alsace (formerly the County of Sundgau) and the cities of the Alsatian Décapole.
Verdun (/ v ɜːr ˈ d ʌ n / vur-DUN, [3] UK also / ˈ v ɛər d ʌ n / VAIR-dun, [4] US also / v ɛər ˈ d ʌ n / vair-DUN, [5] French: ⓘ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
A similar battle would have been considered a draw in 1915 but in 1917, after the huge losses at the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, the psychology of the soldiers was fragile. The strategic failure and the casualties caused a collapse in the morale of the French infantrymen , who had been so enthusiastic just a few days before. [ 4 ]
The French more than tripled their forces during the war, while the Germans did not increase theirs as much; the number of 888,000 mobilized by the North German Union in August increased by only 2% after 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 months, and by the end of the war, six months later, only by 15%, which did not even balance the losses incurred. Prussia was ...
The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, and the main effort by the French diminished to a supporting attack for the British. German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. [12]