Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
failed. World War I erupted in August 1914, and after a lengthy stalemate, in 1916 the
Germans elected to strike a powerful knockout punch at the heart of the French defense,
to demoralize them and force a quick surrender. They chose Verdun as their target. By de-
featingthebestoftheFrenchdefenses,theGermanswouldcrippletheFrenchmilitaryand
morale. The French chose to fight to the bitter end. Three hundred days of nonstop trench
warfare ensued. France eventually prevailed, but at a terrible cost.
The Battle of Verdun (a.k.a. the “Battle of 300 Days and Nights”) was fought from
FebruarythroughDecemberof1916.Thiswasonechapterinahorrific“battleofattrition”
in which the leaders of Germany and France decided to wage a fierce fight, knowing that
they would suffer unprecedented losses. Each side calculated that the other would bleed
white and drop first.
Duringthe“HellofVerdun”(hellfortroopsandhellforlocals),GermanyandFrance
dropped 60 million artillery shells on each other. While we have an image of rifle fire
and hand-to-hand combat, most of the casualties were caused by shells bursting into lethal
fragments. An estimated 95 percent of the deaths at Verdun were from artillery shrapnel.
Shells were fired from as far away as nine miles, with poor accuracy. Death by enemy fire
was commonplace...as was death by friendly fire.
