Battle of Verdun

Overview

The Battle of Verdun 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. The German 5th Army attacked the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Using the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position, with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses at little cost to the German infantry.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Verdun, fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916, was the longest battle of the First World War. The German 5th Army attacked the Fortified Region of Verdun and the French Second Army on the right bank of the Meuse, aiming to seize the Meuse Heights — a dominant position offering superior artillery observation over Verdun. The underlying German operational design, drawing on experience from the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, was to compel France to commit its strategic reserve to retake the lost ground, inflicting catastrophic attrition on the French army at relatively low cost to German infantry. The combined casualties — over 330,000 on the German side and nearly 400,000 on the French — marked Verdun as one of the bloodiest engagements of the entire war. The battle's duration and scale placed enormous strain on French military manpower and command structures, elevating figures such as Philippe Pétain, Robert Nivelle, and Charles Mangin to prominence in French operational leadership, and cementing Verdun as a defining ordeal of the French war effort on the Western Front.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (15)