# Scars of World War I - Battle of Verdun



## SeaBreeze (Aug 12, 2015)

Full story and more pics here. 


One of the longest and deadliest battle of the First World War was fought over a small parcel of land in north-eastern France, near the commune and town of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun lasted over 300 days from 21 February 1916 until 19 December 1916 and caused an estimated casualty of over 700,000 dead, wounded and missing.
The attack on Verdun came about because of a cunning plan by the German Chief of General Staff, von Falkenhayn. Verdun wasn’t strategically important to the Germans, but had a historic sentiment for the French.

The area around Verdun contained twenty major forts and forty smaller ones that had historically protected the eastern border of France for centuries. Falkenhayn knew that the French simply could not allow these forts to fall into the hands of the enemy because of the national humiliation that would follow. 

Falkenhayn believed that France would fight for this piece of land to the last man, and by doing so would lose so many men that the battle would change the course of the war. His plan was not to capture the city, but simply to kill as many Frenchmen as possible, or to quote him, “bleed the French army white”.


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## Warrigal (Aug 12, 2015)

That story send chills up my spine, SeaBreaze. 
I always bristle when I remember that this was said to be the war to end all wars. 

So much carnage, and for what?
The same question applies today IMO.


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## Shalimar (Aug 13, 2015)

So heartbreaking. We don't seem to have learned very much from history! Again and again, we send our youth to die in old men's wars, amongst the misery of the innocent. Prisoners of our own gravity, ad infinitum.


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## WhatInThe (Aug 13, 2015)

Heard there are areas/battlefields still contaminated from the chemical weapons they used, The Marne? Also when the built the Maginot Line they built the rear or French side fortifications weaker on purpose so in case they had to retake those positions it would be easier. Apparently retaking heavily fortified positions was a problem in World War I.


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