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Introduction
At the beginning of the war Verdun was an important fortress on the French frontier, facing directly towards the German fortress of Metz. Verdun was a very important symbol to France, being the town where the treaty of Verdun had taken place to divide the empire of Charlemagne, founding what would later become France and Germany. It was a strong point on the river Meuse and guarded the entrance to the valleys of Champagne and the road to Paris.
The town itself was a garrison city with a big casern hosting several regiments and equipment storage. It lies in the middle of a valley cut by the Meuse river and surrounded by a ring of hills. Forts were built on the top of the hills, supporting each other with their fire. Clockwise on the western bank stood the hills of Côte 304 and le Mort-Homme, and the woods of Bois-des-Corbeaux. On the eastern bank, from north to south, stood the woods of Bois des Caures, the villages of Beaumont and Louvemont, the Fort of Douaumont, the village of Fleury and to the east the Fort of Vaux. Between all of those stood several other woods, hills, forts and villages of lesser strategic importance. Out of all the forts, Douaumont is the most important. It is the toughest, best armed and most modernized of them and commands the whole valley from its position.
During 1914 the German Army failed to take the citadel of Verdun but had surrounded it by taking St-Mihiel to the south. The citadel was left as a bulge in the middle of the German held territory. The situation had remained stable until 1916 without any major action taking place in the sector.
The Battle of Verdun
When German Commander-in-chief Falkenheyn decided to attack this sector the situation had degraded severely for the French defenders. After the quick destruction of the Belgian forts in 1914 the French high command had lost faith in its forts and removed most of the garrison personnel and heavy guns to make up for their lack of heavy field artillery. Communication was limited to a single railway vulnerable to German artillery and a simple country road. The Meuse river made defense difficult by cutting the salient in two.
The German army benefited due to the 14 railways to transport their troops and had heavy forests to hide them out of sight. They already held excellent observation positions around the citadel to direct accurate artillery fire on the defenders. Throughout February 1916 the German Army amassed 72 infantry battalions and 870 canons around the salient, aimed at the French army. The French had 34 battalions with 270 canons, often of older types, defending it.
The First German Attack
On the morning of 21 February the German artillery batteries opened fire simultaneously on the French lines, in a 12km long arc that circled north of Verdun. In the history of war at that time there had never been such a heavy artillery barrage, heavy shells fell and exploded every 3 seconds. The French units holding the lines are pulverized.
At 4pm the German assault divisions left their positions and under cover of the advancing artillery barrage overran the old French lines, expecting an easy push. They soon realized their mistake. All along the lines small pockets of soldiers rose from the earth; dirty, haggard, crazed by the long bombardment that decimated them and with no hope of escape, the surviving French soldiers clung to every patch of terrain they could hold.
Whole French battalions were reduced to handfuls of soldiers, yet they manage to hold their positions, fighting at a rate of 1 against 10 or 20 and stopped the advance of whole German divisions. At the Bois des Caures the two Battalions of Chasseurs à Pied under the orders of Lieutenant-colonel Driant held out for two days without support before retreating. Out of a battalion of 1200 chasseurs only 100 survived the brutal attacks. Col. Driant was killed in action and became a national hero for his actions. Reinforcement was made impossible by German artillery barrage and for four days the French held the villages of Beaumont and Louvemont. On the 24th a French counter attack was attempted but was beaten back by the German artillery.
On the 25th a company of the German 21st regiment reached the Fort of Douaumont, and to their surprise found it was only occupied by a handful of unprepared territorial soldiers. They capture it without a fight. Throughout France the news is a shock, while the Germans celebrate and garrison it.
On the same day French General Pétain is made commander of the sector. He immediately reorganizes the lines of defense. The remaining forts are rearmed and receive a permanent garrison. Artillery batteries are concentrated and then put under the direct command of Pétain. The road from Bar-le-Duc, became the only reliable way of supply and communication to Verdun, and was reinforced. Supplies and troop movements were reorganized, while the wounded and exhausted troops were evacuated. Because the road became such an importance to the survival of the French soldiers at Verdun the road received the nickname “La voie sacrée”, the Sacred Way. Pétain’s command and direction was a success and on the 26th the French counter-attack. The German army is stopped after an advance of only 6km.
The Second German Attack
On the 6th of March, Falkenheyn directs nine divisions to attack on both banks of the Meuse. They launch attack after attack on Mort-Homme, turning it into a deadly wasteland. After 10 days they advanced 2km and took Bois des Corbeaux and the village of Cumière, but the French still held Mort-Homme. Realizing that Mort-Homme couldn’t be taken without first taking Hill 304, which allowed deadly support fire, the Germans attack both hills unsuccessfully for the rest of the month. On the eastern bank the German advance is stopped by Fort of Vaux. The village of Fleury is taken and retaken 13 times, but the Germans never advance past it.
Attrition
From April on the battle turns into one of attrition. Limited gains are made and the lines are battered by the artillery of which now almost matched on both sides. Pétain organises a fast rotation of units to avoid full exhaustion and about 70% of all French divisions spend some time their. On the German side though, it is essentially the same divisions that get beaten up throughout the battle.
On the 4th of May the 11th Bavarian Division finally takes hold on Hill 304 and the French are forced to give it up despite costly counter-attacks.
Meanwhile the Commander in Chief of the French Army, General Joffre, gets impatient with Pétain’s defensive stance. He promotes him to Commander of the Centre Army Group, while General Nivelle takes command at Verdun. Nivelle immediately orders the recapture of Fort Douaumont.
On 22 May two divisions under the order of General Mangin the French mount an attack on Fort Douaumont. Few squads manage to reach it however because of the superior German artillery, insufficient troops and short preparation of the soldiers worked against the attacking units. Half of Mangin’s men become casualties.
The Last German Attacks
The German command is hard pressed for time. Their intelligence service warns them of the Entente’s coordinated offensives on the Somme, the Russian and the Italian fronts. Falkenhayn thinks of a plan to eliminate the resistance at Verdun and free the units tied up there.
On the 1st of June the Germans attack on a 6km broad front on the eastern bank, in the zone covered by the Fort of Vaux. They outnumber the French defenders 4 to 1 and crush the fort under an intense artillery bombardment. On the 4th they hold the fort’s moat and lay siege to the 600 man strong garrison of Commandant Raynal. For three days besiegers and besieged will fight in the corridors of the fort with grenades, gas, fire, and by erecting sand walls in the passages. On the 7th of June, having been cut off and out of water for a week, Commandant Raynal finally surrenders the Fort of Vaux. As the thirsting and extenuated defenders walk out to captivity the German soldiers stand at attention in respect. The German units make little to no progress for the rest of the month of June.
A new offensive is planned for the 8th of July but pushed back to the 11th because of bad weather. After two days of hard fighting the German units get within 3km of Verdun. Their advance is stopped at the Froideterre ridge, the town of Fleury and the Forts of Tavannes and Souville, the last hill summits before the town of Verdun. Unable to make more progress the order is issued to all German units to go on the defense. For five months the German Army attacked the Verdun Sector. The following five months the initiative would belong to the French.
French Offensive Preparations
General Joffre orders Nivelle and Mangin to make an offensive to retake the lost terrain and particularly the forts of Douaumont and Vaux. They plan the attack for October, and having learned the lessons from their previous counter-attack give it sufficient means. Eight divisions are trained for a month and important heavy artillery assets. The trench network is perfected and galleries for the assault are dug; forward HQs are prepared in the front lines and connected with phone wires. Everywhere they dig the soldiers find corpses and remnants of bodies. The decay and stench becomes unbearable.
On The 15th of October the attack preparations are done. Meanwhile there is little activity on the front lines, with the exception of a few skirmishes. Rain falls incessantly and the weather gets colder. The units facing one another, exhausted, wet and cold are content enough to just hold the line passively.
The French Counter-attack
On the 21st of October the French artillery begins their barrage on the German lines. On the 22nd the remaining hidden 158 German batteries are discovered and destroyed thanks to a diversionary attack. The 23rd a shell hits Fort Douaumont’s ammunition room, starting a heavy fire and forcing the German defenders to evacuate because of the fumes. During the night the French assault divisions take position in the forward lines. A lot of German soldiers surrender in the morning, demoralized by the artillery barrage. The 24th at 11.40am the French divisions go over the top and towards the enemy lines in a thick fog. That evening the RICM with a few elements of 321st regiment of infantry recapture Fort Douaumont, capturing the few German soldiers that remained. Several other objectives are captured that day.
The following days the assault divisions progress towards the Fort of Vaux. Realizing the fight would be useless, the Germans evacuate the fort on the night of the 2nd of November and is recaptured by the French the next day. In that offensive the French took 6.000 prisoners and captured an important load of equipment. 22 German battalions were destroyed in the fighting.
On 11 November General Mangin lead another offensive on the eastern bank and manages to push back the Germans to their starting positions there. Mort-Homme and Hill 304 are recaptured on August 1917 after a swift assault and heavy artillery bombardment.
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