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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.
The widespread use of the slogan originates from the 1916 Battle of Verdun in the First World War when French Army General Robert Nivelle urged his troops not to let the enemy pass. [2] The simplified slogan of "they shall not pass" appeared on French war propaganda posters, most notably by French artist Maurice Neumont in the last year of the ...
In February 1916, the Germans attacked French defensive positions at the Battle of Verdun, lasting until December 1916. Casualties were greater for the French, but the Germans bled heavily as well, with anywhere from 700,000 [89] to 975,000 [90] casualties between the two combatants. Verdun became a symbol of French determination and self ...
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.
The Douaumont Ossuary (French: Ossuaire de Douaumont) [1] is a memorial containing the skeletal remains of soldiers who died on the battlefield during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. It is located in Douaumont-Vaux, France, within the Verdun battlefield, and immediately next to the Fleury-devant-Douaumont National Necropolis. [2]
Construction work started in 1885 near the village of Douaumont, on some of the highest ground in the area and the fort was continually reinforced until 1913. It has a total surface area of 30,000 m 2 (36,000 sq yd) and is approximately 400 m (440 yd) long, with two subterranean levels protected by a steel reinforced concrete roof 12 m (13 yd) thick resting on a sand cushion.
1916 was characterized by two great battles on the Western front, at Verdun and the Somme. They each lasted most of the year, achieved minimal gains, and drained away the best soldiers of both sides. Verdun became the iconic symbol of the murderous power of modern defensive weapons, with 280,000 German casualties, and 315,000 French.
Vaux was the second fort to fall in the Battle of Verdun after Fort Douaumont, which was captured by a small German raiding party in February 1916 in the confusion of the French retreat from the Woëvre plain. Vaux had been modernised before 1914 with reinforced concrete top protection like Fort Douaumont and was not destroyed by German heavy ...