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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Magnus Maximus, post: 2637258, member: 73473&quot;]By 1916 the Western Front was a stagnant killing ground as neither side could successfully breakthrough the other&#039;s front line trenches. Even worse than the massive casualties on the battlefield was the deteriorating situation at the home front for many of the nations. Great Britain and France were doing a good job keeping their populace fed, while on the other hand, Germany was barely able to stop famine and starvation in early 1916. With the realization that Germany would probably be knocked out of the war from starvation soon, the German high command concluded that they had to get France out of the war and then focus on the British. To do this General Eric Falkenhayn proposed that they bleed France white, aka killing so many of their soldiers that the French public would force their government to seek a truce.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Germans decided that they would strike at Verdun, a city sacred to the French so that the French army would be forced to protect it. On February 21st, the battle began with a ten hour artillery bombardment that lobbed over a million, yes a million, shells on the French forward trenches. The French were totally caught off guard by this attack yet they bravely stood their ground. Many French soldiers were simply buried to death from their trenches caving in due to the artillery barrage. After the barrage, the Germans sent in Stormtroopers and flamethrowers to finish off the surviving men in the trenches. The French were subsequently pushed back, day by day, until the Germans were slowed by French artillery and by March the German offensive had been stopped. French General Nivelle famously told his men that the Germans shall not pass and take Verdun. After being stopped by the French artillery, the Germans then turned their attention to several forts located near the city of Verdun, after brutal fighting and bitter causalities the Germans successfully captured Forts Douamont and Vaux. By this point, though the German high command had concluded that the Battle of Verdun was a complete failure; the Germans were taking the same amount of causalities as the French, if not more, and were bleeding white themselves, yet Falkenhayn refused to call the offensive off. As a result, the French and Germans continued fighting around Verdun until December 1916. The French finally drove the Germans back to their pre-battle trenches, and the battle finally ended on December 22nd with a French victory. Indeed, the Germans had not passed, and France had won the day.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>French casualties were between 300 and 500 thousand men, with about 150,000 KIA</p><p><br /></p><p>German casualties were between 300 and 450 thousand men with about 140,000 KIA</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Verdun was the longest continuous battle in human history, it lasted 299 days, yet the war would still go on for two more brutal years. I don’t think I need to say more; it was a bloody battle that killed scores of young men. Let us hope that this sort of industrialized killing and slaughter never happens again.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581241[/ATTACH]</p><p>Fort Douaumont before the Battle</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581242[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>And after the Battle</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581243[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]581244[/ATTACH]</p><p>The Battlefield of Verdun as it is today.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581245[/ATTACH]</p><p>French soldiers at Verdun.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hi guys, this is a VERY brief summary of the Battle of Verdun, if you want to learn more about the battle then I strongly suggest you go “The Great War” on YouTube. They have a week by week analysis of The First World War, including Verdun.</p><p><br /></p><p>It’s my birthday today so I decided to get a few things, including a reproduction poster of a WW1 French PR piece concerning the Battle of Verdun and an amazing looking 1916 5 Centime piece.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581249[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581250[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]581251[/ATTACH]</p><p>To keep things legal here is a nice Eastern Roman Follis of Heraclius, Heraclius Constantine, and Martina that I also bought.[ATTACH=full]581254[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]581256[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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