The eve of the battle of Verdun.

1914: The birth of the 2 opposing powers.

On the 28th of June 1914 the Austrian Crown Prince Franz-Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo. The killer was a Serbian separatist, Gavrilo Princip. The murder on Franz-Ferdinand caused Austria- Hungaria to state an ultimatum to Serbia. The ultimatum was far to heavy and not realistic for Serbia. However, Serbia tried to comply with the Ausrian- Hungarian demands. Serbia asked Austria to make a case of the matter at the International Court of Arbitrage in 's Gravenhage in Holland. As a reaction on the Serbian question, Austria- Hungaria declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July. Russia was allied with Serbia, so Russia started to mobilize its army. The mutual agreements between countries were activated. On one side the 'centrals' (Germany, Austia- Hungary) and on the other side the 'allied' forces. (The British Empire, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro) In no time the 2 opposing alliances were at war. Due to nationalistic and patriotic feelings and diplomatic faillure the greatest war the world had ever seen was about to start.

The mobilisation.

At the start of the war, the soldiers on both sides felt patriotic. These feelings took even forms of mass hysteria. On the French trains heading to the frontlines were texts like 'A Berlin'. They were confident to crush 'les boches' (the Jerry's). On German trains heading to the frontlines were texts like 'nach Paris'. On both sides it was expected that the war would be violent but short. It was thought that at Christmas 1914 the war would be decided. The patriotic feelings amongst the people would quickly disappear as the war turned out to be much longer then expected.

In the beginning of the war the French mobilisation went faster then it was expected. The French army calculated that desertion would be 10 to 40 %. The actual desertion figure turned out to be 1,4 %. 3.700.000 French were in the arms in 1914. Beside the French army, 117.000 British soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) were in France to fight the Germans.
On the German side, the army also mobilized very well. In short time, over a 4.000.000 Germans were at arms. This German millions army was going to show the world that Germany was a world power. This army would attack France according to the brilliant 'Von Schlieffen Plan' and take the French completely by surprise.

The Von Schlieffenplan.

Graf Alfred Von Schlieffen (1853- 1913) was the Chief of the German Army General Staff from 1891 to 1906. he was known as a brilliant tacticus. He thought a war between Germany and France was about to happen. War with France would certainly mean that Russia also involve in this war as Russia and France were allies. The biggest German fear was to get stuck in a long lasting war at both the French and the Russian border. The solution was to crush France first and after that resume the war with Russia. Von Schlieffen thought this would be possible as France needed 2 weeks to completely mobilize, and Russia 6 to 8 weeks. In 1898, Von Schlieffen started to work on this plan. A year later his plan was as detailed to work. Von Schlieffen updated his plan time and time again until his death in 1913. It was presumed that the war could be won if the army would stick at the plan.
This is what the Von Schlieffen plan looked like:
Seven German armies would attack France. In the mean time, only one German army with some Austrian forces, would make a defensive line near the Russian Border. The French had to be defeated in only 6 weeks time. After the victory in France the German armies would be transported to the Russian border to cope with the -by that time- mobilized Russian army. Time was the decisive factor. A frontal attack on the heavily defended French border with Germany would take to many time, so the frontal attack was no good option.

A very good option was to attack the weak Belgium. The Belgium- French border was not heavily defended by the French. The swipe through Belgium with 4 armies to attack France was to leave the heavily defended French- German border alone. Another 3 German armies would keep the French busy at the French- German border. Like a massive steam tractor the northern flank would overrule the weak Belgium army. After Belgium was defeated, the German armies would turn to the south in the direction of Paris. The majority of the French army in the east of France would be captured in a pocket and from that position completely defeated.
It was of vital importance to keep the northern flank as strong as possible, because they had to travel the longest distance.

The German General Staff was very confident in the succeeding of the Von Schlieffen Plan. In fact, they even hadn't an alternative plan. The plan was purely offensive. In case of war it was important for the Germans to move into enemy territory as quickly as possible so Germany itself wouldn't had suffer any damage.

The Fortification Verdun

Verdun had been a fortified city from the ancient Roman. The fortifications surrounding Verdun have been renovated several times in history in the 17th century by Vauban, Napoleon II and in 1885 when the ring at 8 km around the city was doubled. Later the fortifications where braced with concrete and armour, but after the fortress near Liege and Namur felt under the pressure of the heavy German artillery in 1914, the French believed that all the fortifications in surrounding of Verdun were useless. The fortifications were striped from their guns to use them on the battlefield. This would be a very costly mistake in the years that lie ahead.

The Preparations

In 1914 there had been fought around and for Verdun, but until 1916 it was a quiet part of the Western front. In February 1916 the garrison in Verdun existed out of three divisions; the 72nd reserve division from Verdun, the 51st reserve division from Lille and the Algerian 37th division that laid in reserve.

Von Falkenhayn increased the strength of the 5th army across Verdun with 10 divisions during January and February 1916. The 5th army was lead by the German Kronprinz, and supported by 542 guns. Under the estimated 1400 guns that lay around Verdun where 13 42cm and 15 30,5cm guns. These were the same guns that destroyed the fortress near Liege and Namur in 1914. The guns had an enormous stock of 2.500.000 grenades. A quick sum tells us that there were 100 German guns with almost 2100 grenades each on every kilometre. The upcoming bombardments should be so heavy that it wouldn’t be possible that there were any survivors and non of the fortification would survive.

Planned was to attack the French positions on February the 15th 1916 but the attack was delayed by bad weather. Monday February 21, 1916 7:15 AM, a clear winter morning with light frost. Out of nothing, 1400 guns started to fire their deadly contents on the forts surrounding Verdun.

Bois the Caures was the first target of the plan to capture Verdun. 

The 1st phase of the battle: the start of a tragedy.

Bois the Caures

The German artillery bombardment on February 21 started at Bois des Caures. An estimated number 80.000 grenades felt on the woods with a size of half a square kilometre before the German infantry appeared. The 1200 French defenders were led by Lieutenant Colonel Driant. When the superior number of Germans attacked they were surprised by the number of French that were still alive. The Germans were heavily harassed by French troops in the small bunkers  that were placed by Draint. The following day, the attack went on and after the appearance of German flame throwers some French started to give up the fight. In the North of the wood the French started to retreat to R2, the bunker of Driant himself. The French defeated three German attacks but they had to give up when two canons were put down directly in front of R2. The French were almost surrounded by the Germans. Driant and his remaining 80 Chasseurs had to pull back into the direction of the village of Beaumont. Driant did not make it and died after being hit by several bullets. 

If the Germans did attack with all the men they had it should be possible to overrun the 13 km of French positions. But they didn’t. Not all the French positions where taken by February 24. At the French front chaos dominated the scene and many defenders took their gear and retreated to the trenches that lay behind. At this moment the only "safe places" where the forts of Vaux and Douaumont on the hills near the river Meuse. These two fortifications lay on a strategic position. When the Germans could capture these fortresses it would be possible for the artillery observers to aim their guns on the city of Verdun.
 

The attack on Fort de Douaumont

On February 25 a spectacular event happened, when a German sergeant was smashed into the moat of fort Douaumont due to a nearby explosion. The sergeant, a member of the 24th Brandenburger division, decided to have a better look at the fort. He was surprised when he discovered that there were only a couple of French soldiers to defend Douaumont. The sergeant walked in and took the French defenders as prisoners of war. The rumour that Douaumont was taken by the Germans was an enormous shock for the French soldiers, reinforcements and staff in Verdun. From now on the Germans could aim their guns directly at the city. The German artillery observers could see the city of Verdun from the hills near the Meuse River. It looked like the fall of the city was nearby…. After the Germans took Douaumont the French bombed the fort day and night. At some days the roof of the fort was hit by more than 800 grenades, that is more than 1 every 2 minutes! Although the German bombardments the village of Douaumont was still in hands of the French.

On February 27 1916 the first German attack on the village took place, without any success. The French defenders beat of the enemy several times. After a week the Germans managed to take control off what was left of the village. The local commander ordered a counter attack, but than Petain intervened. Petain prohibited any counter attack because it would cost to many lives.

The second phase of the battle: Heavy fightings

The attack on the left bank of the river Meuse.

On the 6th of March 1916 the Germans launched their attack on the left bank. The objectives were two hills: The Mort-Homme and hill 304. These hills had to be captured if the Germans want to capture Verdun from the right bank. Without control over the Mort-Homme and hill 304 further offensive over the right bank was impossible. After a heavy bombardment the Germans advanced from the northern side of the hills. At the same time, elite troops crossed the river Meuse at Brabant and Champneuville. The advancing Germans captured a lot of terrain. Some time later that day, the units that advanced from the north made contact with the elite units that crossed the river. As a result, many French troops were surrounded.
The Bois des Corbeaux, also on the west side of the Meuse, was captured the next day on March the 7th. The first stroke for the Germans came when they wanted to capture the village of Cumieres. After a fight with many losses on both sides, the village remained in French hands. German attempts to capture the top of the Mort-Homme from the north also ended in many losses and no results. Since the beginning of the battle on the west bank the German army made many progress and many French prisoners of war. The villages of Forges and Regneville were taken. After the initial blow for the French, they managed to regroup and halt the German offensive. From now on, for every meter of terrain had to be fought hard.
 

In the early morning of the 8th of March the French launched a counter attack. Within several hours Bois de Corbeaux was retaken over the Germans. The Germans wanted to launch a attack from Bois the Corbeaux towards the Mort-Homme. They had to abandon this plan. On the 9th of March the Germans finally managed to hold a steady foot on the Mort-Homme. On the top of the Mort-Homme, the Germans were in direct sight of the French artillery. Again the Germans had to take many losses. On the 10 the of March Bois de Corbeaux was again taken by the Germans. However, the price the Germans had to pay was enormous, 70 % of the attacking Germans died there. After 5 days of continuing battle, the Germans suffered enormous losses. The surviving men were exhausted, they weren't any longer able to continue the offensive.

The Germans had gathered fresh troops for a new assault on the Mort-Homme. On the 14th of March, they tried again to capture the entire Mort-Homme. Again a huge bombardment was set in before the assault began. This time, also gas grenades were used by the Germans. The brave French defenders fought themselves to death, but they couldn't stop the Germans. The French were driven of the tops of the Mort-Homme, but the French remained on the southern slopes of the hills of the Mort-Homme.

Hill 304, at the west of the Mort-Homme, was in French control. From this hill, they had an excellent sight on the Mort-Homme. As a result, the French could lead there bombardments on the Mort-Homme very well. The Germans understood that Hill 304 was the key to the Mort-Homme, so the French had to be driven off Hill 304. On the 20th of March, Bavarian forces cleaned the way to Hill 304. The Bois d'Avocourt, and the villages of Malancourt and Bethincourt were captured in 11 days. The way to Hill 304 was clear.

The attack on the eastern side of the River Meuse.

On the 6th of March, also on the eastern side of the River Meuse a new assault was planned. Difficulties with the transport of the heavy guns and the ammunition delayed the attack two days. The French were waiting for the German assault, and they were well prepared. After a long and heavy bombardment, also with gas grenades, units from 5 army corpses began the assault. They didn't get far, the frontline did hardly move. The 8th of March ended with enormous casualties for both sides. There was no real German breakthrough: Only a few ruins from the village of Vaux were captured. Also in the following days also no real German progress was made. The advance in the direction of the village and the fort of Vaux was stopped north of Cote du Poivre. The fightings were very hard, for every yard of terrain had to be fought hard. It took the Germans 8 days to capture the small village of Douaumont.

On the 9th of March the church bells rang in Germany, it was believed Fort Vaux was captured. The German disillusionment was big as the news proved to be wrong. The German troops even entered the moat of Fort Vaux, but they didn't came in the fort itself. For a long time the Germans didn't came as near the fort as the were on the 8th of March. After Fort Douaumont was fallen so quickly, the French rearmed their forts to their full potential.

At the end of the German main attack, the Germans didn't made important progress. On the German side, 54.000 men were lost, at the French 65.000. These huge figures are only for March. Since the beginning of the battle every day an average of 4000 casualties were counted.

The 3rd phase of the battle:

April 1916.

The Germans were still confident in their victory, so a new attack was launched on the 9th of April. The spear point of the attack was to capture Hill 304. Heavy French counter-bombardments forced the Germans back from Hill 304. Another attempt to capture the village and the fort of Vaux was made. The Germans forced their way through the ruins of the village of Vaux. The next day, the 10th of April, the village was entirely in German hands.  No major campaigns were launched anymore in April.

The 4th phase of the battle: May and June.

The German attacks on the western side of the Meuse from 12th of May to the 1st of July.

From Hill 304, the French were still bombarding the German positions. The Germans launched again an attack. This time, over a 500 guns were prepared to bombard Hill 304. On the 3rd of May, the bombardment began. It lasted 60 hours. The shelling was so intense that Hill 304 was downsized to 297 meters in height! The French lines were simply swept away. After 3 days of intense fighting, the Germans finally captured the top of Hill 304.

On the 19th of May, a German attack was prepared to remove the French from the slopes of the Mort-Homme. The Germans succeeded, and they also managed to capture the village of Cumeries.

German attempts to force a way further south only led to vast losses. At the end of June, the German High Command forbid any attempt to gain terrain. No human but logistic reasons made them make this decision: German human losses couldn't be replaced properly anymore.

The disaster at fort Douaumont

May 8, fort Douaumont. A couple of soldiers are heating their coffee. Out of there was a huge explosion, the small fire from the soldiers lighted the stored Flame-thrower fuel. The face of many Germans was covered with a light layer of soot. Other soldiers in the fort where yelled, "the blacks are coming" (which they mean the feared French colonial troops) and started to fire on their own comrades. Due to explosions from hand grenades stored gas grenades exploded and caused more dead and destruction. At the end of the day the Germans counted more than 700 dead. The bodies of the dead men were lain in on of the fortress chambers. After that the Germans build a brick wall to close it. The remains of these soldiers are still on the same place, and it is still possible to visit this room and see the brick wall.

It would take until October 1916, when Douaumont was hit by French 40 cm shells, to defeat the Germans. The Germans evacuated the fort and the French recaptured it.

The explosion at Fort the Douaumont was not missed by general Mangin. He wanted to take over the fort while it was in weakened state. Hundreds pieces of artillery, including 4 with a calibre of 370mm were put in to position. The artillery barrage started on May the 7th and had a duration of 5 days. During the attacks of May 22 the French reached the roof of the fort and some small groups even managed to enter the fort. Mangin made the same mistake as the Germans did during the attack of fort the Vaux, he announced that the fort felt into French hands. The fierce German attacks on the day after beat off the French infantry. On June 24 the troops were back on their starting positions.

The 5th phase of the battle: The last German attempts on the eastern side of the Meuse.

July the 11th, the last German assault.

At the night from the 10th to the 11th of July the French lines on the line Fleury- Damloup were being bombarded. The Germans used their new fosphene gas grenades. Then 40.000 German soldiers came over the top of their trenches for the assault. When they came near the French, the defenders took them by surprise. The French were being equipped with new gas masks, and the masks proved to work well.

The Germans didn't expect the French would still resist. When the Germans came over this shock, they regrouped and continued the assault. On the 12th they reached the crossroad de la Chapelle Sainte-Fine. (The crossroad near the Memorial with the wounded lion statue). Fort Souville was at only 400 meters from this point. A small platoon of Germans even reached Fort Souville. As they stood on the roof they even saw the city of Verdun. They were quickly dislodged from the fort by counter attacking French units.

West of Fleury, the ravin des Vignes, was captured the same day by the Germans. The attack was halted here, the German soldiers were exhausted. Von Knobelsdorf ordered his troops to dug in. On the 14th of July the French responded with a large counter attack. The French drove the Germans back to their starting positions of their attack on July the 11th. The French losses were immense, so the French High Command forbade any futher attacks.

August and September.

From the first half of August till the end of September 1916, the Verdun area was a relative quit sector at the western front. The rest was broken on 4 September 1916, due to a tragedy at the Tavannes rail tunnel. The railway tunnel was on the line Verdun- Metz and is 1300 meters long. A single track went through it. The tunnel was a strategic point; it was near the battlefield and near the city of Verdun itself. The French used the tunnel as a bomb free home of 3 to a 4000 men, a field hospital, and as a storage room for ammunition and other supplies. You can compare the tunnel with fort Douaumont on that point. The Germans used Douaumont as a save place in the battlefield, the French had the railway- tunnel. The Germans tried hard to reach the tunnel and they came very close on the 11th of July 1916.
A disaster like the Germans had at Douaumont also struck the French in this tunnel. It happened late in the evening of 4 September. Probably fire hit some ammunition which was carried by mules. The fire then hit a storage for hand grenades which set fire on the gasoline for the lightning of the tunnel. In no time, the entire tunnel was on fire. Many soldiers ran out the tunnel in panic. The Germans where just firing at the tunnel to make the disaster even bigger. Eventually, 500 men were killed in the tunnel.

The 6th phase of the battle: The French strike back.

The French October counter attack.

October the 19th French guns started a immense bombardment on the German lines. Two days later it was pondering shells on the Germans and the bombardment only increased in power. At October the 22nd it suddenly stopped. As a reaction, the Germans started to bombard the French front lines. French observers spotted the German guns and were eliminated by the French.

On October the 23 a French 400 mm shell penetrated through the roof of fort Douaumont. The interior of the fort was on fire and the electricity was gone. The heavy shells kept felling on the fort. Major Rosendahl, the German commander of the fort, decided to 'abandon ship' at 23:00 hours that day. At 08:00 hours in the morning, a platoon of Germans returned to the fort to defend it against a French attack.

The French invented a new artillery tactic, the 'firewalls'. The assaulting infantry marched directly into the bombarded area, while the bombardment moved further into enemy terrain. This tactic was used for the first time at October the 24th. In only an hour time, the strongly defended village of Fleury and Ouvrage de Thiaumont came in French hands. At 14:15 hours, soldiers of the Regiment Colonial de Maroc, as part of the Mangin- division, managed to reach fort Douaumont. After a short but heavy fight, the German defenders surrendered.

Fort Vaux was abandoned by the Germans. At November the 2nd it was taken by the French. Everywhere the Germans were pushed back to their positions from where they started The Battle of Verdun. The frontline was now from Vacherauville to Louvemont to Bezonvaux. As the Germans regrouped, the French were halted.

The French December Campaign, the end of The Battle of Verdun.

In December, the French started their final offensive to push the Germans back out of the Verdun region. Again a monstrous amount of French guns were gathered to blast the Germans from their positions. Early in the morning at December the 15th the French infantry repeated the proven 'firewalls' tactic to drive the Germans from their trenches. As before in October, the French attack started very well and they won a lot of terrain over the Germans. Already at the first day, the villages of Vacherauville and Louvemont were taken. At December the 18th the French attack struck after the small village of Les Chambrettes was taken. The French High Command was very pleased with the outcome of the December ccampaign. Only the Cote de Talou was still at German hands. This cote was of great importance for its large hills. No large scaled attempts were made to drive the Germans off this cote.

On the western side of the River Meuse nothing had changed: The Germans still occupied the Mort-Homme and Hill 304. Nevertheless the French secured the City of Verdun from the German threat. December the 18th was known in history as the day the Battle of Verdun ended. It was the most useless battle ever in history. Many, many soldiers died in Verdun as the military situation of the war had changed nothing after this battle. Both opposing forces had learned nothing from this battle, as similar campaigns continued during the war.

Only humanity learned a hard lesson at Verdun: Never war again like at Verdun!

Timetable 1916 

February
12	German attack delayed by bad weather.
21	Official start of the Battle of Verdun.
22	Second massive German infantry attack.
22	4:30 PM, the French Lieutenant Colonel Driant dies at the Bois des Caures.
25	Fort de Douaumont Captured by the Germans.
March
6	German attack on the western banks of the river Meuse.
April
9	German attack on both the West and the Eastern banks of the river Meuse.
May
2	Philippe Petain replaced by Robert Niveille.
3	Start of German attack on Cote 304, Artillery attack of 60(!) hours.
6	Germans captured the top of Cote 304.

8	Explosion inside Fort de Douaumont, almost 700 Germans die.
9	French attack at Fort de Douaumont, no success were made.
31	German artillery bombardment on Fort de Vaux.
June
2	German Infantry attack on Fort de Vaux.
7	The French defenders of Fort de Vaux had to surrender.
July
1	Start of the Somme offensive.

12	A small group of Germans managed to climb on the roof of Fort de Souville.
14	French counter attack in the direction of Fort de Douaumont.
August
23	General Schmidt von Knobelsdorf transferred to the Eastern front.
September
4	Explosion inside the Tavanes rail tunnel, 500 French soldier did not survive.
October

19	French counter attack, target: recapture Fort de Douaumont and Fort de Vaux.
22	Short brake of the French artillery attack, observers could see the remaining German guns firing.
23	Fort de Douaumont hit by a French 400mm shell
24	French infantry attack started, within the first hour they recapture Ouverage de Thiaumont and Fleury.

24	Fort de Douaumont recaptured by the French.
November
2	Fort de Vaux recaptured by the French.
December
15	The French recaptured Vacherauville and the outskirts of Louvemont.

18	The official end of The Battle of Verdun.