The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun, German: Schlacht um Verdun, ) was one of the major battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February to 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France.
According to contemporary estimations, Verdun resulted in 714,321 casualties, 377,231 on the French side and 337,000 on the German one. An average of 70,000 casualties for each of the ten months of the battle. It was the longest and one of the most devastating battles in the First World War and the history of warfare. Modern estimations increase the number of casualties to 976,000.
Read more about Battle Of Verdun: Historical Background, Verdun Sector in 1914, German Strategy, Prelude, June–July 1916, Outcome, French and German Casualties, Significance
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“Athelstan King,
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Bracelet-bestower and
Baron of Barons,”
—Unknown. Battle of Brunanburh (l. 1–4)
“There is nothing more poetic and terrible than the skyscrapers’ battle with the heavens that cover them. Snow, rain, and mist highlight, drench, or conceal the vast towers, but those towers, hostile to mystery and blind to any sort of play, shear off the rain’s tresses and shine their three thousand swords through the soft swan of the fog.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)