How Did a Single Road Save Verdun From Falling in WWI?

How did a single road save Verdun from falling in WWI?

When German generals decided on a strategy of attrition to methodically wear down the French Army in the middle of the First World War (1914-18), the Battle of Verdun was the result, an engagement that spiralled out of control and cost both sides much more than they ever imagined. Desperate to hold on to the prestigious fortress complex of Verdun, the French rotated divisions in its defence so that 75% of the nation's army fought in this giganti…

Verdun: the longest battle

Verdun – or the ‘Mill on the Meuse’, as it became known – holds a similar place in France’s national psyche to that occupied in the British imagination by the Somme. Though surprisingly little remembered today outside France and Germany, the epic struggle for the famous fortress city that took place over 10 months in 1916 would go down in history as the longest battle of World War I. With more than 300,000 casualties on either side, it would als…