Battle of Verdun

If there was ever a perfect demonstration of the futility of war, it had to be at the Battle of Verdun, in France. The Germans wanted to strike directly into the heart of France, to demoralize both them and their British allies (who, the Germans thought, would sue for peace just as soon as France fell). The heart of France, both strategically and symbolically, was the region of Verdun. The Germans prepared their massive offensive: over 400,000 men, all told, would fight.

On this day, April 9, in 1918, after the capture of several strategic forts at the front lines of Verdun, Germany launched an attack on the the French-defended hill, appropriately named Le Morte Homme (the dead man). Attacks on the Dead Man’s Hill were repelled, with heavy casualties on both sides.

French General Henri-Philippe Petain famously promised “Ils ne passeront pas!” — They shall not pass, and made every effort to bleed the German advance through Verdun. Well over 300,000 men were lost of both sides, with the battle ending inconclusively. Verdun solved nothing strategically, save for demonstrating, if not to the commanders then to everyone else, the pointlessness of the battle.