- 05 -202016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twenty-sixth episode : the Douaumont ossuary
The Douaumont Ossuary is one of the most powerful war memorials in France. The Ossuary was built on the initiative of one man: Marie André Charles Ginisty, Bishop of Verdun. Monseigneur Ginisty requested that a […]
- 05 -172016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twenty-fifth episode : the myth of the “saviour of Verdun”
On 25 February 1916, General Philippe Pétain, attached to French General Staff as Commander of the Second Army, was ordered to save Verdun at all costs. After replacing him by General Robert Nivelle, General Joseph […]
- 05 -132016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twenty-fourth episode : the selection of the unknown french soldier and Verdun
The constant heavy artillery bombardments that took place during the battle of Verdun had transformed the battlefield into a devastated corpse-ridden landscape scene of mass death and total destruction, a wasteland of mud full of […]
- 05 -102016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twenty third episode : the emblematic battle of Verdun
At the start of the battle, French troops put up a bitter resistance against Germany’s incredible will to triumph. At the same time, contemporaries sensed that this battle was bound to determine the course of […]
- 05 -062016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twenty second episode : the destroyed villages of Verdun
In 1914, the rural area that was to become the geographical area of the Battle of Verdun had many small villages of 100 inhabitants each. All the residents of these villages were evacuated before the […]
- 05 -032016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twenty first episode : the martyred city of Verdun
The first large-calibre projectiles that were fired on the city of Verdun on 21 February 1916, the first day of the Battle, caused untold damages. Two days later, all the remaining civilians were evacuated from […]
- 04 -292016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, twentieth episode : the city of Verdun, prior to the battle
The city of Verdun made history with the Treaty of Verdun signed in AD 843, the first treaty that divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms. Although this historical event received only a passing mention […]
- 04 -262016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, nineteenth episode : mass death
Some 163,000 French soldiers and 143,000 German soldiers were killed during the ten-month of intense combats that took place in Verdun. However, the Battle of Verdun was not any deadlier than other battles that took […]
- 04 -222016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, eighteenth episode : the soldiers of Verdun
During the ten-month battle, French and German soldiers lived the same terrible existence through the «Hell of Verdun». Both attackers and counter-attackers were exposed to incessant shelling, hunger, thirst, cold or heat, mud and infestations […]
- 04 -192016
The “hyperbataille” of Verdun, seventeenth episode : gaz warfare
The Germans started their chemical warfare program as early as 1915. It was during the Second Battle of Ypres that during their first chlorine attack on 22 April 1915, the Allies discovered the so-called “vagues […]
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