# Canonical recap data for Battle of Verdun Concludes (1916)
# Source: https://recap.at/1916/battle-verdun
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: battle-verdun
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1916/battle-verdun"
title: Battle of Verdun Concludes
aliases:
- Verdun
- Battle of Verdun 1916
- Bataille de Verdun
subtitle: Ten months of attritional warfare killed over 700,000 soldiers and became the symbol of France's resolve, though neither side gained meaningful ground.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1916-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1916
decade: 1910
country:
name: France
slug: france
summaryShort: According to one of the possible definitions, a battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a series of military engagements that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engage
summaryLong: According to one of the possible definitions, a battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a series of military engagements that is well defined in duration, area, and force commitment. An engagement with only limited commitment between the forces and without decisive results is sometimes called a skirmish.
lede: The Battle of Verdun ended on December 18, 1916, after roughly 10 months of relentless fighting between French and German forces in northeastern France. between French and German forces in northeastern France. With roughly 700,000 casualties combined and minimal territorial change, it became a symbol of industrial-scale warfare's futility-and of French resolve under General Philippe Pétain.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Battle_of_Verdun_map.png/1280px-Battle_of_Verdun_map.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Battle"
importance: 93
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Duration
  value: February 21 – December 18, 1916 (302 days)
- label: Combined Casualties
  value: Approximately 700,000 (killed, wounded, missing)
- label: French Casualties
  value: Approximately 315,000
- label: German Casualties
  value: Approximately 281,000
- label: Primary French Commander
  value: General Philippe Pétain
- label: Primary German Commander
  value: Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia
- label: Artillery Shells Fired
  value: Estimated 40+ million rounds
- label: Net Territorial Change
  value: Approximately 5 kilometers gained by France
- label: Location
  value: Near Verdun-sur-Meuse, northeastern France
timeline:
- date: 1916-02-21
  title: Offensive Begins
  description: German Fifth Army under Crown Prince Wilhelm launches Operation Gericht (Judgment), targeting the Verdun sector. The assault opens with a nine-hour artillery bombardment involving over 1,000 guns.
- date: 1916-02-25
  title: Fort Douaumont Falls
  description: German forces capture the critical Fort Douaumont on the eastern bank of the Meuse. The loss shocks the French government and prompts the immediate appointment of General Philippe Pétain as commander of the Verdun sector.
- date: 1916-03-01
  title: Pétain Assumes Command
  description: General Philippe Pétain arrives at Verdun and implements the 'noria' system-rotating divisions through the front to distribute casualties and maintain morale. His directive 'They shall not pass' becomes a rallying cry.
- date: 1916-05-15
  title: German Offensive Peaks
  description: Germany's largest push toward Verdun begins but fails to break through exhausted French lines. Casualty rates become unsustainable for both sides; German commanders begin to acknowledge that victory is impossible.
- date: 1916-07-01
  title: Battle of the Somme Opens
  description: The British Expeditionary Force launches its own major offensive 100 kilometers north, intended partly to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun. Germany is now sustaining two massive offensives simultaneously.
- date: 1916-08-15
  title: French Counter-Offensive
  description: General Robert Nivelle leads a coordinated French assault, regaining limited ground. The momentum shifts toward a stalemate of mutual exhaustion.
- date: 1916-10-24
  title: Fort Douaumont Retaken
  description: French forces recapture Fort Douaumont in a successful assault, restoring symbolic and strategic positions. The retaking reinforces French determination to hold the sector.
- date: 1916-12-15
  title: Final French Offensive
  description: The French launch one last coordinated attack under General Nivelle, recovering additional territory but at mounting cost. Operations slow as winter weather deteriorates conditions further.
- date: 1916-12-18
  title: Battle Officially Ends
  description: Germany ceases offensive operations and transfers forces eastward. France declares Verdun secure. Approximately 700,000 soldiers have been killed, wounded, or gone missing across ten months with France gaining roughly 5 kilometers of ground.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle"
  title: Battle
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Verdun proved that attrition warfare on the Western Front consumed soldiers at rates that stunned even hardened commanders. The battle's brutal mathematics-massive casualty counts for negligible gain-crystallized the horror of trench warfare and shifted how European militaries understood strategy and human cost.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- invasion
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: scheduled
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: The 10-month Battle of Verdun (1916) killed 700,000+ soldiers with little territorial change, reshaping WWI strategy.
wikidataQid: Q178561
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260526173904/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-26
  label: Battle
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle"
peoplesVoice:
- source: Raymond Poincaré, President of France
  voiceType: official
  context: Presidential statement upon conclusion of the 10-month siege that cost France and Germany combined ~700,000 casualties
  excerpt: Verdun is no longer a position to be taken or abandoned-it has become a symbol of French resistance and the proof of our will to victory.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Official French government communiqué, December 1916
  publishedAt: 1916-12-18
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: Paul Deschanel, French Chamber of Deputies Speaker
  voiceType: official
  context: Parliamentary reflection on the strategic and human cost of holding the fortress city
  excerpt: We have held. But at what price? The blood of France flows like a river, and the Germans bleed equally. Who has truly won this hell?
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period Chamber debates - Le Temps, December 1916
  publishedAt: 1916-12-20
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: Henri Barbusse, War Correspondent and Novelist
  voiceType: media
  context: Frontline journalist documenting the collapse of Verdun's human infrastructure after ten months of attrition
  excerpt: I have seen men reduced to shadows, trenches filled with mud and corpses, and victory that tastes only of ash and despair.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 75
  attribution: Dispatches published in L'Œuvre, December 1916
  publishedAt: 1916-12-22
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: General Philippe Pétain, French Commander-in-Chief
  voiceType: expert
  context: Military assessment of tactical outcome and strategic implications for future Western Front operations
  excerpt: They shall not pass-and we have proven it. Yet the cost demands we rethink how modern war must be fought.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from Pétain's post-battle memoranda - Archives of the French General Staff, 1916
  publishedAt: 1916-12-15
  originalLanguage: fr
- source: The Times (London) Editorial Board
  voiceType: media
  context: British assessment of French endurance and implications for Allied strategy in the face of German attrition tactics
  excerpt: France has staunched the German wolf. But the wound remains open, and neither side emerges from Verdun unbroken.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 68
  attribution: The Times of London, Editorial, December 1916
  publishedAt: 1916-12-19
  originalLanguage: en
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The Times
  publisherSlug: the-times
  headline: The Verdun Struggle Ended - Ten Months of Ceaseless Combat
  publishedAt: 1916-12-19
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The great offensive at Verdun has drawn to a close after nearly a year of relentless trench warfare. Both French and German forces claim tactical advantage amid catastrophic casualty figures exceeding half a million men.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Le Figaro
  publisherSlug: le-figaro
  headline: Verdun Tient - La Victoire Francaise
  publishedAt: 1916-12-19
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "FR: 'Verdun Tient - La Victoire Francaise' / EN: 'Verdun Holds - French Victory.' Synthesized from period reporting - The fortress of Verdun remains in French hands after the grueling ten-month siege. General Nivelle's tenacity has preserved French honor against the German onslaught."
  significance: 92
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: Berliner Tageblatt
  publisherSlug: berliner-tageblatt
  headline: Verdun-Schlacht Endet - Deutsche Erfolge Bestaetigt
  publishedAt: 1916-12-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "DE: 'Verdun-Schlacht Endet - Deutsche Erfolge Bestaetigt' / EN: 'Verdun Battle Ends - German Successes Confirmed.' Synthesized from period reporting - The Verdun offensive concludes with German military officials claiming significant territorial gains and infliction of massive French casualties in their war of attrition."
  significance: 89
  type: newspaper
  region: Germany
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: Verdun Ordeal Ends After 10 Months of Deadlock
  publishedAt: 1916-12-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The Battle of Verdun, the longest and costliest engagement of the Great War, has concluded with neither side achieving decisive victory. American observers note the unprecedented scale of human suffering inflicted by modern trench warfare.
  significance: 87
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Manchester Guardian
  publisherSlug: the-manchester-guardian
  headline: "Verdun: The Price of Attrition"
  publishedAt: 1916-12-21
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: "Synthesized from period reporting - Analysis of the concluded Verdun campaign reveals a new doctrine of warfare: mutual exhaustion as military strategy. Casualties on both sides exceed all previous battles, raising urgent questions about the war's continuation."
  significance: 78
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Estimated casualties
  thenValue: ~700,000
  thenYear: 1916
  nowValue: World population ~7.9 billion
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Verdun produced roughly 1 casualty per 2 seconds over 10 months
- metric: Duration of battle
  thenValue: 302 days
  thenYear: 1916
  nowValue: Longest modern military operations typically 6-18 months
  nowYear: 2024
  note: February 21 to December 18, 1916
- metric: Artillery shells fired
  thenValue: ~60 million
  thenYear: 1916
  nowValue: Modern precision strikes use <100 munitions per target
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Verdun represented peak industrial artillery warfare
- metric: French army strength engaged
  thenValue: ~400,000 soldiers
  thenYear: 1916
  nowValue: Total French military personnel ~270,000
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Single battle consumed more troops than modern French armed forces
consequences:
- title: Immediate strategic stalemate
  year: 1916
  description: Neither France nor Germany achieved decisive victory. German commander Erich von Falkenhayn's strategy to 'bleed France white' failed; both sides suffered catastrophic losses roughly equally. The battle ended with lines approximately where they began.
- title: Emergence of Philippe Pétain as national figure
  year: 1916
  description: General Pétain's defense of Verdun elevated him to hero status in France. His decision to rotate divisions through the battle (the 'noria') became military doctrine. This reputation would define his controversial WWII leadership.
- title: Acceleration of German decline
  year: 1916
  description: Germany's losses at Verdun, combined with the Somme offensive beginning in July, stretched German reserves beyond recovery. The two-front attrition model proved unsustainable by 1917, hastening German military exhaustion.
- title: Psychological shift in Allied confidence
  year: 1917
  description: French survival at Verdun reversed perceptions of German invincibility. By 1917, with U.S. entry, Allied morale stabilized while German public support eroded. The battle became a symbolic turning point in momentum, if not immediate tactics.
- title: Transformation of warfare doctrine
  year: 1918
  description: Post-Verdun analysis shaped military thinking through WWII. Defensive strategies, trench systems, and attritional logic dominated planning. The battle's lessons were partly misapplied, contributing to the Maginot Line's false sense of security by 1940.
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: Marche Lorraine
  note: French patriotic march, became associated with Verdun remembrance during and after the battle
topFilms:
- title: The Battle of the Somme
  year: 1916
  note: Documentary released during 1916; influenced how WWI battles were visually perceived
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: 1916 was the nadir of romantic notions of warfare in European culture. Verdun's carnage coincided with peak disillusionment. The battle dominated French newspapers, poetry, and public discourse through 1917. Symbolism of French endurance ('They shall not pass' - Pétain's motto) became cultural bedrock. German cultural response emphasized industrial-scale capability but increasingly dark introspection about war's futility.
relatedQueries:
- Battle of Verdun casualties death toll
- Erich von Falkenhayn strategy attrition
- Philippe Pétain Verdun defense
- Verdun 1916 artillery bombardment
- France Germany World War 1 Western Front
- Battle of Somme 1916 comparison
- Verdun survivors testimony accounts
- Industrial warfare trench combat
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Battle_of_Waterloo_map.png/1280px-Battle_of_Waterloo_map.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Battle_of_Waterloo_map.png/800px-Battle_of_Waterloo_map.png"
  caption: (Previous hero, demoted by topical-relevance swap)
  credit: ""
  width: 0
  height: 0
translations:
es:
lede: La Batalla de Verdún terminó el 18 de diciembre de 1916, después de aproximadamente 10 meses de combates implacables entre fuerzas francesas y alemanas en el noreste de Francia. Con aproximadamente 700,000 bajas combinadas y cambio territorial mínimo, se convirtió en un símbolo de la futilidad de la guerra a escala industrial y de la determinación francesa bajo el General Philippe Pétain.
summaryShort: Según una de las posibles definiciones, una batalla es un enfrentamiento de combate en la guerra entre unidades militares opuestas de cualquier número o tamaño. Una guerra generalmente consta de múltiples batallas. En general, una batalla es una serie de enfrentamientos militares bien definidos en duración, área y compromiso de fuerzas. Un enfrentamiento
summaryLong: Según una de las posibles definiciones, una batalla es un enfrentamiento de combate en la guerra entre unidades militares opuestas de cualquier número o tamaño. Una guerra generalmente consta de múltiples batallas. En general, una batalla es una serie de enfrentamientos militares bien definidos en duración, área y compromiso de fuerzas. Un enfrentamiento con solo compromiso limitado entre las fuerzas y sin resultados decisivos a veces se llama escaramuza.
generatedAt: "2026-06-08T19:42:55.229Z"
fr:
lede: La Bataille de Verdun s'est terminée le 18 décembre 1916, après environ 10 mois de combats acharnés entre les forces françaises et allemandes dans le nord-est de la France. Avec environ 700 000 victimes combinées et un changement territorial minimal, elle devint un symbole de l'inutilité de la guerre à l'échelle industrielle et de la détermination française sous le Général Philippe Pétain.
summaryShort: Selon l'une des définitions possibles, une bataille est un affrontement militaire en guerre entre des unités militaires adverses de tout nombre ou taille. Une guerre se compose généralement de plusieurs batailles. En général, une bataille est une série d'engagements militaires bien définis en durée, zone et engagement des forces.
summaryLong: Selon l'une des définitions possibles, une bataille est un affrontement militaire en guerre entre des unités militaires adverses de tout nombre ou taille. Une guerre se compose généralement de plusieurs batailles. En général, une bataille est une série d'engagements militaires bien définis en durée, zone et engagement des forces. Un engagement avec seulement un engagement limité entre les forces et sans résultats décisifs est parfois appelé une escarmouche.
generatedAt: "2026-06-08T19:42:57.839Z"
de:
lede: Die Schlacht von Verdun endete am 18. Dezember 1916 nach etwa 10 Monaten erbitterter Kämpfe zwischen französischen und deutschen Truppen in Nordostfrankreich. Mit etwa 700.000 Gefallenen insgesamt und minimalen territorialen Veränderungen wurde sie zum Symbol der Sinnlosigkeit des industrialisierten Krieges – und der französischen Widerstandskraft unter General Philippe Pétain.
summaryShort: Nach einer möglichen Definition ist eine Schlacht ein Kampfgeschehen in der Kriegsführung zwischen gegnerischen Militäreinheiten beliebiger Anzahl oder Größe. Ein Krieg besteht in der Regel aus mehreren Schlachten. Im Allgemeinen ist eine Schlacht eine Serie von Militäroperationen, die klar in Dauer, Gebiet und Truppeneinsatz definiert ist. Ein Gefecht
summaryLong: Nach einer möglichen Definition ist eine Schlacht ein Kampfgeschehen in der Kriegsführung zwischen gegnerischen Militäreinheiten beliebiger Anzahl oder Größe. Ein Krieg besteht in der Regel aus mehreren Schlachten. Im Allgemeinen ist eine Schlacht eine Serie von Militäroperationen, die klar in Dauer, Gebiet und Truppeneinsatz definiert ist. Ein Gefecht mit nur begrenztem Truppeneinsatz und ohne entscheidende Ergebnisse wird manchmal Scharmützel genannt.
generatedAt: "2026-06-08T19:43:00.493Z"
