It will discuss the destruction of the area and the steps taken to rebuild the shattered city and it’s surroundings after the war. This work will explore the changing nature of the landscape of Verdun as it progressed from one of conflict through to one of remembrance, tourism and change. To understand the battle of Verdun and its far-reaching implications it is important to go beyond the constraints of a traditional Military History perspective. Forests are destroyed, and only the dead remain above ground, while the living shelter beneath”, (Sillars 1987: 2).Īn archaeologist must look at conflict in the twentieth century and its legacies using a multi-disciplinary and multi-sensorial attitude to examine areas of interest that are still to some extent in the collective memory. The landscape was forever changed all along the Western Front, as Sillars puts it, “The natural landscape which remains after battle has a similar quality of terrible unreality, both in itself and in the way it altered men’s lives.
The devastation was so extreme that villages were wiped from the map and medieval visions of hell became a reality for the first time.
It was part of a new 20 th century ethos the utter destruction of a nation and its people. The Germans hoped to win a decisive victory at Verdun, but once again the battle ended more or less where it began.The Great War is characterised by the massive destruction it caused and the fighting at Verdun in 1916 is perhaps the most frightening example of modern industrial warfare waged on a people and the landscape that they inhabit. By the end of the battle however the French were able to match and often exceed the Germans in terms of artillery and were also able to rotate their troops in and out of the battlefield so that their moral never came close to breaking. The Germans had hoped to win a war of attrition with French starting off the battle with a large edge in artillery. The battle lasted for 303 days with a total of 714,000 casualties 377,000 French and 337,00 German. By August the Germans were forced to withdraw some of their troops from the battlefield to partake in the Battle of Somme's as a result between August and December the French counteroffensive successful recaptured all the ground lost. From June until August the town of Fleury changed hands sixteen times. The German ice able to push forward all the way to Fleury pushing within 2.5 miles of Verdun Castle. By May the French were able to briefly regain partial control of the Fort Daoaumont, only to lose it again. French reinforcements were able to stop the advance. The Germans than changed their tactics and attacked across the Meuse River trying to capture the grounds that the French batteries were located. By the end of March their counter batteries were pounding the German lines. French General Petain however ordered no retreats.The French were able to poor 20 divisions into the fight and make a german advance all but impossible. Initially the offensive was successful, the Germans captured the French fort of Daoaumont.
The Battle began on Februwith a German assault on Meuse Heights a series of hills that if captured would allow German gunshot pound the city of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun was the longest and costliest of all the battles on the West Front during the war.