The Battle of Verdun, 1916: they shall not pass

By the numbers
Side	Strength (engaged over ten months)	Casualties	Killed
France	~1,140,000	~377,000	~163,000
German Empire	~1,250,000	~337,000	~143,000

By the numbers

Side

Strength (engaged over ten months)

Casualties

Killed

France

~1,140,000

~377,000

~163,000

German Empire

~1,250,000

~337,000

~143,000

Quick answer

France won the Battle of Verdun, fought from February to December 1916, by refusing to break under a German offensive designed to bleed the French army white¹. It became the longest battle of the First World War² and one of the most murderous in history, with hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides.

Some battles are won by a stroke of genius. Verdun was won, at a terrible price, by simply refusing to break. For ten months in 1916 two armies fed themselves into the hills around a French fortress town, and it became the longest battle of the First World War and one of the most murderous in history.

Bleed France white

The German commander Falkenhayn did not expect to break through at Verdun.³ His aim was colder: to attack a place France could not afford to lose, and there to bleed the French army white, trading life for life until France ran out. Verdun, ringed with old forts and heavy with national pride, was the bait.

Military map of the Verdun sector with front lines on both banks of the Meuse — The Battle of Verdun in 1916: the German gains from 21 February and the ground retaken by the French from October to December. Map from the US Military Academy atlas. Public domain

The forts fall

In February 1916 a massive bombardment opened the battle³, and the Germans pushed forward. Within days the great Fort Douaumont, the strongest in the ring, fell almost without a fight.³ It looked as if Verdun might collapse.

France answered not with a plan, but with a promise: they shall not pass.

Ils ne passeront pas

General Pétain took command and turned Verdun into a fortress of will. A single road into the town, later called the Voie Sacrée, the Sacred Way, kept it supplied by an endless stream of trucks³, and fresh divisions were rotated through the front⁴ so the army was bled but never shattered. The rallying cry became ils ne passeront pas, they shall not pass.

Illustration of a long column of covered army trucks on a road at dusk — Lorries bring French reserves and ammunition up the road to Verdun, an illustration published in 1916. Public domain

The mill

What followed was not a battle so much as a machine for killing. Artillery churned the ground into a moonscape of mud and craters; forts and villages changed hands again and again; men lived and died in holes under constant shellfire. Both sides poured in everything they had.

The toll

By the time it ended in December, the front had barely moved, and together the two armies had suffered around 700,000 casualties or more. Falkenhayn's plan failed: Germany bled almost as heavily as France.⁵ Verdun won nothing on the map, but it became France's supreme symbol of endurance⁴, and a lasting emblem of the futility of a war of attrition.

Aerial photo of a polygonal fort surrounded by countless shell craters — Fort Douaumont from the air at the end of 1916, the ground around it churned into a field of shell craters. German aerial photograph. Public domain

Frequently asked questions

What was Falkenhayn's strategy at Verdun, and did it work?

At Verdun in 1916 the German commander Falkenhayn did not aim to break through but to bleed the French army white by attacking a place France could not afford to lose, yet the plan failed because Germany bled almost as heavily as France.

Why is Verdun called the longest battle of the First World War?

The Battle of Verdun in 1916 lasted ten months, from February to December, as two armies fed themselves into the hills around the fortress town, making it the longest battle of the First World War and one of the most murderous in history.

How did France hold Verdun after Fort Douaumont fell?

At Verdun in 1916, after the great Fort Douaumont fell almost without a fight, General Pétain took command and kept the town supplied along a single road, the Voie Sacrée, rotating fresh divisions through the front so the army was bled but never shattered.

What did the Battle of Verdun achieve in the end?

By the time Verdun ended in December 1916 the front had barely moved and the two armies together had suffered around 700,000 casualties or more⁵, so the battle won nothing on the map but became France's supreme symbol of endurance.

What does Verdun symbolise about the First World War?

The Battle of Verdun in 1916, with its ten months of grinding slaughter for almost no ground, became a lasting emblem of the futility of a war of attrition.

Who won the Battle of Verdun?

The Battle of Verdun in 1916 ended as a French defensive victory: after ten months the front had barely moved, but the French held the town and Falkenhayn's German plan to bleed France white had failed. It became France's supreme symbol of endurance and of the futility of a war of attrition.

How many people died at Verdun?

Precise figures are debated, but together the two armies are estimated to have suffered around 700,000 casualties or more during the Battle of Verdun in 1916, with Germany bleeding almost as heavily as France.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

Robert T. Foley, German Strategy and the Path to Verdun: Erich von Falkenhayn and the Development of Attrition, 1870-1916 (Cambridge University Press, 2005). ↩

Paul Jankowski, Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War (Oxford University Press, 2014). ↩

Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Battle of Verdun” ↩ a b c d

Alistair Horne, The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 (Macmillan, 1962). ↩ a b

Mémorial de Verdun, “Le bilan des batailles de Verdun et de la Somme (dossier pédagogique)” ↩ a b

Wikipedia, “Battle of Verdun”