Verdun by numbers
10 months. Duration of the battle: lasting from 21st February until 18 December 1916. Verdun was the longest conflict of the First World War.
Verdun
Verdun: the longest battle
In our special feature for this issue, Graham Goodlad traces first the military career of Philippe Pétain, the French marshal later disgraced for his collaboration with Nazi Germany, and then looks at the battle of Verdun to understand how France’s eventual victory was achieved at such terrible human cost.
The Mill on the Meuse
In the second part of our special feature, Graham Goodlad examines the epic French defence of the fortress of Verdun in the longest battle of World War I.