Battle of Verdun summary Know about France resistance to the German offensive at the Battle of Verdun

Battle of Verdun summary

Know about France resistance to the German offensive at the Battle of Verdun

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Battle of Verdun.

Battle of Verdun

French soldiers resting away from the front line at the Battle of Verdun, 1916.

Battle of Verdun, (Feb. 21–July 1916) Major engagement of World War I between Germany and France. As part of its strategy of war by attrition, Germany selected the fortress of Verdun as the site it believed France would defend to the last man. After a massive bombardment, the Germans advanced with little opposition for four days before the reinforced French army under Philippe Pétain slowed their advance. For two months the hills west of the Meuse River and north of Verdun were bombarded, attacked, and counterattacked. By July, Germany, which was also engaged in the Battle of the Somme, had abandoned its strategy of attrition, and France gradually regained its forts and territory. The devastating losses included more than 400,000 French casualties and nearly as many German casualties.

Germany Summary

Germany, country of north-central Europe, traversing the continent’s main physical divisions, from the outer ranges of the Alps northward across the varied landscape of the Central German Uplands and then across the North German Plain. One of Europe’s largest countries, Germany encompasses a wide

France Summary

France, country of northwestern Europe. Historically and culturally among the most important nations in the Western world, France has also played a highly significant role in international affairs, with former colonies in every corner of the globe. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the

Philippe Pétain French general who was a national hero for his victory at the Battle of Verdun in World War I but was discredited as chief of state of the French government at Vichy in World War II. He died under sentence in a prison fortress. Born into a family of farmers in northern France

Germany summary

Learn about the downfall of the German monarchy, the rule of Adolf Hitler, and the partition of East and West Germany

Germany, officially Federal Republic of Germany, Country, north-central Europe. Area: 138,066 sq mi (357,592 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 86,303,000. Capital: Berlin. The majority of the people are German. Language: German (official). Religions: Christianity (Protestant, Roman Catholic, other Christians); also Islam. Currency: euro. The land is generally flat in the north and hilly in the northeast and central region, rising to the Bavarian Alps in the south. The Rhine River basin dominates the central and western part of the country; other important rivers include the Elbe, Danube, and Oder. Germany has a developed free-market economy largely based on services and manufacturing. It is one of the richest countries in the world. Exports include motor vehicles and iron and steel products. Germany is a federal multiparty republic with two legislative houses; the head of state is the president, and the head of government is the chancellor. Germanic tribes entered Germany c. 2nd century BCE, displacing the Celts. The Romans failed to conquer the region, which became a political entity only with the division of the Carolingian empire in the 9th century CE. The monarchy’s control was weak, and power increasingly devolved upon the nobility, organized in feudal states. The monarchy was restored under Saxon rule in the 10th century, and the Holy Roman Empire, centring on Germany and northern Italy, was revived. Continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperors and the Roman Catholic popes undermined the empire, and its dissolution was accelerated by Martin Luther’s revolt (1517), which divided Germany, and ultimately Europe, into Protestant and Catholic camps, culminating in the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48). Germany’s population and borders were greatly reduced, and its numerous feudal princes gained virtually full sovereignty. In 1862 Otto von Bismarck came to power in Prussia and in 1871 united the Germans, founding the German Empire. It was dissolved in 1918 after its defeat in World War I, and the Weimar Republic was declared. Germany was stripped of much of its territory and all of its colonies. In 1933 Adolf Hitler became chancellor and established a totalitarian state, the Third Reich, dominated by the Nazi Party. Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, plunging the world into World War II, and he was responsible for the Holocaust, the systematic killing of some six million Jews and millions of others. Following its defeat in 1945, Germany was divided by the Allies into four zones of occupation. Disagreement with the Soviet Union over their reunification led to the creation in 1949 of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Berlin, the former capital, remained divided. West Germany became a prosperous parliamentary democracy, East Germany a one-party state under Soviet control. In 1952 Germany became a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the European Union. The East German communist government was overthrown peacefully in 1989, and Germany was reunited in 1990. After the initial euphoria over unity, the political and economic integration of the former East Germany into the federal republic resulted in heavy financial burdens for the wealthier former West Germans. However, the country continued to move toward deeper political and economic integration with western Europe through its membership in the European Union.