France remembers centenary of Battle of Verdun
Print Edition
FRANCE marked the centenary of the Battle of Verdun yesterday, exactly 100 years from the first shots fired in World War I’s longest battle, which became a symbol of resistance and suffering.
Some 300 people in period costume gathered at dawn in the forest of Caures, near Verdun, to march down the narrow lane where the fighting started.
“It was here, 100 years ago, that the first shells fell,” said one of the actors as the sound of explosions was re-enacted around him.
“Some 1,400 guns and mortars threw up almost a million shells. Nearly 400 guns were focused on the forest of Caures.”
With all the combatants now dead, the commemorations have emphasized educating the young, with thousands of French and German children attending the re-enactment.
“Time has done its work. Today, Verdun is no longer a memory, it is history,” said Thierry Hubscher, director of the Verdun Memorial, which has been renovated for the centenary.
A strong point on the long frontline dividing the French and German armies, Verdun in northeastern France was the target of a German offensive whose aim — according to commander-in-chief Erich von Falkenhayn — was to “bleed France dry”.
One of the most brutal battles in history was waged over a tiny stretch of land and ended with neither side making any significant headway.
Around 300,000 French and German soldiers died in the 10-month battle in which some 30 million shells were estimated to have been fired.
With some three-quarters of France’s soldiers having experienced the “hell of Verdun,” the battle quickly embedded itself in the country’s traumatised psyche, viewed by the French in much the same way as the British saw the Battle of Somme.
French General Robert Nivelle’s stirring phrase, “On ne passe pas” (“They shall not pass”) came to symbolise the essence of national resistance and was appropriated by military leaders across the world in later years.
Such was the trauma of the battle, however, that it took decades before France and Germany could contemplate joint commemorations.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
