James Metcalfe
Perhaps the most famous battle in the entire war along with the Somme, the Battle of Verdun was born from a German strategy of ‘bleeding the French’ out of the war. That is to say, inflict the maximum amount of damage on a culturally iconic spot until it is impossible for the French to remain in the war. If nothing else comes to symbolise the severe brutality of modern warfare, the Battle of Verdun’s total casualty list of nearly a million men should continue to put a bloody mark on the history books for those who read them.
