![]() The underlying causes of World War I are both complicated and forever in debate, but it largely comes down to a long-simmering, continent-wide power struggle between several allied groups across Europe. Underwood Archives/Getty Images French infantrymen face a curtain of fire in front of Fort Vaux during the Battle of Verdun. This is the bloody story of the Battle of Verdun. Some scholars even say that it was the first of its kind in history, the original modern instance of each side having only one true goal: to exhaust the enemy's forces. No matter the heroic figures who emerged in the aftermath, the Battle of Verdun itself was a ghastly conflict of attrition unlike anything ever seen before. The conflict even saw the first participation of any American forces during World War I. On the German side, the fearsome fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, dubbed "the Red Baron," saw his first combat in Verdun. French commander Philippe Petain, for example, made a name for himself during this battle as the "Lion of Verdun" and eventually became France's head of state during the Vichy years of World War II. While all this bloodshed resulted in no traditional "victory" for either side, at least some historic figures and legends emerged from the battle. ![]() And they did, as did the French: In total, more than 700,000 people were killed or injured between the two sides, with the casualties split about evenly between them. ![]() Indeed, rather than take territory, the Germans ultimately resolved to simply take lives. The length of the battle, the bloody stalemate in which it ended, and the sheer scale of the military power on both the French and German sides made the Battle of Verdun perhaps the most brutally characteristic clash of World War I as a whole. 18, 1916, France's Battle of Verdun was not only the longest battle of World War I, but also the longest in all of modern military history. ![]()
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