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The war spread to every front. In order to shake the Franco-British coalition and to foil the enemy's impending attack on the Somme, the Germans prepared to strike a decisive blow to the French army.
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Their choice was Verdun, where they planned to lure the greater part of the French forces into deadly combat.
The trap was calculated to ensnare the patriotic, proud and sentimental French forces.
The 20th century's most famous battle began on 21 February 1916, at daybreak, under a hail of fire and iron spat from 1 ,225 guns.
On 25 February, the Germans took Fort de Douaumont without a fight; Fort de Vaux fell a few months later. From March to July 1916, offensives and counter-offensives succeeded one another at an inexorable rate.
This was the hell of Verdun.
The daily lot of the soldiers in the trenches was a torment of gas, mud, fear and cold.
After attacks from both sides, the French began to advance, and by December the bloodiest battle of all time had come to an end.
