I live in France and I've been in Verdun several times, I have Family there and some of my ancestors died in the battle. The land around Verdun is composed of really small hills and holes. The landscape has clearly been shaped by artillery, trees seem really young compared to the Vosges where I live. Living on a 1870, WW1 and WW2 frontline, I'm used to see reminence of trenches in the forest but around Verdun they're much clearer and deeper. Giant craters are much more common than in the Vosges. The site where the village of Vauquois once stood is now just a colossal crater, small craters and trenches around it, there was an intense mine battle there and it really shows. It's more or less forbidden to dig pretty much anywhere around Verdun because you'll most likely find human bones or live artillery shells. Without digging, plenty of those are still found every year though. I mean the mud near my house in the Vosges was hiding one big intact explosive warhead and I found a german stick grenade digging to make a wall in my back yard so this is not unique to Verdun but the concentration of those things there is frightening. Oh and the are WW1 memory monuments EVERYWHERE along the roads. To conclude I'd say that Verdun shows not only the same scars as the rest of the french border landscape, but much MUCH bigger, more concentrated and with more forts, but also some unique scars the rest of France simply doesn't have. To people who are willing to see it, Verdun clearly shows it once was hell on earth. But I think there's less signs of WW2 in Verdun than in the Vosges. I have shrapnels in my window shutters and many walls of houses in my village are peppered with aircraft manchinegun holes...
The craziest part of the battle was the French preparations for the counterattack. They built a to-scale mockup of the Verdun battlefield behind the lines, and ran the units leading the attack through it until they could run the course blindfolded. Another crazy thing was in the 303 days of the battle the Germans never so much as strafed the sole supply road with even a single plane. It may have been out of artillery range, but certainly not beyond German air coverage. The Germans had air superiority at the start of the battle, and it wasn't until the deployment of the Nieuport 11 and the air-to-air rockets much later in the battle that dominance of the air swung back to the French.
I haven't been there, but my mom has. She said that you can still see the trenches which are now overgrown by gras and other vegitation. But you can absolutly see the marks that the battle of verdun did to the landscape with all of its artillery.
Interesting point though - Sir Ian McKellan (who played Gandalf in LOTR) has actually admitted to fluffing his line in the scene with the Balrog. He was supposed to say, "You cannot pass!", but he screwed it up and said, "You shall not pass!", instead. Personally, I think it's a much better line. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cjn6uwHryes.html
"For a few kilometers of land..." Reminds me of the bit in Black Adder where they're looking at a map table and the general goes "This is a representation of the ground we've retaken since yesterday. Uh... what was the scale of this map again?" and his aide's answers "uh... 1:1, sir."
I have been there since I live in Belgium. I have visited the places of ww1 and verdun you see the scars but also you can feel it. Its hard to really explain but when you walk the grasslands that is healing the land. You don't hear birds singing, you dont see trees growing its just complete silence beside the wind.
The "Voie Sacrée" still exists today and is officially named this way on every road sign Going to Verdun battlefield, both eastern bank with the ossuary and the forts and the western bank with the Mort Homme and Hill 304 is a must-do trip
I've seen the bones! and the museum at Verdun. I was in the US army and seeing what it was like there was a gut punch. In fact I was at Liberation day when Sabaton first played Fields of Verdun, then three weeks later is actually when I actually went to the fields of verdun. We decided to go there because of the song actually! Great museum! I recommend a visit. There are a bunch holes in the ground everywhere, its all grassed over but the scars are still obvious.
If you want another really good sabaton song resist and bite is probably my favorite song. It really breaks the stereotype of French people always surrendering and or retreating. being part French myself from my dad’s side of the family the song and the story show that the French/Belgium really didn’t back down without a fight. It really hits home for me I hope you enjoy it. Ils ne passeront pas!!!!
Well that song talks of the Chasseurs Ardennais (sorry if mistyped I'm not french), a small force composed of 40 light infantry soldiers of the Belgian Army.
Hi great video You know I'm french and the history of Verdun is really a trauma for the French public but it's the pride of the military, and you know just for the fun fact : during the WW2 (1940)the French army have less casualties than the Germans and during the battle of Dunkerque the French were the only one who hold the lign fight 1 for 10 Germans That's it for me 😁
Hi here - I've been to Verdun, not long mind you, just a day on the way to the Spanish Basque country more than a decade ago, but the area is weirdly scary, trust me. You can see the trench lines, overgrown and *almost* nature again but supremely *unnatural* in their geometric regularity. Feel free to regard me as a weirdo but there is something scary in the area even if you don't know the facts, the supremely unnatural "feel" of everything is, pardon me, scary af and "wrong" in the way Lovecraft talks about it. The Ossuary alone caused me a couple of nightmares, mind you I was 13 and still scared of skeletons back then, silly as it is ;). I Think I will revisit the site once the current pandemic is under control, it's not far from Frankfurt probably by train, of course this is another matter entirely from across the pond, but I think it's worth it. Best regards Raoul G. Kunz
I'm not a superstitious or a mystic but Verdun gave me chills, it's the only place where I felt this cold and uneasyness. As you say it might be due to the shells craters, the strangely young and lifeless forest (the forest of this region are normally centuries old) or the landscape that is shaped by the war scars. Bue this place is disturbing. (I've been there only once.)
Like many have already said, the landscape is a series of small hills and depressions...clearly the earth was reshaped by the thousands of exploding artillery shells. The part that is difficult to process is the beautiful forest that covers the area. I guess this is all new forest growth the past 100 years. I'm specifically thinking of the destroyed village of Fleury.
The symbol of Verdun is indeed haunting, knowing that the treaty of Verdun actually split Charlemagne's empire to what would become France and Germany as two seperate nations, and 1000 years later the two would fight to death there, just crazy thoughts.
i visited the ossuaire and the battlefilds years ago, and the the landscape still represents the impact of the battle. as i live close to verdun i travel frequentnly trough the landscape and you still see the effects of the artillery to the landscape. another feature is that one of the most iconic photos of german-french reconcillation is the photo of german chancellor Kohl and french president Mitterand holding hands during a commemoration in1984, was taken at the ossuaire of Douamont
I haven't been to verdun but I have been to the somme. There is a massive crater that was made as a result of one of the artillery shells and you can still find old bullets and their casings all around of the ground. It's also interesting that only one of the divisions (36th Ulster division) were successful in their mission to destroy the artillery on the first day( if I remember correctly)
A friend of my brother collects things from WWI and WWII. In France and Belgium (and most likely, other places like Germany) there still are original bullets, bombs, helmets, etc. in the ground. I know that, because that friend goes all over Northen France and Belgium to buy things for his collection.
I would love to see you do a reaction to "The Price Of A Mile" by Sabaton about the battle of Passchendaele. It's one of my favourite songs and History episodes (and also one of the more emotional ones)
English-speakers tend to learn a lot more about the Somme than they do about Verdun. When we think of WW1 battles we think of the Somme (or for Canadians, Ypres or Vimy Ridge), but not Verdun. But the French think of Verdun, because that was the awful battle for them.
22 Divisions françaises et 1470 canons lourds français ont participé à la bataille de la Somme et cela ne fut pas uniquement une affaire britannique. D'ailleurs,les soldats français ont tué beaucoup plus de soldats allemands que les britanniques et ont fait davantage de prisonniers en réussissant à percer les lignes ennemies au cours des combats!
Fun fact about they shall not pass: in 18 March 1915 (a year before) after Gallipoli battle British officer said "Canakkale is impassable". Which became the memo for Turkish people as "Çanakkale Geçilmez!" As Turkey remembers and memorializes that battle. History always surprises me :)
In Germany the battle of Verdun is taught as THE symbol of WWI. It shows how the industrial era has changed warfare and is symbolic for the attitude of generals and leaders back in the day. Generals were thinking of people in numbers, they were counting rifles, grenades, shells and MEN. The common soldier was nothing more than a mere number on a sheet of paper, a mere resource. That is how they could send them out into the killing field without any hesitation.
Never been there but would like to visit sometime. From other videos I've seen of the battle and battlefield, there are places where nature is reclaiming the shattered moonscape of the battlefield. But the artillery craters are still as are the trenches. I believe that there are still places that are off limits because they have not been cleared of unexploded shells.
Indeed. It is called "zone rouge", the red zone and is declared inhabitable by the french government. The land was left to the nature to do it's cause and heal. I do recommend a trip.
You miss out by skipping the end of the video, as a lot of times they do talk about visiting these old battlefields, they even filmed at one of the forts for a couple of videos. I can't remember who said it, but when Sabaton visited Verdun, they described it as "walking on the surface of the moon covered in grass".
If you go to Verdun I would suggest go also a bit further to the east in Alsace to the Hartmannswillerkopf, another battle from WW1. Not as famous as the big ones (Verdun, Somme, Marn) but you can still see the remnants of the battle on the hill and in the forest. They also have a Museum that was made new for the 100th anniversary of the end of the war
10:43 Oh the area is definitely still marred by the battle. Hills and nooks have been re-carved by the bombardment, so much so the town of Verdun hasn't been rebuilt and there's only five or so people who live there. Look at it on a geological map and it becomes clear. You see toponyms for "Mount X" where there are no heights, etc...
Its earie to say the least. The trenches are Not what movies make them out to be, and are still very visible. Mostly Just out side of Handgrenade range of each other. The bodies that must have been stacked on each other in no manns land, and fierce fighting I don't think can be appropriately imagined. God bless em. Thanks for the vid HG.
1:43 The blockade was so deadly between 500,000 and 700,000 German civilians died from famine or illnesses like measles induced from hunger-related immune weaknesses. Which partly explains the latent violence in interwar Germany due to being accustomed to mass death and brutalization.
Speaking of the French rotating soldiers every ten days, this was pretty common for regiments in the First World War. In fact, the average rotation was eight days in the front trench, four days in a reserve trench, and four days a few miles away. This was, of course, wholly dependent on if there were enough men to rotate.
I was to Verdun once, but might get there again after 'ye olde 'rona Btw am i the only german here, who always laughs a bit, when Indy is saying Something in german? xD
Indy is the man you would want to tell this story, he has a whole channel dedicated to World War One, going week by week, year by year, its very good watch, I highly recommend it to everyone.
Unfortunately i live in normandy, but i went to "omaha beach" and you can see the holes caused by explosions so i guess it must be the same for verdun althrough verdun doesn't really exist anymore, in france most of the bunkers and stuff are famous for ww2 now, but here and there theres still a lot of stuff from ww1
The battle was so destructive, that no trees would grow in and around Verdun. This only changed in the 1980's. Parts of the area are still red zones, which are forbidden to enter because there is still the danger of explosives.
This is the 4/5th time watching this 😅 please include the last part, it’s interesting to hear how Joakim incorperates (spelling) the history into the music.
been to Ypres in Belguim, went in the spring and only way yo describe it is.......cold.....there;s a presence there, the ghosts of the past.......can only imagine its the same at Verdun
It seems the purpose of Verdun was to be a meat grinder to the French Army. You should check out the podcast Blueprint for Armageddon from Hardcore History.
Me is sad... Me explained this to you in a previous video (you saw it and thanked me for it) but didn't mention me :'( Other than that awesome video as always my man :) keep up the amazing work
Ah yes Verdun, one of the best example of sunken cost fallacy.........they're about to break, any day now. Wait for it, how could be possibly loose? Haven't been there myself in almost then years, but from what I understand the Zone Rouge the French just left for nature to try and reclaim still hasn't recovered. The amount of artillery, mines and chemical warfare that went into that relatively small area for nearly a year did an insane amount of damage. Quite a bit of the region has turned into forest-like sections again, but the ground is still very much toxic (the levels of arsenic in certain sections is just insane) and there are still trench sections. Not to mention the crap ton of stuff still left in the ground..........there's a very good reason certain regions of Belgium and France are effectively abandoned till this day.
I would love to go there too but can’t see that happening anytime soon 😔 but would still be really awesome if you could make some vlogs if you go there
isnt verdun in or at least close to the redzone in france? i remember there being still completely cordoned of areas where to much shells still are lying to close to the sruface and bomb squads go still out there to defuse unexploded ammunition?
It's a place where it's forbidden to build, cut wood or harvest something, because there is lead and explosives everywhere. Millions shells didn't explode in this region (120 000 Ha of superficy). For example they found a shell in a forest near Vimy and decided to dig the zone around to check if there was other they found 300 more and stopped after digging less than 1 meter (another shell have been recorded to be found at more that 15 meter).
I was initially ranting about Germany's educational system being a giant dung heap, was almost done and deleted it by accident (I spent literally >50 minutes writing). Long story short: the interesting stuff isn't tought, the semi-interesting stuff is only tought to students how are thought to be able to go to university and the most uninteresting stuff like how the Weimar Republic works is tought in exhausting small detail. You are discouraged in Germany to not make your own thoughts about history and not make your own decision to oppose radical ideologies like fascism or communism. I kinda get why, to make sure to eliminate those ideologies (what didn't happen, the people riot in the streets, growling something like "abroaders fuck off" and clearly fascist and antisemitic slogans). But I am now in the Abitur (what "prepares" you for university after the normal school) and some of my fellow students didn't hear anything more precise than "around 1500 America began to be a thing" from before 1900 or just prior to WW2.
