Le mort homme et la cote 304
La côte 304 est une petite colline au nord-ouest de Verdun. Sa position à l’ouest et son altitude lui confère une position idéale pour observer le champ de bataille de Verdun, la vallée d’Esne au Sud, les village de Malancourt et Hautcourt au nord, elle est surtout une position de tir stratégique pour contrôler les combats se déroulant au « Mort Homme » à l’est. . C’est pour cette raison que le commandement allemand va s’acharner à y envoyer des troupes pour capturer son sommet, l’écraser sous des barrages d’artillerie incessants, et que les Français vont y résister. Les sites du Mort-Homme et de la Côte 304 furent de véritables « batailles dans la bataille ». Le contrôle de ces buttes permettait de dominer le théâtre des opérations,
Pétain réclame des renforts à Joffre. Mais ce dernier privilégie sa future offensive sur la Somme. Cela fait dire à Pétain « Le GQG me donne plus de mal que les Boches ».
Le site du Mort-Homme (ou « côte 295 » car à 295 m d'altitude) est une butte à 2 km au nord de Chattancourt, sur la rive gauche de la Meuse. Après la prise du fort de Douaumont, le 25 février 1916, la progression allemande se voit très fortement ralentie par l'armée française. Un front est reconstitué. L'armée allemande décide alors d'attaquer par la rive gauche de la Meuse. La bataille va durer 10 jours, du 6 au 16 mars 1916. Elle sera finalement prise par les Allemands au terme d'une véritable boucherie. L'armée allemande attaque ensuite, le 20 mars, la « côte 304 » à l'ouest, qui couvrait de son feu le Mort-Homme. Elle est située au cœur d'une forêt d'épicéas et de pins noirs. Jusqu'en avril, un déluge de feu s'abat sur les lignes françaises. 120 coups d'obus à la minute, en 6h c'est parfois 50 000 obus qui s'abattent sur le site. En juin, la 11ème division bavaroise atteint le sommet sans toutefois parvenir à contrôler l'ensemble de la butte. Les lignes sont si proches qu'un soldat français parti au ravitaillement se retrouve dans les lignes allemandes. Au total, 10 000 poilus y trouveront la mort. Un obélisque et une nécropole de 3417 tombes ainsi que deux ossuaires de 1500 corps chacun se trouvent sur le site.
La 11e division bavaroise investit, le 20 mars, la cote 304 qui couvrait de son feu le Mort-Homme. Malgré ces succès, l’offensive générale allemande sur les deux rives de la Meuse est arrêtée par les Français. « Les assauts furieux des armées du Kronprinz ont partout été brisés. Courage… on les aura ! » dira Pétain.
Au début de la bataille les effectifs français étaient de 150 000 hommes. En avril, ils s'élèvent à 525 000 hommes. Cette concentration humaine sur une si faible surface pourrait expliquer dans une certaine mesure le bain de sang que constitue Verdun. Cependant, les Allemands étant arrêtés .
Malgré ces succès, l'offensive générale allemande sur les deux rives de la Meuse est arrêtée par les Français. C'est sur de tels sites que s'est forgé la triade infernale de la vie du poilu à Verdun : le fer, le feu et la boue.
Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun (Bataille de Verdun, IPA: [bataj də vɛʁdœ̃], Schlacht um Verdun, IPA: [ʃlaxt ˀʊm vɛɐdœŋ]) was fought from 21 February – 18 December 1916 during the First World War on the Western Front between the German and French armies, on hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France. The German Fifth Army attacked the defences of the Région Fortifiée de Verdun (RFV) and those of the Second Army garrisons on the right bank of the Meuse, intending to rapidly capture the Côtes de Meuse (Meuse Heights), from which Verdun could be overlooked and bombarded with observed artillery-fire. The German strategy intended to provoke the French into counter-attacks and counter-offensives to drive the Germans off the heights. French attacks would be relatively easy to repel with massed artillery-fire from the large number of medium, heavy and super-heavy guns, supplied with large amounts of ammunition on excellent pre-war railways, within 24 kilometres (15 mi) of the front line.
The German strategy assumed that the French would attempt to hold on to the east bank of the Meuse, then commit the French strategic reserve to recapture it and suffer catastrophic losses from German artillery-fire, while the German infantry held positions easy to defend and suffered few losses. The German plan was based on the experience of the September – October 1915 battles in Champagne (Herbstschlacht) when, after early success, the French offensive was defeated with far more French than German casualties. Poor weather delayed the beginning of the German offensive (Unternehmen Gericht/Operation Judgement) until 21 February; French construction of defensive lines and the arrival of reinforcements before the opening attack were able to delay the German advance despite many losses. By 6 March, 20½ French divisions were in the RFV and defence in depth had been established. Pétain ordered that no withdrawals were to be made and that counter-attacks were to be conducted, despite exposing French infantry to fire from the German artillery massed in the area. By 29 March French artillery on the west bank had begun a constant bombardment of German positions on the east bank, which caused many German infantry casualties.
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Battle of Verdun | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
00:03:39 1 Background
00:03:47 1.1 Strategic developments
00:08:31 1.2 iRégion Fortifiée de Verdun/i
00:11:57 2 Prelude
00:12:05 2.1 German offensive preparations
00:14:29 2.2 German plan of attack
00:17:17 2.3 French defensive preparations
00:22:16 3 Battle
00:22:24 3.1 First phase, 21 February – 1 March
00:22:36 3.1.1 21–26 February
00:28:40 3.1.2 27–29 February
00:30:00 3.2 Second phase, 6 March – 15 April
00:30:11 3.2.1 6–11 March
00:32:43 3.2.2 11 March – 9 April
00:37:13 3.3 Third phase, 16 April – 1 July
00:37:24 3.3.1 April
00:41:45 3.3.2 4–24 May
00:42:51 3.3.3 22–24 May
00:48:27 3.3.4 30 May – 7 June
00:50:05 3.3.5 22–25 June
00:51:59 3.4 Fourth phase 1 July – 17 December
00:52:32 3.4.1 9–15 July
00:54:13 3.4.2 1 August – 17 September
00:55:24 3.4.3 20 October – 2 November
00:58:33 3.4.4 15–17 December 1916
01:01:55 4 Aftermath
01:02:04 4.1 Analysis
01:15:22 4.2 Casualties
01:23:47 4.3 Morale
01:25:44 4.4 Subsequent operations
01:25:53 4.4.1 20–26 August 1917
01:28:59 4.4.2 7–8 September
01:30:41 4.4.3 Meuse–Argonne Offensive
01:32:01 5 Commemoration
01:35:38 6 See also
01:35:55 7 Notes
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SUMMARY
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The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun [bataj də vɛʁdœ̃]; German: Schlacht um Verdun [ʃlaxt ʔʊm ˈvɛɐ̯dœ̃]), was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France. The German 5th Army began by attacking the defences of the Fortified Region of Verdun (RFV, Région Fortifiée de Verdun) and those of the French Second Army on the right (east) bank of the Meuse. Inspired by the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in 1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position with good observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses in a battle of annihilation, at little cost to the Germans, dug in on tactically advantageous positions on the heights.
Poor weather delayed the beginning of the attack until 21 February but the Germans captured Fort Douaumont in the first three days of the offensive. The German advance slowed in the next few days, despite inflicting many French casualties. By 6 March, 20 1⁄2 French divisions were in the RFV and a more extensive defence in depth had been constructed. Pétain ordered that no withdrawals were to be made and that counter-attacks were to be conducted, despite the exposure of French infantry to German artillery-fire. By 29 March, French artillery on the west bank had begun a constant bombardment of German positions on the east bank, which caused many German infantry casualties.
In March, the German offensive was extended to the left (west) bank of the Meuse, to gain observation of the ground from which French artillery had been firing over the river. The Germans were able to advance at first but French reinforcements contained the attacks short of their objectives. In early May, the Germans changed tactics again and made local attacks and counter-attacks, which gave the French an opportunity to attack Fort Douaumont. Part of the fort was occupied until a German counter-attack ejected the French and took many prisoners. The Germans tried alternating attacks either side of the Meuse and in June captured Fort Vaux. The Germans continued towards the last geographical objectives of the original plan, at Fleury-devant-Douaumont and Fort Souville, driving a salient into the French defences. Fleury was captured and the Germans came within 4 km (2.5 mi) of the Verdun citadel.
In July 1916 ...