Reconquest of Verdun begins

In the spring, though incurring enormous military losses, the German army is able to seize portions of the French fortifications around Verdun. An allied counter offensive on the Somme begins at the end of June, eventually forcing the Germans into a step-by-step retreat from the fortress beginning on 24 October 1916. 1916 becomes the costliest year of the entire war: The „war of attrition“ around Verdun alone costs the lives of ca. 700,000 soldiers on both sides.

© gwpda French soldiers at a recaptured First-Aid-Station in June 1916