The Battle of Verdun
The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle in World War 1.The Battle of Verdun started on February 21,1916 and ended on December 16, 1916. It made General Philippe Petain a hero in France. The attack of Verdun was because of a plan made by Von Falkenhayn to launch a massive German attack. Verdun contained twenty major forts and forty small ones that had protected the eastern border of France. Falkenhayn believed that the French couldn't allow these forts to be destroyed. Falkenhayn plan also had one thing wrong with it, it assumed that the French would be an easy in battle. Then 140,000 German troops started to attack, they had 1,200 artillery guns that targeted 2,500,000 shells at the Verdun region. The German attack and the subsequent battle was to last over 300 days. February 25th,1916 the Germans had captured 10,000 French. February 25th, the Germans had captured 10,000 French prisoners. The French put General Philippe Petain in charge and he won the war for them.