Holstein, Christina Verdun 1914

The Opening Moves

A guide written by experts on the early battles of the First World War around Verdun, combining rich narratives, battlefield tours and detailed maps. This is the eighth volume in Christina Holstein's series of books on the battlefields in the Verdun area during the First World War, which follows the usual method of describing the scene with a narrative and supplementing it with detailed tours. The author brings to bear her knowledge of the terrain and her deep understanding of the military problems faced by both sides, aided by her ability to read both French and German sources. The six tours, which expand and deepen the narrative chapters and make up over 70 per cent of the book, are richly illustrated and the whole is remarkably well mapped. The book focuses on the little-known fighting in the Verdun region in the first weeks of the First World War and the German attempts to overcome this powerful, entrenched camp without a frontal assault. Starting with the devastating border battle on 22 August 1914, the author traces the French retreat to the Marne, where their desperate resistance at the Revigny Gap and Vaux-Marie Farm prevented a breakthrough, while Fort Troyon's refusal to surrender to massive bombardment halted a simultaneous attack on the French rear. In a second attempt two weeks later, the Germans captured the important town of St. Mihiel and established a bridgehead on the Meuse, but got no further; Verdun remained in French hands. Fighting ceased, and there was little movement until the start of the Battle of Verdun. This was launched on 21 February 1916 to end the war, but quickly became bogged down, and three hundred days later the French declared victory over the third and final German attack on Verdun.