The Battle of Verdun was one of the most critical battles in World War I on the Western Front, fought between the German and French armies from 21 February to 18 December 1916 around the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in northeast France.Alistair Horne The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 (Viking-Penguin, 1991) p.1

The Battle of Verdun resulted in more than a quarter of a million deaths and at least a million wounded. Verdun was the longest battle and one of the bloodiest in World War I and more generally in human history. In both France and Germany it has come to represent the horrors of war, similar to the significance of the Battle of the Somme in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth or the Battle of Gettysburg to the United States.

The Battle of Verdun popularised the phrase "Ils ne passeront pas" ("They shall not pass") in France, uttered by Robert Nivelle, but often incorrectly attributed to Philippe Pétain. As a matter of record, during the early part of the Battle of Verdun on 16 April 1916, General Petain issued an order of the day which ended with the phrase : "Courage ! On les aura " (" Courage ! We shall get them " ).