The Battle of Verdun ends. After 10 months and massive losses, the Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of the Great War, ended. In February 1916, the Germans had attacked Verdun, a city 137 miles east of Paris. The forts of Hardaumont and Douaumont had quickly fallen, but the French had rallied under the command of General Henri Pétain, achieving a bloody draw. On July 1, the major British offensive on the Somme River, as had the Brusilov Offensive launched by the Russians on the Eastern Front, relieved some of the pressure on Verdun. By mid-December, the French had regained much of the ground lost at the start of the battle. The Battle of Verdun ended with a French victory on December 18, after 23 million shells had been fired and at least 700,000 men had been killed.
