Video games and movies have covered World War II extensively. The names of the most important events and many battles that took place on any front are etched in memory. Because the First World War has not been researched so much, it is not seen very often and despite everything, it left a name in history: Verdun.

This was not only one of the most harrowing events of the conflict, but also one of the greatest war scenarios in history. So much so that there are areas in this French forest that are poisonous even 100 years after the end of the conflict.

Wretched. World War I was a brutal conflict. They all are, but here the military tactics of the last century collided with the new generation of military technologies and advances. Much of the fighting was trench warfare; Soldiers on both sides of the fronts were killing each other little by little in an area between two trenches, polluted by the deaths themselves. But there were several technological revolutions that left their mark on the conflict.

On the one hand, artillery and armored vehicles with extensive use of mortars and cannons (we highlight the German Big Berta, which can fire shells 12 kilometers away). On the other hand, aviation and submarines with German submarines. Finally, the thing that resulted in the condemnation of many areas: poisonous gas. Chemical weapons were not a new invention (in fact, they had been banned before), but in World War I both sides had used poison gas, along with chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas weapons. It is estimated that 1.3 million victims in the First World War were linked to the use of these weapons.

you gave. With nearly 9 million dead, 20 million wounded and more than 7 million civilians killed on different sides in the war, it is a devastating balance, and the bloodiest battle of the conflict took place in France. Verdun was an indispensable settlement for the French resistance. It was important to conquer Verdun with the powerful weapons of the Germans and reach strategic positions on the Meuse River, but the French did not stand still, despite the Germans’ opinion.

France established a supply route to bring soldiers and weapons to Verdun, which meant constant traffic throughout the war. The result was devastating: 303 days of war with a million combatants on each side and a French victory, but at a very high cost of more than 300,000 dead and more than 400,000 wounded, almost evenly distributed between the two sides.

A photo from 1918 and a photo from 2005

Completely devastated land. Verdun was a massacre in which tens of millions of shells were fired, including four million on the Mort-Homme hill. Nine towns and every means of communication were wiped off the map, and worst of all, more than 100 years after the conflict, there are areas marked in red on the map. There are two reasons.

First, it is estimated that there are approximately 15 million bullets that did not explode on impact. They have been found over the years, but many remain unexplained and can pose a potential danger. On the other hand, the soil is extremely poisonous due to the toxic gas residues remaining in the water and underground, as well as hundreds of thousands of rotting corpses.

ghost zones. The numbers are complicated to calculate, but there are as many as 100,000 unidentified bodies in war zones, and there are those who argue that the region will never recover from the conflict. In fact, not only bullets, but also bone remains, military insignia and helmets continue to be found. Currently the landscape is thick with vegetation covering the ground, but the relief of many areas still bears the scars of intense bombings 100 years ago.

And the most striking thing is not the ruins of towns intertwined with nature or the remaining moats, but now there are informational signs such as “there was a school here” or “there was a church here” outside that sign. There are only trees.

red zone. This toxicity is so high that a 2007 environmental study determined that the soil had arsenic levels 35,000 times higher than standards, and in 1919 the French Ministry of Liberated Territories had already divided the sites into three categories:

• Green areas: minimal damage.
• Yellow areas: serious but limited damage.
• Red areas: completely destroyed.

They were improving, but by 1921 much of the land in the area was impassable. Verdun is on the right and still contains very dangerous levels of lead and arsenic

iron harvest. The green and yellow zones have been saved for civilian use and agriculture, but life remains impossible in the red zones. These red zones were approximately 1,800 square kilometers in 1919, and although they have decreased greatly (to approximately 100 square kilometers), shells continue to be found and the soil continues to have a toxicity that facilitates activities such as livestock farming or more. agriculture is impossible.

There are industries studied where 99% of plants die due to toxicity, and although we are very ‘green’, there are predictions that the soil will not fully recover until 700 years later.

World War I in Food. Verdun still has a huge expanse of impenetrable space, but the consequences of this toxicity go far beyond the inability to build or plant on the ground. In 2012, local consumption of drinking water was banned in more than 500 municipalities in the region due to high perchlorate levels. Mushrooms, game, and even foods cooked with firewood collected in these red zones may contain toxins.

This game meat was analyzed and it was determined that the lungs of wild boars living in the region contained very high levels of lead, and that this lead was also found in French wines matured in oak barrels collected in these toxic areas. The sad thing is that not only is Verdun suffering the consequences of the massacre more than 100 years ago, but many parts of France continue to fight against the chemical weapons used in the First World War.

By the way, four very good works set in the First World War are Stanley Kubrick’s film ‘Paths of Glory’, the magnificent ‘1917’ where we can see the fight between the trenches and the video game ‘Battlefield 1’. One of his maps is Verdun. And ‘Tolkien’ in a less warlike tone.

Pictures | Tinodela

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