1960’s NET EDUCATIONAL FILM “VERDUN” 44074 (1960)

Synopsis

1960’s NET EDUCATIONAL FILM “VERDUN” This film is about the Battle of Verdun fought from February to December of 1916. It was the longest battle of WW1. German’s attacked Verdun in hopes that the French would drain their men and resources to recapture it. It is presented by National Education Television and this is one of eight films which were to present some of the forces that have influenced the development of western civilization (:58). The film opens with pedestrians looking down upon a memorial for an unknown soldier whom had fallen at the Battle of Verdun and was put to rest under the Arc du Triomphe (1:42). Statues of soldiers commemorating the battle are in an area called the ‘war belt’ consisting of the desolate villages left in the wake of the battle (2:29). Photographs of men in trenches during the battle follows (3:42). During this battle, 1,220,000 men perished (4:21). Chief of German General Staff Erich von Falkenhayn (6:08) came up with the plan to target strategic areas in France that would encourage the French to send all of their men to defend and would therefore ‘bleed France dry’ and never planned to actually capture Verdun (6:25). The Meuse river is seen which cuts through the area (6:42). Germans planned the attack for months, setting up 1,000 heavy guns in the woods outside of the city (7:10) as well as constructing 10 new rails lines. The French were ill-equipped with 34 battalions to the German 72 battalions (7:21). The attack began on February…

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Details

Running time

29 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage