Story Mapping The Western Front
Lee Fox
Introduction
Of all the World War I memorials and sites we visited in France, nothing grasped my interest and spurred my imagination more than walking through Forts Douaumont and Vaux. Half way through our trip we left the Somme Battlefield region and headed towards Verdun. Immediately upon arrival, we set off to meet with Christina Holstein, a Verdun historian, local battlefield guide, and author of the books Walking Verdun, Fort Douaumont, and Fort Vaux. Trudging through the mud and rain, we followed Christina through the forest eventually arriving at the ditch surrounding Fort Douaumont. After pausing momentarily for some quick history from Christina, we made our way inside the Fort.
The cool damp air combined with dim lighting and numerous stalagmites, stalactites, barred off passageways, and crumbling stone and concrete gave the fort a rather solemn and almost creepy atmosphere. We had such a remarkable opportunity to walk these forts with Christina Holstein and my memories of strolling down the dark damp corridors hearing stories of the struggles that the men occupying these forts during WWI had will never be forgotten. As such, my final project for this class is entirely concerned with the double ring of fortifications surrounding Verdun. The first one maps out the double ring of fortifications surrounding Verdun and showcases the places we, as a class, visited while in France. The second is a general overview of our class trip to northern France which details all the places we went and what we found there.
Of all the World War I memorials and sites we visited in France, nothing grasped my interest and spurred my imagination more than walking through Forts Douaumont and Vaux. Half way through our trip we left the Somme Battlefield region and headed towards Verdun. Immediately upon arrival, we set off to meet with Christina Holstein, a Verdun historian, local battlefield guide, and author of the books Walking Verdun, Fort Douaumont, and Fort Vaux. Trudging through the mud and rain, we followed Christina through the forest eventually arriving at the ditch surrounding Fort Douaumont. After pausing momentarily for some quick history from Christina, we made our way inside the Fort.
The cool damp air combined with dim lighting and numerous stalagmites, stalactites, barred off passageways, and crumbling stone and concrete gave the fort a rather solemn and almost creepy atmosphere. We had such a remarkable opportunity to walk these forts with Christina Holstein and my memories of strolling down the dark damp corridors hearing stories of the struggles that the men occupying these forts during WWI had will never be forgotten. As such, my final project for this class is entirely concerned with the double ring of fortifications surrounding Verdun. The first one maps out the double ring of fortifications surrounding Verdun and showcases the places we, as a class, visited while in France. The second is a general overview of our class trip to northern France which details all the places we went and what we found there.
History
After losing the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, France began to fortify its new defenseless border with German primarily focusing on the fortress city of Verdun. Verdun had long since been an important defensive location guarding passage along the river Meuse and providing a main road from Paris to Metz. The natural topography of the region also designated Verdun as a defensive position with its many hills and ravines providing excellent vantage points for forts and narrow passages for approaching armies. With the new borders established by the Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871, Verdun was ever closer to the German border and with tensions only rising between the two nations it was essential to begin construction of new fortifications as soon as possible. The plan, led by General de Rivieres, was to make two lines of fortifications, one along the right bank of the Meuse and other on the left bank. Construction first started with the six ‘Panic Forts’ of 1874, named so due to the quick response France took to early diplomatic troubles with Germany. After 1879, five more forts had be constructed and armed and at the time no more construction was planned.
When Germany allied with Austria-Hungary in 1879 and then with Italy in 1882, fortification construction resumed around Verdun. By 1886, ten forts, six redoubts, and five posts had been completed and by 1891 thirty-four interval gun batteries had been placed between the forts to serve as support. To add more permanent support for the forts, ouvrages (fieldworks) were constructed between the forts as well, consisting of ditches, barbed wire, and heavier artillery then the gun batteries. With vast improvements in the range and accuracy of artillery, France was forced to rethink the manner in which they were fortifying their fortress city. The ‘torpedo shell crisis’ is the name given to the period, given the torpedo or bullet shape of the new shell design used in German artillery. Testing promptly commenced and it was determined that layers of think concrete, earth, and sand were the key to resisting the ferocity of Germany’s new and improved artillery force. Modifications commenced on the forts already constructed and any new forts built used this new style of heavy concrete and earth. Artillery was the next at risk feature to be fortified, followed by observation posts. Think armor plating and retractable mechanisms for artillery and machine guns were designed and implemented in multiple forts. By 1889, forty-two forts had been built along with a vast assortment of batteries, ouvrages, and supply bunkers
By the time WWI started, construction efforts around Verdun totaled about 820 million francs, and the fortress city of Verdun was the most modern and heavily fortified place in France. As Germany sweep through Belgium on their way to France, the new German secret ultra-heavy weapons utterly destroyed any fort or obstacle in their path. These new weapons where the largest artillery to date, with shells measuring 30.5cm and 40cm in width. The quick fall of the Belgian forts persuaded the French government to strip as many artillery pieces as they could from their newly created forts as well as reassign the troops garrisoned in the forts as field units. They left the notion that defensive stationary fortifications were the key to success behind and favored the new strategy used by the Germans of offensive mobile field units with heavy artillery. This decision proved costly as later in the war Germany attacked Verdun in force to ‘bleed them white’ and create a direct path to Paris. In hindsight, keeping the fortifications around Verdun fully intact could have saved France many lives and hardships as the Battle of Verdun continued far longer than it might have.
Many of the smaller ouvrages and structures have been almost completely destroyed, an example of which is the Ouvrage de Thiaumont which today is only a small metal outcropping among a field of craters. Forts Douaumont and Vaux are open to the public as well as a few others, though most are located on military or private properties and dangerous to explore. In France, my class walked both Forts Douaumont and Vaux, Fleury Village, Ouvrage de Thiamont, visited the Ossuary, and explored German stollens in the Bois de Caures and neighboring forests. Although the fortifications of Verdun may not have operated in full force, they managed to survive the struggle in some cases surprising well, which is a testament to the fighting will of France and echoed in a common motto amongst soldiers, ‘rather be buried under the ruins of the fort than surrender.’
After losing the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, France began to fortify its new defenseless border with German primarily focusing on the fortress city of Verdun. Verdun had long since been an important defensive location guarding passage along the river Meuse and providing a main road from Paris to Metz. The natural topography of the region also designated Verdun as a defensive position with its many hills and ravines providing excellent vantage points for forts and narrow passages for approaching armies. With the new borders established by the Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871, Verdun was ever closer to the German border and with tensions only rising between the two nations it was essential to begin construction of new fortifications as soon as possible. The plan, led by General de Rivieres, was to make two lines of fortifications, one along the right bank of the Meuse and other on the left bank. Construction first started with the six ‘Panic Forts’ of 1874, named so due to the quick response France took to early diplomatic troubles with Germany. After 1879, five more forts had be constructed and armed and at the time no more construction was planned.
When Germany allied with Austria-Hungary in 1879 and then with Italy in 1882, fortification construction resumed around Verdun. By 1886, ten forts, six redoubts, and five posts had been completed and by 1891 thirty-four interval gun batteries had been placed between the forts to serve as support. To add more permanent support for the forts, ouvrages (fieldworks) were constructed between the forts as well, consisting of ditches, barbed wire, and heavier artillery then the gun batteries. With vast improvements in the range and accuracy of artillery, France was forced to rethink the manner in which they were fortifying their fortress city. The ‘torpedo shell crisis’ is the name given to the period, given the torpedo or bullet shape of the new shell design used in German artillery. Testing promptly commenced and it was determined that layers of think concrete, earth, and sand were the key to resisting the ferocity of Germany’s new and improved artillery force. Modifications commenced on the forts already constructed and any new forts built used this new style of heavy concrete and earth. Artillery was the next at risk feature to be fortified, followed by observation posts. Think armor plating and retractable mechanisms for artillery and machine guns were designed and implemented in multiple forts. By 1889, forty-two forts had been built along with a vast assortment of batteries, ouvrages, and supply bunkers
By the time WWI started, construction efforts around Verdun totaled about 820 million francs, and the fortress city of Verdun was the most modern and heavily fortified place in France. As Germany sweep through Belgium on their way to France, the new German secret ultra-heavy weapons utterly destroyed any fort or obstacle in their path. These new weapons where the largest artillery to date, with shells measuring 30.5cm and 40cm in width. The quick fall of the Belgian forts persuaded the French government to strip as many artillery pieces as they could from their newly created forts as well as reassign the troops garrisoned in the forts as field units. They left the notion that defensive stationary fortifications were the key to success behind and favored the new strategy used by the Germans of offensive mobile field units with heavy artillery. This decision proved costly as later in the war Germany attacked Verdun in force to ‘bleed them white’ and create a direct path to Paris. In hindsight, keeping the fortifications around Verdun fully intact could have saved France many lives and hardships as the Battle of Verdun continued far longer than it might have.
Many of the smaller ouvrages and structures have been almost completely destroyed, an example of which is the Ouvrage de Thiaumont which today is only a small metal outcropping among a field of craters. Forts Douaumont and Vaux are open to the public as well as a few others, though most are located on military or private properties and dangerous to explore. In France, my class walked both Forts Douaumont and Vaux, Fleury Village, Ouvrage de Thiamont, visited the Ossuary, and explored German stollens in the Bois de Caures and neighboring forests. Although the fortifications of Verdun may not have operated in full force, they managed to survive the struggle in some cases surprising well, which is a testament to the fighting will of France and echoed in a common motto amongst soldiers, ‘rather be buried under the ruins of the fort than surrender.’
Projects
Methods
I have made an ESRI Story Map that will have selectable tabs to display information about forty-four different forts and fieldworks, specific geographical aspects of the battles surrounding Verdun during WWI, and a final section to display pictures and give a little background on the time we spent as a class in the Verdun area. Using all three of Christina Holstein’s Books, John Mosier’s The Myth of the Great War and Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle in WWI, and Alistair Horne’s The Price of Glory, I picked out events from the Battle of Verdun along with related battles which held significant geographical importance and organized them into my WWI tab in my Story Map. Using Clayton Donnell’s Fortifications of Verdun, websites such as The Great War Fortifications in France... and Le site web de la fortification Sere de Rivieres, and along with Google Earth, I pinpointed the location, as well as provided a picture and basic information, of each fort and fieldwork in my Forts tab. Finally, to give a personal account of the fortifications of Verdun, I used pictures that one of my classmates or I took while in France and added some background information for each.
Being able to upload pictures and install a Story Map Template onto our own private webserver, I was able to create different CSV files in Microsoft Excel that correspond with each separate Tab mentioned earlier. CSV stands for comma-separated values and is used for convenience because the file stores tabular data in a plain-text format making it easy for different computer programs to interpret. These three CSV files have all my textual information and reference the location of the pictures associated with each fort, fieldwork, or photograph. Once the pictures were uploaded to the correct location and my CSV files were created, I made a web map on ArcGIS online with each CSV attached to it. I then referenced the web map in the Index file located in the Story Map Templates folder on our webserver, typed in the full web address of my Story Map, unchecked some browser security settings, and the finished product appeared. For a more in-depth look into how I created my ESRI Story Maps for this project visit my class blog. Although the trip overseas was the best part of the class, researching and working on this project was almost just as fun.
Image Credits -
Fort Vaux: Photo by Lee Fox, Sept. 2013.
Header: "Wrecked German Tank" c. 1918. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington D.C. Digital ID cph 3a50197.
Fort Vaux: Photo by Lee Fox, Sept. 2013.
Header: "Wrecked German Tank" c. 1918. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington D.C. Digital ID cph 3a50197.