Verdun, Battle of (February–December 1916) Campaign of World War I. A German offensive in the region of Verdun, nw France, made initial advances, but was checked by the French under Marshal Pétain. After a series of renewed German assaults, the Allied offensive on the Somme drew off German troops and the French regained the lost territory. Total casualties are estimated at one million.

Verdun, Battle of a long and severe battle in 1916, during the First World War, at the fortified town of Verdun in NE France, in which the French, initially unprepared, eventually repelled a prolonged German offensive but suffered heavy losses.