VERDUN, France — The first thing you notice, ... The ossuary's 150-foot-tall tower offers a panoramic view of the surrounding cemetery and battlefields.

The Battle of Verdun, a massive German onslaught in northeastern France meant to gain a decisive final victory on the Western Front in World War I, began on this day in history, Feb. 21, 1916.

Verdun, France, Nov. 15, 2003: Visitors to the Douamont Ossuary and Cemetery outside Verdun, France, can walk through the rows of grave markers. Roughly 16,000 French and German soldiers killed ...

A picture taken on February 12, 2016 in Fleury-devant-Douaumont, eastern France shows Douaumont ossuary of Verdun Memorial. / AFP / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN (Photo credit should read JEAN ...

In solemn ceremonies Sunday in the forests of eastern France, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked 100 years since the Battle of Verdun, determined to show ...

The battlefields and cemeteries of Verdun, France, provide a poignant tribute to the 800,000 casualties suffered in the area during World War I, which raged from 1914 to 1918.

In this Part 2 of Verdun in WW2, I travel just outside Verdun to Douaumont and the Douaumont Ossuary to look at the other WW2 Then and Now photos taken by LIFE Magazine photographer, Ralph Morse ...

Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images A World War I helmet, Verdun, France, 1964. Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images Not published in LIFE ...

The battlefields of Verdun in France provide a poignant tribute to the 800,000 casualties suffered there.