Week 5

Progress

I am planing on creating two different story maps.  One being an interactive map on the ArcGIS online Map Page and one using the Story Map Template.  The interactive map will include lines, points marking key events, arrows, and other elements to a good interactive map.  All of these elements will include a description of what happened on this location and some will include a picture.  The Story Map is more for the pictures and it also more professional.  The story map will include the same information as the interactive map but the template will not allow the map to be interactive.   The progress of my story maps has been a lot history of reading and researching.  I am looking for key events, dates, and battle lines during the Battle of Verdun.  My sources will come from books and websites they include: Price of Glory written by Alistar Horne, books written by Christina Hosltien: Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux, and also the website Western Front Association.  

History Notes 

Below are key history notes from the Battle of Verdun that I will use in creating my interactive and story map.
- Falkenhavns plan was not hand to hand or gun to gun combat but to use heavy artillery on forts and to move the front line forward.  Falkenhayn believed that the French would never fall back out of Verdun so destroying their army was his plan. 

Phase 1

- The Battle of Verdun started at 7:15 a.m. on February 21st 1916.  

-  Heavy snow on the ground and the Germans who had 1 million soldiers in the vicinity were waiting to attack and the French only 250,00 troops.  

-German's first day did not go as planed it took them an entire day to push through french lines and little ground was gained.  Lt. Colonel Driant heroics held the Germans off for awhile until they pushed past Bois des Caures on Feb 21st.  

-By Feb 25th, small amounts of Germans reached Fort Douaumont they Germans destroyed the only big railway out of Verdun and many French Reinforcements were brought in to defend.

-After the French lost Douaumont their strategy became different, a new leader Petain, new commander of the defense of Verdun, ordered to hold Verdun at all costs.  He rotated troops and supplies 24 hours a day and their heavy artillery guns increased from 164 to over 500 and were shelling the Germans at a continuous rate.   

-As the battle continued into March the conditions for the Germans to moved forward were extremely difficult.  The cratered ground and the ground now unthawing and turning into mud made it very hard to walk through.  

-The Germans tried crossing the Meuse and attack but it lead to more deaths as Franz Marc, a German artist, described: "For days I have seen nothing bu the most terrible things that can be painted from a human mind,"

Phase 2

- By March 81,000 Germans had been lost and 89,000 to the French

-In May the French tried some counter attacks to regain ground, but they were not successful as the Germans held their ground.

The Germans attacked Fort Vaux in June and took the fort on June 7th as an epic struggle in pitch darkness.  This would be the limit of the Germans success.

- In the East the Russians attacked more heavily causing Falkenhayn to withdraw some soldiers of Verdun causing the offensive attacks to slow down.  

-After the Germans took Fort Vaux they went on to Fort Souville, the Germans bombarded the fort with  phosgene gas shells but it turned out to not be that effective against the French Gas Masks.     

-June 23rd the Germans obtained the village of Fleury and Thiamont.  

- July 11 30 Germans reached the outside of Fort Souville but no reinforcements came causing them to retreat.  

Phase 3

-As the control of Fleury and Thiamont went back and forth the German commanders decided to fall back to defensive mode

-In late October the French planned to retake Fort Douaumont and on the 25the they were successful by means of heavy artillery fire.  

-November 2nd the French pushed the Germans out of Fort Vaux taking all of the energy out of the German  soldiers as the knew defeat was near.

- December 18 marked the last day of the war as the French pushed the Germans to their original position in February.  The Battle of Verdun was the longest single battle during WWI.  

-French casualties 550,00 to Germans 434,000

-These two maps of front lines during the Battle of Verdun are from the Western Front Association. 

One Picture that I used to help draw front lines

Another Picture to help me draw my front lines

Story Map Techniques

To create these maps first open up ArcGIS Online and if you have an account go to content and create map.  From here I went to the location of my desired map which is France and started editing my map.  To add map elements, lines, and points like this picture to the right, you must click the add button and add map notes.  I am going to organize my map in 3 phases in the same order of my key events above.   In order to do this in an organized fashion I will add 3 different map notes each labeled Phase 1, 2, and 3.  After adding these maps notes you have the option of putting a description of why each line or point is positioned the way it is.  You are also able to edit the color of each map note and add a photo.  In order to add photo you must have its link and a folder that hosts these photos.  The University 

Description Box: Here you can add a title description, and image
these will all appear on the pop up box when clicking on the point. 

I attend allows me to have this access to a web hosted folder allowing all our pictures to have a link.   The finished product of my interactive map will allow me to click on each point, line, or arrow and having a box pop up having a picture or description of what happened at this location during the Battle of Verdun.    

This is one example of what my finished product will consist of,
this example being Fort Douaumont.  

Goals

My goals in the next two weeks are to keep working on my two different story maps and continue to do research for pictures and front lines.  I am looking for more descriptions of the conditions of the battle and more quotes of terror during the battle.