makers and gunmakers."

Immortal and indomitable France had won over her foe more power than she
had possessed even after the battle of the Marne. If her Allies, with
the help of Japan and the United States, could soon overtake the
production of the German and Austrian munition factories, it was
possible that Verdun, so close to Sedan, might become one of the turning
points of the war.

Throughout the entire summer Verdun, with the whole population of France
roused to the supreme heights of heroism behind it, held like a rock.
Wave after wave of Germans in gray-green lines were sent against the
twenty-five miles of earthworks, while the French guns took their toll
of the crack German regiments. German dead lay upon the field until
exposed flesh became the same ghastly hue of their uniforms. No Man's
Land around Verdun was a waste and a stench.

General Joffre's plan was very simple. It was to hold out. As was
afterwards revealed, much to the satisfaction of the French people, Sir
Douglas Haig had placed himself completely at the service of the French
Commander-in-Chief, and had suggested that he should use the British
army to weaken the thrust at Verdun. But General Joffre had refused the
proffered help. No man knew better than he what his country, with its
exceedingly low birthrate, was suffering on the Meuse. He had but to
send a telegram to British Headquarters, and a million Britons, with
thousands of heavy guns, would fling themselves upon the German lines
and compel Falkenhayn to divide his shell output, his heavy artillery,
and his millions of men between Verdun and the Somme. But General
Joffre, instead of sending the telegram in question, merely dispatched
officers to British Headquarters to assure and calm the chafing Scotsman
commanding the military forces of the British Empire.

Throughout that long summer the battle cry of Verdun, "_Ne passeront
pas_!" ("They shall not pass!"), was an inspiration to the French army
and to the world. Then as autumn drifted its red foliage over the
heights surrounding the bloody field, the French struck back. General
Nivelle, who had taken command at Verdun under Joffre, commenced a
series of attacks and a persistent pressure against the German forces on
both sides of the Meuse. These thrusts culminated in a sudden sweeping
attack which on October 24th, resulted in the recapture by Nivelle's
forces of Fort Douaumont and on November 2d, in the recapture of Fort
Vaux.

Th