then the Germans charged the heavily protected woodlands
and hills. In massed formation they advanced in the face of artillery,
machine-gun, and rifle fire of the heaviest character. The first waves
were mown down like grain; but other troops, and still others climbed
over the bodies of their dead comrades. Never since the world began had
such slaughter been seen.

During the intervals between the infantry attacks the French troops were
subjected to an unprecedented artillery fire. Suffering under a strain
such as armies had never hitherto known, the French patriots yet held
true to their watchword,--"They shall not pass." General Petain
(p[=a]-t[)a]n'), in a stirring address, said to his entrenched heroes,
"Courage, we'll get them!" ("_Courage, on les aura!_"), and this phrase
became the Verdun battle-cry. Try as the Germans would, from every
possible point, they could not break through the living wall of
Frenchmen. A little ground was won here and there, but before the end of
the year nearly all had been retaken by the French. At a frightful cost
the German crown prince and his military advisers had put their fighting
machine to the test, and it had failed. A half million men, killed,
wounded, or prisoners, were lost to the Germans before they ceased their
attacks at this point.

THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME.--In July, 1916, while the Verdun struggle was
still undetermined, the French and British troops began an advance on
the German line along the river Somme (som). Exceedingly heavy artillery
attacks first battered down the enemy defenses, and then the infantry
went "over the top." During the long course of the Battle of the Somme
(July 1 to November 17) the Allies advanced on a front of twenty miles
to a maximum depth of about nine miles. Slowly, and at great expense of
ammunition and men on both sides, the Allied progress had been won. They
had failed to break through the German line, but they had shown how it
might gradually be pushed back. And they had relieved the important
position of Verdun from further severe attacks, because German forces
were needed to the westward.

In the course of this battle, on September 15, the British first used
their most original military machines--the "tanks." Thereafter these
armored cruisers of the land were to play an increasingly important part
along the western front.

INCREASED USE OF AIRCRAFT.--Aircraft, too, were every day becoming
more valuable. In the first year of the w