Science WWI Zone Rouge In France

**gblowfish** · 11-18-2021, 01:08 PM

I was reading about the Battle of Verdun in WWI. Verdun was an ancient city northeast of Paris, and was considered the strong point of protection from the Germans advancing on Paris itself. In a 10-month fierce battle in 1916, there were 700,000 casualties, including at least 150,000 dead on both sides, along with tens of thousands of civilian deaths and the death of thousands of animals. Both sides called the battlefield "The Hell of Verdun." In 1918, France declared an area around the size of NYC the "Zone Rouge" or "Red Zone." These were areas of battlefields too dangerous to try to recover. No farming, logging, home building, nothing. Too many unexploded bombs and environmental dangers from poison gas cannisters to just disease and filth from all the death.

So the French Government has been working on these "Red Zones" for over 100 years, trying to clean them up. The off limit areas now are down to around 70 square miles. Over 900 French citizens have died since the end of the war from previously unexploded ordnance. Last incident was in the 1990s.

The French Government thinks it may take another 100 years or more to make all the "Red Zone" safe to re-occupy. Crazy. You can read about the Red Zone here:

https://brilliantmaps.com/zone-rouge/

11-18-2021, 01:08 PM	Topic Starter
gblowfish Be Kind To Your Pets Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Glorious Independence, MO Casino cash: $16886178 VARSITY	WWI Zone Rouge In France I was reading about the Battle of Verdun in WWI. Verdun was an ancient city northeast of Paris, and was considered the strong point of protection from the Germans advancing on Paris itself. In a 10-month fierce battle in 1916, there were 700,000 casualties, including at least 150,000 dead on both sides, along with tens of thousands of civilian deaths and the death of thousands of animals. Both sides called the battlefield "The Hell of Verdun." In 1918, France declared an area around the size of NYC the "Zone Rouge" or "Red Zone." These were areas of battlefields too dangerous to try to recover. No farming, logging, home building, nothing. Too many unexploded bombs and environmental dangers from poison gas cannisters to just disease and filth from all the death. So the French Government has been working on these "Red Zones" for over 100 years, trying to clean them up. The off limit areas now are down to around 70 square miles. Over 900 French citizens have died since the end of the war from previously unexploded ordnance. Last incident was in the 1990s. The French Government thinks it may take another 100 years or more to make all the "Red Zone" safe to re-occupy. Crazy. You can read about the Red Zone here: https://brilliantmaps.com/zone-rouge/
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