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It's hard to overstate how many shells were fired on the western front during the war. It's estimated that about a tonne of ordnance was fired per square meter

It's hard to overstate how many shells were fired on the western front during the war. It's estimated that about a tonne of ordnance was fired per square meter of the front. An absolute gobsmacking amount of ordnance was fired, not even including small arms and grenades. Unfortunately, a huge percentage of those shells just ... didn't go off. As many as 1/3rd of them failed to detonate and embedded themselves deep in the mud. To this day there are areas in France that are completely off limits to everyone, both due to the unexploded ordinance and the amount of toxins those areas. Even outside of those areas there is a a process known as the "Iron Harvest", where local farmers will dig up artillery shells regularly; there is usually an official process for where farmers put these shells for regular disposal.

jmnicolas 6y ago
Depending on the sources, between 45 or 53 millions shell were fired for the battle of Verdun (it lasted 10 months). My great grandfather was wounded there and subsequently died from his wounds. I still have his medals. "The battle lasted for 302 days, the longest and one of the most costly in human history. In 2000, Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann calculated that the French suffered 377,231 casualties and the Germans 337,000, a total of 714,231, an average of 70,000 a month. In 2014, William Philpott wrote of 976,000 casualties in 1916 and 1,250,000 in the vicinity during the war. In France, the battle came to symbolise the determination of the French Army and the destructiveness of the war." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun
holoduke 6y ago
Every year I go with an old group of ex colleagues to northern France. One of the guys is a former historican who spends his free time investigating lost/unknown trenches. During those trips we walk across the many farm fields and forrests. He uses various maps and letters to understand were original battles took place. Everywhere you can find artifacts. Bullets, shells and other metal. There are also abandoned concrete bases still containing all the equipment to operate cannons. None of these areas are closed for public. Most are in fact just farm fields or public forrests. Accidents are not that frequent anymore. But not long ago each year someone died from an accident with unexploded grenates or shells. And it is still dangerous at some places. I know places where you will still find live explosives lying everywhere. Those areas are still a moonlike landscape with craters just everywhere. Unimaginable amount of shells were shot at the same place. I have a few interesting artifacts which I found during those trips. A bayonet of a french rifle. Completely intact gun clips from German, British and French rifles. An intact flask. Belts. Shells and their detonation devices (little clocks). Hundreds of copper balls from explosives.
sjackso 6y ago
It really adds a dimension to Eisenhower's famous speech: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." It is also spending the health of the world's fragile ecosystems.
- nickpinkston 6y ago
  Damn, I wish our current leaders talked about the military-industrial complex like Ike did...
  - credit_guy 6y ago
    > military-industrial complex Here's a link [1] to the list with the world's richest persons. Can you tell me how many of them made their fortunes in the military-industrial business? To spare you a click, here's the top 10: Bezos, Arnault, Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg, Buffet, Ellison, Page, Ortega, Brin. Tech (7), fashion (2) and finance (1). You can go on and on. I'd be very curious at what position you can find a military-industrial billionaire. [1] https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#31614dc93d78 https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#31614dc93d78
    - opnitro 6y ago
      Yet, despite that, military spending dominates government budgets in the US.
      - dragonwriter 6y ago
        > Yet, despite that, military spending dominates government budgets in the US. Only when you ignore the nearly 2/3 of spending that is “mandatory spending” and focus exclusively on “discretionary spending" does military dominate; it's about 1/6 of overall spending; healthcare, which is a major component of mandatory spending and also has some share of discretionary is about a time and half as much. US has enormous per GDP, and even moreso per capita, defense spending, there's no need to exaggerate it's significance.
jcims 6y ago
Stack of spent shells http://www.eureferendum.com/images/000a%20Verdun-029%20003.png http://www.eureferendum.com/images/000a%20Verdun-029%20003.p...
- StavrosK 6y ago
  "Stack"? That's a sea!
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  We actually had two of those by my parent's fireplace at home. It was a long time before I realized they weren't random brass cylinders, but in fact two spent artillery shells that my maternal grandfather brought home from WW1.

jmnicolas 6y ago

Depending on the sources, between 45 or 53 millions shell were fired for the battle of Verdun (it lasted 10 months). My great grandfather was wounded there and subsequently died from his wounds. I still have his medals. "The battle lasted for 302 days, the longest and one of the most costly in human history. In 2000, Hannes Heer and Klaus Naumann calculated that the French suffered 377,231 casualties and the Germans 337,000, a total of 714,231, an average of 70,000 a month. In 2014, William Philpott wrote of 976,000 casualties in 1916 and 1,250,000 in the vicinity during the war. In France, the battle came to symbolise the determination of the French Army and the destructiveness of the war." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun

holoduke 6y ago

Every year I go with an old group of ex colleagues to northern France. One of the guys is a former historican who spends his free time investigating lost/unknown trenches. During those trips we walk across the many farm fields and forrests. He uses various maps and letters to understand were original battles took place. Everywhere you can find artifacts. Bullets, shells and other metal. There are also abandoned concrete bases still containing all the equipment to operate cannons. None of these areas are closed for public. Most are in fact just farm fields or public forrests. Accidents are not that frequent anymore. But not long ago each year someone died from an accident with unexploded grenates or shells. And it is still dangerous at some places. I know places where you will still find live explosives lying everywhere. Those areas are still a moonlike landscape with craters just everywhere. Unimaginable amount of shells were shot at the same place. I have a few interesting artifacts which I found during those trips. A bayonet of a french rifle. Completely intact gun clips from German, British and French rifles. An intact flask. Belts. Shells and their detonation devices (little clocks). Hundreds of copper balls from explosives.

sjackso 6y ago

It really adds a dimension to Eisenhower's famous speech: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children." It is also spending the health of the world's fragile ecosystems.

nickpinkston 6y ago
Damn, I wish our current leaders talked about the military-industrial complex like Ike did...
- credit_guy 6y ago
  > military-industrial complex Here's a link [1] to the list with the world's richest persons. Can you tell me how many of them made their fortunes in the military-industrial business? To spare you a click, here's the top 10: Bezos, Arnault, Musk, Gates, Zuckerberg, Buffet, Ellison, Page, Ortega, Brin. Tech (7), fashion (2) and finance (1). You can go on and on. I'd be very curious at what position you can find a military-industrial billionaire. [1] https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#31614dc93d78 https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#31614dc93d78
  - opnitro 6y ago
    Yet, despite that, military spending dominates government budgets in the US.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > Yet, despite that, military spending dominates government budgets in the US. Only when you ignore the nearly 2/3 of spending that is “mandatory spending” and focus exclusively on “discretionary spending" does military dominate; it's about 1/6 of overall spending; healthcare, which is a major component of mandatory spending and also has some share of discretionary is about a time and half as much. US has enormous per GDP, and even moreso per capita, defense spending, there's no need to exaggerate it's significance.

jcims 6y ago

Stack of spent shells http://www.eureferendum.com/images/000a%20Verdun-029%20003.png http://www.eureferendum.com/images/000a%20Verdun-029%20003.p...

StavrosK 6y ago
"Stack"? That's a sea!
ashtonkem 6y ago
We actually had two of those by my parent's fireplace at home. It was a long time before I realized they weren't random brass cylinders, but in fact two spent artillery shells that my maternal grandfather brought home from WW1.