MEUSE INFORMATION
MEUSE Geography
Meuse is part of the current region of Lorraine and is surrounded by the French departments of Vosges, Meurthe-et-Moselle, in the region of Champagne-Ardenne by the departments of Ardennes, Marne, and Haute-Marne and Belgium on the north.
The important rivers are the following : Meuse, Aire, Chiers, Ornain, Saulx, Orge, Ognon, Vaise
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.
Meuse River: The Meuse (in Dutch and in German: Maas, in Latin: "Mosa", in Celtic:"Mus" (the rootword, presumably related to: "moist")), is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea. It has a total length of 925 km (575 miles).
The Meuse marked the Western border of the Holy Roman Empire from its creation in the 9th century until the annexation of most of Alsace and Lorraine by France through the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), and to some extent until 1792 when the Prince-Bishopric of Liège was also annexed to France. Its Belgian (accurately its Walloon) portion, part of the sillon industriel, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe. The Meuse is mentioned nostalgically in Das Lied der Deutschen.
MEUSE History
Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former provinces of Barrois (area of Bar-le-Duc) and Three Bishoprics (area of Verdun).
The department was one of the great battlefields of World War I; an important battle was fought in 1916 at Verdun.
Verdun: The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun) was one of the critical battles during the First World War on the Western Front. It was fought between the German and French armies, from 21 February to 18 December 1916, on hilly terrain north of the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France. The Battle of Verdun ended in a French victory since the German High Command failed to achieve its two strategic objectives: the capture of the city of Verdun and a much higher casualty count inflicted on the French adversary. As a whole, the Battle of Verdun resulted in more than a quarter of a million battlefield deaths and at least half a million wounded. Verdun was the longest battle and one of the most devastating in the First World War and more generally in human history. A total of about 40 million artillery shells were exchanged by both sides during the battle. In both France and Germany it has come to represent the horrors of war, similar to the significance of the Battle of the Somme to the United Kingdom. Major General Julian Thompson, a renowned British military historian, has referred to Verdun in the History Channel's: "1916: Total War", as "France's Stalingrad".
The Battle of Verdun popularized at the time General Robert Nivelle's: "Ils ne passeront pas" ("They shall not pass"), a phrase he delivered in an official order of the day on the 23rd of June 1916, at the time of the critical combats for Fort Souville ( in "Verdun 14-18";Alain Denizot Ph.D.thesis,Paris,1996) . At the beginning of the Battle of Verdun, on 16 April 1916, General Philippe Pétain had already issued a reassuring order of the day ending with: "Courage! On les aura" ("Courage! We shall get them"). These admonitions betray a sense of concern by the French leadership at the morale problems which would sporadically manifest themselves at Verdun during the fall of 1916. Those would later culminate into the French army mutinies that followed after the Nivelle offensive of April 1917 (Denizot,1996).
MEUSE Demographics
The population has decreased sharply since the 19th century, with the rural exodus to the cities.
MEUSE Administration
Department number : 55
Region : Lorraine
Prefecture : Bar-le-Duc
Subprefectures : Commercy, Verdun
Arrondissements : 3
Cantons : 31
Communes: 498
MEUSE HOLIDAY RENTALS in LORRAINE Region
MORE THAN 10.000 B&B in all France
MORE THAN 10.000 Gîtes in all France
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