In 1919, France declared 1200 sq km area as Zone Rouge after World War 1. No one lives there even after a century and the battlefield turned into a forest

The effect of World War 1 were felt across Europe for many years even after the war ended in 1918. A prime example of that is France's Verdun. The area was so heavily bombarded that France eventually decided some areas were simply too dangerous to return to normal life. In 1919, more than 1,200 square kilometres of land were classified as the Zone Rouge, or “Red Zone.”

The designation covered land considered too damaged or contaminated for people to live on, farm or develop. More than a century later, parts of the Zone Rouge remain restricted. Unexploded artillery shells are still recovered from the soil, while traces of wartime chemicals and heavy metals continue to complicate efforts to restore some areas. And perhaps most remarkably, several villages destroyed during the war still legally exist — despite having no residents.

What was the Zone Rouge?

The Zone Rouge was not one continuous block of land. It consisted of numerous areas scattered across northeastern France, particularly around some of the Western Front's most intensely fought battlefields. After the war, French authorities surveyed the devastated countryside and classified land according to the severity of the destruction.


The most severely damaged areas were placed in the red category. In these places, the destruction of homes, farmland and infrastructure was so extensive that authorities considered human habitation impossible. The problem was not simply rebuilding houses.

Years of artillery bombardment had left enormous quantities of unexploded ordnance underground. Chemical weapons had contaminated some areas, while fragments of ammunition, heavy metals and human remains were mixed into the soil. Authorities ultimately concluded that clearing some of these areas would cost more than the land was worth — while putting workers at enormous risk.

Verdun became one of the worst examples

The Battle of Verdun in 1916 produced some of the most heavily bombarded terrain of the war. Around 60 million shells were fired during the battle, with estimates suggesting roughly a quarter failed to explode. That meant millions of potentially dangerous objects remained underground when the soldiers left.

The landscape was also physically transformed. Shell craters covered the ground, trenches crossed the countryside and entire communities disappeared. Instead of returning the land to agriculture, France eventually allowed forests to grow over much of the former battlefield.

Nine villages were destroyed beyond rebuilding

Around Verdun, nine communes were judged to have been destroyed so completely that rebuilding them was considered impossible.

They were:

* Beaumont-en-Verdunois

* Bezonvaux

* Cumières-le-Mort-Homme

* Douaumont

* Fleury-devant-Douaumont

* Haumont-près-Samogneux

* Louvemont-Côte-du-Poivre

* Ornes

* Vaux-devant-Damloup

The French state designated these places “morts pour la France” — “dead for France.” The designation was notable because it had traditionally been associated with soldiers killed in war. In this case, it was applied to villages. Three of the nine were eventually rebuilt. Six, however, remain without permanent populations.

Notably, though no one lives there, France has retained the village administration inside the Zone Rouge. Today, the six unpopulated communes have municipal structures despite having zero inhabitants. Each has a small municipal council, with members appointed by the prefect of the Meuse. One serves as mayor. These mayors can oversee commemorations, maintain memorials and chapels, and perform administrative duties for places that have no ordinary residents.

The battlefield became a forest but...

Nature eventually began reclaiming the devastated land. Grass, shrubs and trees returned surprisingly quickly to much of the former battlefield. Trees were planted around Verdun, including Austrian black pine, which could tolerate the poor soil. The trees also helped stabilize the ground and reduce erosion. That mattered because erosion could expose buried ammunition and potentially carry contaminated material into watercourses.

However, the contamination beneath them is another story. Some parts of the Zone Rouge contain lead, mercury, zinc, arsenic and residues from explosives. In heavily contaminated areas, researchers have found significant effects on the soil ecosystem. Trees can absorb metals from the ground, while fragments of wartime ammunition can become embedded in their trunks. Wild boar, which constantly root through the soil, can also encounter contaminated material.

One clearing became France’s most contaminated site

One of the most notorious locations is Place à Gaz, a clearing in the Spincourt forest. In the 1920s, contractors attempted to dispose of captured German chemical shells by burning them. The problem was that some of the chemical agents did not simply disappear in the fire.

Arsenic compounds remained behind in the soil. Soil sampling conducted decades later found extremely high arsenic concentrations in parts of the site, reaching levels reported at up to 176 grams per kilogram. Access to Place à Gaz was formally prohibited in 2012. It is an extreme example of how the environmental consequences of World War I survived long after the weapons themselves had become obsolete.

Farmers still find shells

Even outside the most restricted areas, the war continues to emerge from the ground. Farmers working land along the former Western Front can still discover artillery shells, particularly after ploughing or seasonal changes in the soil. The phenomenon is sometimes called the “iron harvest.” Hundreds of tonnes of wartime ordnance are recovered in France every year. Some areas contain extraordinary concentrations.