This was the hellish, protracted siege known to many as "The Mincer". The fanatical French defence of the three forts - which had enormous psychological value to the whole nation - cost hundreds of thousands of lives and was, in part, the reason the Battle of the Somme was fought during the same year. The battle ebbed and flowed throughout the year and the forts were captured and recaptured many times before finally the fighting eased in December 1916. Unfortunately by this time almost 700,000 French and German troops had been killed or wounded trying to take or defend the city.