Map Series #26 France's Red Zones

"Access Forbidden" on the Verdun Battlefield

More than a century after the end of WWI, an area the size of Paris is still off limits. This archipelago of Red Zones remains pockmarked with deadly explosives and chemicals. They are silent witnesses to the long-lasting environmental impact of modern warfare. In some parts of France, World War I has never ended. These are the Zones rouges–an archipelago of former battlegrounds so pockmarked and polluted by war that, more than a century after the end of hostilities, they remain unfit to live or even farm on.

By 1919, the French Ministry for the Liberated Territories had divided the afflicted areas into three zones, depending on the degree of destruction:

• Zones vertes ("Green Zones"), with minimal damage;

• Zones jaunes ("Yellow Zones"), with heavy but limited damage; and

• Zones rouges ("Red Zones"), usually closest to the former front lines, which were completely destroyed.

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The Green and Yellow Zones were returned to civilian use relatively early. The Red Zones were different. They were, in the words of one official postwar report, “completely devastated. Damage to properties: 100%. Damage to agriculture: 100%. Impossible to clean. Human life impossible.” Red zones were cleared only superficially and mostly just closed off.

In 1919, these Red Zones covered around 690 square miles (1,800 km2). Here, the ground remained saturated with unexploded ordnance. High concentrations of heavy metals and chemicals in the soil further increased the risk to life and limb. For reasons of safety and sanitation, these areas were strictly off-limits for housing, farming, and even forestry.

By 1927, the Red Zones had been reduced by 70 percent to around 190 square miles (490 sq/km), in part due to pressure from local farmers, who wanted to return their fields and pastures to productivity and profit.

An Innocent Looking Trail—But Access Forbidden

Today, the Red Zone archipelago has shrunk to about 40 square miles (100 sq/km), about the size of Paris. Yet it’s unlikely that these islands will disappear soon. They are the most tenacious residue of a long-lasting environmental problem.

Sources: "La terre des régions dévastées"–Journal d'Agriculture Pratique 34 (1921);  Big Think, 7 February 2021; Atlas Obscura