...Keegan- History Short term Significance of the Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme was a war planned late in 1915 as a joint French-British attack. The French Commander in Chief, Joffre, conceived the idea as a battle of attrition, the aim being to drain the German forces of reserves, although territorial gain was a secondary aim. However, the German attack Verdun made the Somme offensive even more pressing because the French army was under severe pressure there. The battle of the Somme was fought from the 1st July 1916 until later in same year where on November the 16th it was brought to an end. The massive amount of casualties in this time, as well how the war was fought Is what has made the battle so historic. For example, It’s best known for the mass amounts of soldiers who died and more specifically how they died In such a short space of time and why. The style of warfare was different and more brutal than ever before, for example better technology and large scale operations which seen over 1.7 million shells were fired at the German’s alone and made the war a huge test for the countries involved who relied heavily on individual decisions, as well as man power. The first day of the Somme (1s July 1916) proved to be massively significant due to the sheer numbers of soldiers lost. Up to 60 000 British soldiers became casualties thanks to enemy fire (one third of the British military) British hopes were high going in to battle for the first time. Indeed, the poster campaign...
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...books, The Battle of Somme is considered a turning point that eventually brought about the end of The Great War, the First World War. It came at a staggeringly high cost to both sides. In terms of casualties, it was the single bloodiest battle during the war, lasting over a period of 4 months. Overconfidence in the precursor artillery bombardment to lighten the German defenses before the main offensive, and poor execution of fires, ratcheted up the number of casualties the British would sustain before the Somme Offensive came to a conclusion several months later. This paper examines the pre battle preparations, the battle itself, and the aftermath of the battle, with a particular focus on the artillery’s role and effectiveness...
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...“The Battle of the Somme” The Battle of the Somme was one of the largest and most bloodiest wars ever fought. I am going to tell you where the wars took place, why it was one of the bloodiest wars, where and what took place at the war, and about the Somme Campaign. I chose this topic because it happened a long time ago. It was fought between the French, Germans, and the British. You might be wondering when the wars took place. In this paragraph I am going to tell you. The Battle of the Somme happened in world war one. It also happened a long time ago between July 1- November 1 in 1918. During the war there was something called the “Somme Campaign” that had happened in 1916. Whistles commanded...
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...The battle at the Somme was fought in the western front of France it was a war of attrition. The various strengths and weaknesses of this battle and Lloyd George’s criticism of Douglas Haig’s role in this war. The Battle of the Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation. The idea originally came from the French Commander-in-Chief, Joseph Joffre and was accepted by General Sir Douglas Haig, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) commander, despite his preference for a large attack in Flanders. Although Joffre was concerned with territorial gain, it was also an attempt to destroy German manpower. The principal attack would be led by General Sir Henry Rawlinson’s forces. He preferred the gradual approach. Nevertheless, Chief Field Commander Haig demanded a daring strike, quickly taking Bapuame then swinging north to flank the German line. Lieutenant General Sir Hubert...
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...miserable and devastating war. There were many different battles in WWI but these are three of the deadliest. The battle of the Somme, the battle of Arras, and the battle of Passchendaele's total deaths is around 2,035,000. They were all difficult battles. The battle of the Somme was in the middle of a river for the British and Germans. The battle of arras was a diversion to draw German troops from their battle, which meant they were in the middle of two battles at once. The battle of Passchendaele, that battle was probably the worst battle in history considering the weather conditions. It was known as the battle of mud. The deadliest battles in WWI are the battle of the Somme, the battle of Arras, and the battle of Passchendaele....
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...During July 1st and November 18th in 1916, one of the bloodiest battles in history was carried out along the Somme Valley in France concerning the British, French and the Germans. This particular battle compromised the main Allied attack on the Western Front and is famously known as the Battle of Somme. The Battle of Somme or the Somme Offensive is a significant battle in history as it was one of the largest battles ever fought in World War 1. As a result, the British troops lost one third of their soldiers on the first day which currently still holds a single-day record. In 1915, the battle was planned to be a joint French-British attack against the German Empire to weaken the German forces simultaneously on the Eastern and Western Fronts....
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...French border. Germany then invades Belgium to attack France. Britain declares war on Germany: Britain protests the violation of Belgium's neutrality, and is guaranteed by a treaty. The German Chancellor says that the treaty is just a scrap of paper, and the United Kingdom declares war on Germany. Battle of Tannenberg: The Battle of Tannenberg was a right between Russia and Germany in the year 1914, and resulted in the suicide of Russian commanding General, Alexander Samsonov, and a German victory....
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...To what extent was battle of the Somme 1916 a learning curve? Some the mouth of hell pages 263-281 Lyn Macdonald Films used to show the troops in a good fun light masking the true events of the Somme, people getting anxious since some films were not as censored and families would start to worry especially when half the post home was censored with loads of the letter written off. There was photographers which both to pictures and filmed live events at the Somme which had a significant event on those families back at home since the films had portrayed for so long how the fight was a winning battle and that everything was fine from living conditions to casualties. For the first time the people of Britain are witnessing the true extent of war. The camera men would take pictures of the aid posts as well as the trenches which for families and new enlists was a terrible sight and worried the nation. The photographers were wary at the time that maybe it could cause a big scene back in Britain. The generals said that the push towards the line led to so many disappointments but yet no one stopped the tactics. There was said to be the first use of tanks on the Somme which was a turning point tin the tactics and the push became easier and was the success and edge needed for no mans land. Letters and diaries from the soldiers showed the boost in moral with the tanks and how Germans were terrified of these machines of the fields and that soldiers had stepped up there fighting and German soldiers...
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...country and our great army. This picture is advertising the great deeds us soldiers do for our country. It also shows how the citizens can help our country and our great army. “war loans help the guardians of your happiness” “war loans help the guardians of your happiness” The Battle of Somme 1st July – 18th November 1916 When I was at the Battle of Somme it was such a surprising attack. On the central powers side it was just another day in July. We started off by doing our morning routines and going through our day when all of a sudden we all heard shells in the distance. Then hundreds of thousands of shells (the official count was about 1.4 million) rained down on our side of the line they were landing everywhere, one landed next to me! But it didn’t go off, most of the shells didn’t go off and we lost some good men. But the allied men pushed forward it wasn’t any time to grieve yet. The allied pushed forward mercilessly but we stood strong and were pushed back a few miles until the allied realized they lost too many men. The central powers lost the battle but both sides suffered major causualties. The Battle of Somme 1st July – 18th November 1916 When I was at the Battle of Somme it was such a surprising attack. On the central powers side it was just another day in July. We started off by doing our morning routines and going through our day when all of a sudden we all heard shells in the distance. Then hundreds of thousands of shells (the official count was about...
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...How successful a military leader was Haig? Explain your answer. I think Sir Douglas Haig was not a very successful military leader. Although he did have some achievements, but compared to his mistakes on leadership, I think it’s not enough to say he was a great leader. Some people argue that death is a part of the war, and that “British generals were not uncaring but they accepted, as they had to, that the very nature of the war, would lead to many deaths however hard they tried to avoid them. ” However we might want to question this statement. Did Haig really try hard to avoid death? If we look closely at the battle plan for the Battle of Somme one would hardly agree. Firstly, Haig assumed a seven-day-bombardment would make the German trenches so deserted that “not even a rat would live”, however he was proven wrong. Also he told the soldiers to walk towards the German trenches; they did, however the Germans simply aimed the machine guns at them and this turned into a suicidal mission. In order to minimize the casualties, he could’ve talk to the soldiers at the front and would know right away that machine gun shells will not beat barbed wire into pieces. In fact, it would only pick it up and through it onto the floor, often in a bigger mess than before… No, he didn’t do any of that. He simply sat kilometers behind the frontline, knowing nothing about the real trenches save the limited intelligence he gets daily. Another piece of evidence that one may argue is Haig’s biography...
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...Furthermore, this fight took place to the north and east of Paris. In addition, the French forces gained true victory because they took advantage of, “German overextension to snatch the strategic initiative from the attackers”. The Battle of Somme was the largest battle of World War I and known as the Somme offensive. This massive battle took place near the Somme river which was in France. Amazingly, both sides of the war would lose over 1.5 million men. This war was considered a loss to both sides due to the number of men that were lost. The Battle of Tannenberg was a battle between the Russian and the Germans and a victory for the German empire. Germany took this as revenge for what has happened...
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...Hitler failed once again and was beyond frustrated. Once he failed, Hitler became poor and eventually was living in homeless shelters and men hostels. When Hitler was living in Vienna, it was a very prejudiced and racist area. When WW1 started Hitler moved to Munich. When Hitler was living in Munich he decided to volunteer for the Bavarian army as an Australian citizen. Hitler worked as a dispatch runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium, Hitler spent nearly half his time behind the front lines(Bio.com).Hitler attended the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, and the Battle of Passchendaele and was wounded at the battle of Somme(Bio.com). During Hitlers service at the base, Hitler chased his artistic dreams. Hitler spent much of his time illustrating cartoons and putting instructions in an army paper (Bio.com). During the Battle of the Somme in October 1916, Hitler was struck in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout (Bio.com). Hitler spent about two months in the hospital at Beelitz, returning to his unit on March 5, 1917 (Bio.com). On October 15, 1918, Hitler was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas strike and was hospitalised in Pasewalk (Bio.com). When Hitler was in Pasewalk he learned that Germany was defeated (Bio.com). As one can see Hitler has become more and more interested in war and power as his life goes...
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...Introduction The First World War went down in history as one of the worst wars ever to be fought, owing to the magnitude of destruction and loss of life it left in its wake. The war started in 1914 ending in 1919, and has been described variously as the Great War, the War of Nations and the War to End All Wars. (Dwight E, 1966) It was fought by many nations around the world, with Europeans being the main players, and is very significant for the way it shaped the continents years after it ended. Many explanations for the possible causes of the war have been given, some of which have been accepted while others have been disputed. The war was fought in a series of battles fought at different locations at different times and involved over 65million men. This paper discusses the genesis, chronology of events during the war, the main players, the casualties and the implication of the war on modern history. The Genesis, Main Players, Events, Casualties and Implications First of all, it is thought that competition among the major European powers was an ingredient in fuelling the war. This was so especially between Britain and Germany, who were competing to have the most powerful navy in the world. All parties were building up large armies and navies, and from this there emerged a professional and powerful class of military officers. At one point, Germany had a well trained, large army that could match the entire army of Great Britain. This led to emergence of tension in Europe, which...
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...The first moment of progress is women at work. Women being able to work during the war and after was a monumental step toward gender equality. Allowing women to go work showed that they were able to complete the same task with equal efficiency. It is significant because women began to consistently work after that point and continue to today. The second moment of progress is the battle of the Somme. This battle proved that Canadians were an effective force in the war. They gained training for the battle of Vimy Ridge, and were a feared opponent after showing their stripes at the Somme. This was significant because Canada progressed towards independence from Britain by showing their military was a forceful unit. The third event is the battle...
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...I’ve been in the trenches of the battle of the Somme for a few weeks now, and I can safely say, the conditions have not improved since I’ve been stationed here. We have steadily, for two weeks been trying to push into no-mans land, without success. It seems every time one of our men pushes out of the trench, he falls back in without life. I’m worried one day that the soldier who falls back into the trench next will be myself. It is certainly not an easy life living in these trenches. We typically spend eight days in a frontline trench being shot at, then return to the reserve trench for four days, and after that we would have a short stay in a rest camp for another four days. By far the most relieving step in the trip was the return and stay at the rest camp. Although the Somme and the surrounding area are quite nice normally, in time of war it’s a hellhole. Non-stop shells going off, seeing the ones who you’ve become acquainted to fall, and on top of that, the extremely poor conditions of the trenches. Over these weeks I’ve had to endure the seemingly endless struggle of this great war. At this point I am almost regretting enlisting, however, I know once the war ends, it’ll be well worth it....
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