Decribe the Battle of the Somme. Who was involved? Explain the Allied strategy that hoped to overcome the enemy. Describe what happened on the opening day of battle. What sort of loses did the British suffer? How did the battle end? Explain the overall significance (if any) of this battle.
The Battle of Somme was Between the British Fourth Army and the Germany army. The British decided that they would lay down artillery bombardment on the Germans and then 100,000 troops would march into the bombarded territory. After the German defenses had been overwhelmed by the British, they would send two Calvary divisions to finish off the Germans. However the Germans dug themselves very deep, and when the artillery stopped the Germans came out of their trenches and served the British massive casualties using grenades and machine guns. The British suffered 60,000 casualties including more then 20,000 deaths on July 1. The battle ended on November 17, and the British had only captured six and a half miles of land; both sides suffered about a total of 1,000,000 casualties. This battle shows how trench warfare is very devastating to both sides of the war.
ReplyDeleteThe British Fourth Army and the German Army fought The Battle of Somme from July 1st, 1916 to November 17th, 1916. The plan the British came up with was to first destroy German defenses with massive artillery bombardments on the East side of Germany. Second, 100,000 soldiers would invade the destroyed German positions. Third, two calvary divisions would be sent into Germany to finish them off. The British commander made the mistake of telling the people, "they could advance with sloped arms, smoking their pipes, and come to no harm" which made the British soldiers relax a little more. When the British were not expecting it and they thought all the Germans had been killed the Germans came out mowed down the approaching British. Just on the first day of the battle, July 1st, the British suffered about 60,000 casualties including more than 20,000 deaths. By the end of the war on November 17th, 1916 the British had suffered one million casualties and had gained only six and a half miles of land from the Germans. The cost of this war had a huge impact on both sides of the army and it is a disappointment to the British because of how little land they came away with for the price of one million troops.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme took place along the Somme river on July 1, 1916 during World War 1. It was a long battle grueling battle that involved the British and German. By the end there were about one million casualties including both countries. The plan of the British was from the east to destroy German defenses with a giant artillery bombardment. They wanted to destroy German forces and gain land from them. Initially the British were very successful. They used a lot of their weaponry and advanced further towards the Germans with high hopes. The day quickly turned though when the Germans were able to fight back against the British. The British somewhat got outsmarted and suffered 60,000 casualties and 20,000 deaths. In the end both sides had major causalities and the British were not successful. This battle shows the different military tactics that were used and how they often were not helpful. In a battle it is not always clear who “won” ,who lost”, and whether it was worth fighting if no one gained anything and there were so many casualties.
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ReplyDeleteThis battle between the French-British and Germans, called The Battle of Somme, lasted about five months. It started on July 1, 1916 and ended on November 17, 1916. This battle was planned out before by the British and French. The British were supposed to have many more French troops to help them, but they were involved in war at Verdun and had lost many soldiers to German forces. The ratio of British to French was eighty to twenty. The French demanded that the British move the original date up, from August 1 to July first in order to not let the Germans to make up their losses at Verdun and move them to Somme. The planned attack consisted of the British and French coming in and dominating the Germans with large artillery bombardment. THe next step was to casually stroll over all of the other trench lines and defeat them all and gain power. This was, however, very unrealistic. The British-French begininning artillery bombardment did not go as planned and failed to destroy and forces that were blocking their path. All of the British-French soldiers did not know that they did not destroy many German soldiers so they decided to go with the plan and stroll over to defeat the Germans. As they were walking over to kill them, the Germans were prepared and took many thousand soldiers down with their machine guns. The end total of casualties was sixty thousand all on the first day. As the battle progressed, more British- French soldiers were killed and the end result was only six and a half miles of land. On the starting day they only had about half a mile of land. They had expected to gain six miles of land in the first day, but that was the end result. The attack failed due to the anticipation of easy enemy return fire.
ReplyDeleteCitations:
Duffy, Michael. "Battles- The Battle of the Somme, 1916." First World War.com. N.p., 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 29 Feb. 2012. .
The Battle of Somme was a fight between the British Fourth Army and the German Army. The British Fourth Army planned to strike with an artillery bombardment. After maximum damage to the German forces the British would hopefully advance with ease and defeat the enemy. The Germans stayed underground and outlasted the attack. When the bombardment stopped the Germans emerged from their trenches. When they emerged they shocked the British Fourth Army with heavy grenade and machine gun fire. The British suffered heavy losses, about 60,000 casualties and 20,000 deaths. Months later when the battle ended the British had only advanced about six and a half miles, but their army had lost so many soldiers. The significance of this battle was the level of weaponry during the time, and the trench warfare. The British thought that there weaponry would destroy the Germans , but in reality it was barely a dent in the Germans strength. The trenches allowed the Germans to outlast a bombardment of a high magnitude and later fight off the British.
ReplyDeleteThe British Fourth Army and The German Army fought from July 1st to November 17, 1916 in the battle of Somme. The British planned to destroy German forces with artillery bombardments in East Germany and 100,000 troops invading the territory. The British lost 20,000 men, with 60,000 casualties on the first day of battle, July 1st. By the end, the British had only captured six and a half miles of land. Between both sides, they lost 1,000,000 men. In the end, both parties suffered many casualties and the British were unsuccessful. This battle shows us how devastating the results of trench warfare are to all parties involved.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme was fought between the French-British and the German forces. The Battle went on for five months. The battle started at July 1st and ended on November 17th. The battle beforehand was planned before, and the plan was that the ally forces would use their artillery forces to distract the German forces and then charge to take out the remaining. When firing, the Germans stayed deep in the trenches to prevent heavy casualties during the bombing. The French and British then charged to take out the remaining forces. The allies were then overturned when the Germans saw the ally forces and killed them using grandees and heavy machine-gun fire. The battle was a complete loss for the allies. There were about 60,000 British casualties, and a third of those died. The war rained blood with losses as high as one million. The battle was devastating for both sides.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme was between the British Fourth Army and the German Army in northern France. The British began the attack by bombarding the German defenses with massive artillery, then sending 100,000 troops to push the rest of the German line back. However the German defenses were dug deep into the ground and once the bombardment stopped the Germans would emerge and mow down the approaching British with their grenades and machine guns. On the first day of battle the British had suffered 60,000 casualties and only advanced half a mile. The British had lost many lives, spent much time and supplies for only six and half miles. This battle is an example of how trench warfare was awful.
ReplyDeleteAt the battle of the Somme, the German Army fought against French and British forces across the Somme River from July 1 to November 18, 1916. The Allies initiated the battle, hoping to weaken the German Line at that point. The plan was to then decisively strike and break the German line.
ReplyDeleteThe strategy of the actual battle did not go very well. The Allies underestimated the strength of the German defenses, which meant their initial bombardment did not weaken the German line enough for an effective infantry attack. By the end of the day, there were 60,000 British casualties.
By the end of the battle, there had been a total of 1 million casualties, but the Allies gained only 6 miles. While this may seem insignificant, some historians argue that it taught the Allies lessons that were important for the eventual defeat of the Germans. According to British historian Gary Sheffield, "The battle of the Somme was not a victory in itself, but without it the Entente would not have emerged victorious in 1918."
On July 1, 1916, British forces assaulted entrenched German defenses along the Somme river in France. Due to a lack of innovative military strategy on the part of the Allies, 60,000 British troops would be sent to their deaths at the hands of the German machine guns. The original plan was for the British to launch suppressive artillery fire and bombard the German forces before sending in their ground troops, who would proceed to take out the incapacitated German forces. After the bulk of the work was done, the British would send a couple cavalry units to pick up the stragglers, a quick and easy victory. However, the Germans had anticipated this kind of frontal assault, and had dug deep trenches to protect themselves from the artillery fire. When the British troops advanced upon their seemingly defenseless enemy, they were unsuspectingly mowed down by the German troops. The British suffered a total of 60,000 casualties in just one day of fighting, with 20,000 dead. What was meant to be a quick and decisive strike to quickly end German control of France's border turned into a half-year long conflict, resulting in a loss of approximately 1 million casualties on both the Allied and Central Power forces. This was an example of how WWI was expected to be a quick, easy war, with minimum casualties, but turned into a dragged out and bogged down conflict that claimed more lives than either side could have possibly imagined.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme was a war between the British Fourth and German armies. This battle took place on the Somme River on July, 1 1916 and lasted until November 17, 1916. The British Fourth Army planned to destroy the Germans with artillery bombardments. After damaging the German forces, they would then advance to defeat the rest of the army. However, the Germans stayed underground until the attack stopped. Once the attack stopped, the Germans came out of the underground, and surprised the British. They bombarded the British with grenades and machineguns. The British lost about 20,000 men, and had about 60,000 causalties. The war was finally over, and in the end, the British only gained roughly 6 ½ miles. The British lost many lives due to the Battle of Somme, and was devastating to both sides. This is an example of how serious and devastating war really is.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation. The Battle of the Somme took place around a river in northern France. The first day on the Somme was the bloodiest day in British military history. For five days before July 1st, the British army shot non-stop at the German trenches. As British soldiers walked towards the German trenches, they were shot down by bullets, causing over 60,000 casualties and 20,000 deaths on just the first day alone. This conflict lasted aprrox. 6 months and caused many more casualties. There was no significance to this battle. Unless the purpose was to lose the lives of innocent people...otherwise nothing was really accomplished.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of Somme was fought between the German Army and The British Fourth Army, across the Somme River. The battle started on July 1, 1916 and ended November 18,1916. The Allies were the ones who initiated the battle, hoping to break down the German line. The Allies strategy was to breakdown the German line with massive artillery bombardment on the East side. Then, the Allies would send 100,000 soldiers into Germany to invade and destroy German positions. Finally, two Calvary divisions would be sent into to finish the job. Though the plan did not go accordingly because the British believed it would be simple, so they decided to relax. Meanwhile, the Germans decided to dig themselves very deep in a trench, and came out once the artillery had stopped. They came out of their trench serving the British massive casualties using grenades and machine guns. The British had suffered 60,000 causalities on the first day of battle. The battle finally ended with the British capturing only 6 miles of land, but both sides suffered about 1,000,000 causalities. This was significant because losing that many lives has set the recorded as one of the most bloodiest battles.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme was a battle between the British and German forces. It was one of the largest battles of the war. The British planned to bombard the German forces from the east, send soldiers in to invade the German positions, and finally send two cavalry divisions into Germany. After the bombardment, the British troops thought that they had killed all of the German forces. They were headed to invade the German positions when many German soldiers got out of their trenches and made a detrimental impact on the British Army, suffering almost 60,000 casualties. By the end of this battle, nearly one millions casualties had occurred and only gained about six miles of German land. The significance of this battle was how much of an impact trench warfare had on the war, causing so many casualties.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme was not only one of the bloodiest battles during World War 1, but still today it is considered one of the most brutal battles in the history of warfare. This battle took place from July to November in the year 1916 between the French and British armies against the Germans. Given its name, this battle was fought on either side of the river Somme in France. The British troops were a little overconfident going into this battle and underestimated the force and number of German troops. The British wanted to destroy the majority of the German troops so that they could take Germany out of control of the French border. The British's ideal and anticipated victory plan was that they were to fire their large amount of artillery before they even sent their troops in. This way, they thought that they would minimize the death of their troops, while taking control of the border and defeating the Germans. Their plan hardly worked because Germany was barley affected by the artillery, and were more than willing to fight the British and French. What the British and French thought would be an easy victory, quickly turned into a bloody battle that claimed the lives of almost a million people. In all throughout the five month battle, the British suffered 420,000 casualties, the French with 195,000, and the Germans with 650,000. The Germans were able to put up a difficult fight because of their well dug trenches; however, their outcome was not so pretty. This battle highlights the brutality and uncertainty of warfare in World War 1.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme was a large battle between Britain and Germany. The British had a plan to bombard the German forces, and from there, take them out. They were very confident that this would work, so the British Fourth Army went on with it. They thought that this was basically won, so there wasn't any reason to really stress about anything. Unfortunately for the British forces, this over-confidence ended up hurting them in turn. With high hopes, British soldiers carried out their heavy attilery towards the Germans. The Germans though, sprung back from their trenches, which surprised the British. Both sides lost quite an overwhelming number of men during the battle, but the British came out with less to be content about. They lost one million casualties, and only gained a small portion of land. There wasn't much gained from the war for both sides, just casualties lost.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Some was a massive war that occurred between the Germans and the British. This war took place in July 1, 1916 and finally ended in November 17, 1916. The British started the war by attempting to use artillery bombardment on the Germans. This first plan was unsuccessful because the Germans knew that the British were going to shell them. The Germans dug themselves deep into their trenches and avoided getting killed by their enemy’s attack. After the artillery bombardment, the British decided to have 100,000 soldiers move in on the Germans. The British were very confident that the Germans were all dead or injured from the shelling and advanced without fear. What the British planned to do after sending 100,000 men to advance was sending in two cavalry divisions. The British planned to use the two cavalry divisions to finish of the Germans. The British’s plan of sending 100,000 men in was not a very good idea. The British were confident the Germans were destroyed from the shelling. One of the Commanders even said that the soldiers could “advance with sloped arms, smoking their pipes, and come to no harm.” They could have not been more incorrect. A very large portion of the Germans were still safe and alive. The Germans knew that the British would have to stop their artillery before they advanced. When the artillery stopped, the Germans got out of the deep ground and set up their machine guns and started firing. They mowed down the British soldiers with their MG08/15 machine guns. Each machine gun was spraying five-hundred 7.92 mm bullets in one minute. The British army could not compete with the German army’s advanced weapons. The British were using bold action rifles. The Germans had a huge advantage over the British and the outcome of the war proves it. On July 1,1916, there were 57,470 casualties for the British army. 19,240 of these casualties were recorded as deaths. The Germans held their ground extremely well and only lost half a mile of land. The war came to a end on November 17, 1916. The Battle of the Somme left a total of one million casualties on both sides and Britain only gained about six and a half miles in this invasion.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme started on July 1, 1916 in Northern France near the Somme River. The British Fourth Army made an attempt to capture German land by first attacking with an artillery bombardment, then advancing roughly 100,000 men towards the German line, and finally sending in two calvary divisions to destroy the last of the German’s defenses. That day, the British commenced their artillery bombardment, but the attack was not as effective as predicted because of the German’s deep trenches. The Germans simply waited for the bombardment to stop to allow the British army to advance, then quickly rushed forward from the trenches, halting the advancing troops with grenades and machine guns. 60,000 British casualties occurred on the opening day of the battle, more than 20,000 of which were deaths, for a capture of only a half a mile of German land. The Battle of the Somme ended over three months later on November 17, both sides had suffered around 1 million casualties total, and the British managed to capture only six and a half miles of land.
ReplyDeleteThis battle is significant because it demonstrates the absurd amount of casualties suffered during World War I thanks to trench warfare and poor strategized military action.
Hailey Hofer:
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme took place along the Somme river from July 1st, 1916 to November 17th, 1916. Today, this battle between the French and British armies against Germany is still considered one of the most brutal and grueling battles in warfare history. The battle was put into place by the British General Sir Douglas Haig. The objective was to relieve the great amount of pressure on the French line, by taking out the majority of the German troops. The strategy was that they were to bombard the German’s with their large amount of artillery on the East side. Then, after greatly damaging the numbers of the German forces, the Allies would advance their 100,000 soldiers to finish off the rest of the Germans. This way, the number of casualties and deaths would be much lower, while taking control and defeating the Germans. The British greatly underestimated the sheer force and numbers of the German troops. What seemed like an easy and efficient plan, actually barely worked, when the German’s were unaffected by the artillery due to their well dug trenches. After the bombardment, the British troops had thought they’d killed all the German forces, but as they headed into No Man’s Land to invade the German positions, the German’s literally rose up from the ground and bombarded the Allies with grenades and machine guns. The results were catastrophic. In just about a five month battle, the British suffered 420,000 causalities, the French with 195,000, and the Germans with 650,000. By the end of The Battle of Somme, nearly one million casualties had occurred, while the Allies only gained approximately six miles of the German land. The significance of this battle is the sheer impact trench warfare had on WWI, and the uncertainty of warfare overall.
The battle of Somme was a raging battle between the United Kingdom and France who were allied and the German Empire. This battle began on July 1st 1916 and consisted of an offensive force by the British and the French and a defensive force by the German Empire. The battle of Somme was one of the largest and most brutal battles of World War I. By the time the battle stopped in Autumn of 1916 the forces involved had suffered more than one million casualties. This battle was marked as one of the most bloody and brutal battles in the history of the world. The British army suffered one of its worst days in the battle of Somme losing 60,000 men. By the end of the battle the British and French powered forward and the German Empire was forced to retreat 40 miles to the Hindenburg line. This battle is significant because it shows how bloody and devastating the not only this battle was, but every battle in World War I.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme was part of the Western Front during the Great War, or World War I. The battle is also known as the Somme Offensive. The battle started on the 1st of July of 1916, the belligerents were the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India against the German Empire. Thirteen British, eleven French and ten and a half German divisions fought in the initial battles. The first day of fighting the British Army suffered sixty thousand casualties, the most losses of any battle fought by the British yet. By the end of the battle the British Army’s casualties stacked up to over three hundred and fifty thousand men, this brought the Allied Force’s casualties to six hundred and twenty three thousand soldiers. Meanwhile, the German Empire sustained four hundred and sixty five thousand deaths. By February of 1917 the German Army had withdrawn forty miles to the Hindenburg Line, the Allies continued to march towards Berlin. If the Germans had held their line at Somme, the war could have very well gone on a few years longer than it had. This would have increased casualties exponentially.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme was a gory battle that resulted in many death. Near by the Somme river, the allies were at a stand still with the German defenses. Trying to attack Berlin, they deiced it was time knock the Germans out of their trenches. The British started off with a huge artillery attack on the German. Then with a huge weakness in the German forces the plan was to take over the initial with a swarm of 100,000 thousand and to finish them off with two Calvary division. However, after the bombing the British found the German sitting their, well covered waiting to fight back. This caused the British to suffer 20,000 deaths with 60,000 casualties, only to capture half-mile of land. This battle is important because it captures a few things. Firstly that the British thought they were going to have easy wins, and that Germany wasn't giving in so easily. Also it shows the true horror of the war. That it takes so many lives to capture such a small spread of land. Finally had this war gone in one favor who knows the final outcome.
ReplyDeleteConsidered the bloodiest battles in history, not to mention the largest fought during the 1st World War, The Somme is infamous as an example of direct warfare being an often-pointless maneuver. The first 5 days of the battle between the British and the French armies (offense) and the German Army was filled with relentless fire from the British. Their strategy was to completely wipe out the German defense, and then safely emerge to finish the job and take land. On July 1st, the British ceased fire and began to cross over to the German side, thinking it was clear. Unfortunately for the British and French soldiers, the Germans had been patiently waiting in their own trenches, and open-fired as soon as the opposing men got out of their trenches. Since the British/French soldiers had been commanded to follow orders, they continued to march into direct fire, suffering major losses in only the first day of real battle. Other factors contributing to Britians initial failure was their artillery. Although upwards of 1.73 million bombs were dropped on the German, almost 1/3 of them were duds, and failed to explode. The battle was also dragged out for nearly half a year, and there were over 60,000 British casualties alone, a grand total topping 1 million for both sides. When the battle finally came to a stopping point, it was unclear which side had actually won, and even today historians argue whether the British gained anything from the battle—seeing that they only gained 11 km of land, approximately 2 deaths per 1 cm. As previously mentioned, the Battle of the Somme proved the futility of war, and the mindless killing that went on, directed by people who had never stepped foot on a battlefield and know nothing of realistic dangers and situations.
ReplyDeletee. st marie
The Battle of the Somme was between the allied forces, Britain and France, against the defensive Germany on the date of July first, 1916, to the 17th of November, 1916. The allied strategy was to create a weakness in the German front and to eventually break down the Western front with a final blow. The attack was lead by the British although the French did play a vital role in this battle. On the first day, the British planned to use thirteen divisions to attack the german front. Much of the German artillery struck and weakened the British troops and defense and that left an extreme impact on their fighting later in the war. The thirteen divisions did succeed with the aid of the French, but they nearly suffered 60,000 causalities on the first day. This was detrimental to the British forces because already after the first day they lost around 20% of their men... It was a wake-up call and an unfortunate lesson learned on what and what not to do with the Germans on the front. Over 600,000 allied force casualties were suffered and Britain lost the majority of them. In the endings of the Battle, allied forces made another attack against the Germans and yet again, the British and French succeeded, but with extreme casualties...thus concluding the war.
ReplyDeleteThis battle was significant because it is a gruesome example of the battles fought in WWI and puts it into perspective of how dangerous and awful the war really was.
The Battle of Somme serves as a good representation of the bloody trench warfare that occurred during World War I. The battle was between Britain, an ally of the Triple Ententé, and its rival Germany, a member of the Triple Alliance. The battle took place in July along the Somme River in France. In attacking the Germans, the British hoped to destroy German positions to aid the French. Their strategy was to weaken the German defense through continuous shelling, so that when the time came to initiate the attack, the British could meet a broken and battered German defense. From there, the British hoped to easily take out the Germans with two cavalry divisions. However, the Germans were protected deep under the ground, and the preliminary bombardment readied them for attack. The British, relying heavily on their first attack, were greeted by a strong strike back from the Germans, with a stream of grenades and machine guns. At the end of the battle on November 17, the British only managed to gain 6 and a half miles of land at the expense of massive casualties on their side. In total, there were about one million casualties on both sides. This Battle accurately reflects the gore that was a result of World War I.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of Somme was a major blunder from the British military. The British Fourth Army advanced against German defenses to gain land in the beautiful area near the Somme River full of forests and hillsides. They invaded with what they believed was a foolproof plan. This plan was to hit the German army with a massive artillery bombardment and then, assuming they had all been slaughtered, simply walk right past them. Unfortunately for the British, they underestimated the protection offered by the German’s deep trenches. As the British stopped the bombing and began to approach the German territory, the shielded German soldiers emerged with their own weapons and slaughtered the British. The British suffered about 60,000 casualties, including 20,000 deaths that day, but only gained about half a mile of land. When the battle ended about four and a half months later (lasted from July 1 to November 17th), the British had gained only six and a half miles of land, which paled in comparison to the estimated one million casualties on both sides. A smaller loss was the loss of the beautiful valley, which was turned into a wasteland.
ReplyDeleteHenry Poole
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme perfectly represents the type of fighting that went on during WWI. The battle took place in the Somme river valley of France. The British were looking to attack the Germans in order to prevent them from pushing even further into French territory. The British hoped to defeat the Germans with heavy artillery followed by a quick strike with troops on the ground. The British expected the battle to end rather quickly, but they underestimated the resilience of the German army. The German army survived the heavy artillery fire. The rest of the battle was mainly fought in the trenches. The British struggled to gain ground and suffered heavy casualties. After a grueling battle that lasted from July 1, 1916 to November 17, 1916, the British only captured six and a half miles of land from Germany.
The Battle of the Somme is an example of a grueling trench battle during WWI. The battle was slow and resulted in many casualties and little success for the victor.
The Battle of the Somme is known as one of the bloodiest battles of World War I. The battle began on July 1st of 1916 and lasted until November 18th due to the enormous number of casualties. The battle took place on either side of the Somme River and was fought between the offensive British and French armies and the German Army. The offensive plan of the French and British was discussed and planned in Chantilly, Oise in December of 1915 by General Joseph Joffre, the commander-in-chief of the French army. All allied representatives present agreed on a vigorous offensive against the central powers, which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria. The strategy behind the battle was to create a breach in the German line, which would then be defeated in one large blow.
ReplyDeleteThe British Army was the first line of men sent into the battle and in turn suffered 60,000 casualties on the first day of battle. By the end of the battle British and French forces had infiltrated 6 miles into German territory, much less than was anticipated, and the Germans maintained most of their entrenched bearings.
The Battle of the Somme took place in northern France, and the main opposition forces were the German defenses established there and the advancing British 4th Army. The 4th Army had planned on shelling out the main German forces with artillery fire and sending infantry to advance and fight what little Germans were to remain. This tactic is actually quite similar to the blitzkrieg, utilized by Nazi Germany in WWII. The blitzkrieg's forces were comprised of bombers and tanks rather than artillery and infantry, but the basic tactic was the same: to take out a large chunk of the opposition's forces as quickly as possible.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the German soldiers had dug themselves in deeper than the artillery could effectively reach. The German troops then retaliated, spraying the advancing 4th Army with grenades and machine gun bullets before they had a chance to attack. The British suffered over 60,000 casualties on the first day of battle. By the time the battle ended, the British gained six-and-a-half miles of land at the cost of over 600,000 casualties. This battle perfectly illustrates trench warfare's capacity to kill so many and achieve little progress in terms of land.
The Battle of the Somme horrifically portrayed the violence of world war two. The battle was set along the Somme River in France and took place between German and British forces. The strategy of the British was to launch a heavy artillery assault on the german troops followed by a wild charge by almost all of their soldiers. The British strategy failed. The Germans were relatively unaffected by the shelling inside of their trenches and as soon as the troops tried to rush the German line they were slaughtered by machine guns. The casualties suffered by the allies was more than 600,000. Not only does this battle depict the tragedies of world war one but future wars as well. Almost nothing was gained and so many good men were lost. This battle represents the absurdities and almost certain death in the trenches of world war one
ReplyDeleteBefore the Battle of the Somme took place French vacationers would go visit the peaceful Somme River that flowed through a gorgeous countryside filled with hills, forests, and plenty of farmland. Once the Battle began the valley transformed into a barren and charred wasteland. This was all due to the battle that took place between the British Forth Army and the German Army. This battle took place while trench warfare was still in use. The British figured that they could destroy German defenses with artillery bombardment before sending 100,000 of their soldiers to advance towards the Germans now destroyed positions. The British believed that they would be able to take out the German defense quickly inorder to break up into two cavalry divisions designated to finish off the Germans. The Germans expected the British to begin with a artillery bombardment, for this reason they dug themselves deep under the ground and waited for the artillery to stop. Once it finally stopped the Germans began to surface from the trenches with their weapons in hand and destroyed the oncoming British army with grenades and the use of machine guns. The British Army suffered around 60,000 casualties and more than 20,000 deaths. On July 1st, 1916, the British Army captured about half a mile of German land, this was the first day of battle. The battle finally ended November 17th of that same year, the British had only acquired six and a half miles, at the cost of each side ending up with a total of one million casualties. The Battle of some is a great indication of why trench warfare was so unsuccessful. It's a slow war that ends up having a great deal of casualties and very little success, just like what occurred at the Battle of Somme.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme was one of the harshest battles of World War 1. The battle was fought in Northern France on both sides of the River Somme. What was once countryside filled with rolling hills turned into a barren wasteland after the battle. The war was fought between the British Fourth Army and the German army. The British were determined to first destroy German defenses to the east with a massive artillery bombardment. Almost 100,000 soldiers would then go to German positions. After the British had overcome the initial German defenses, two cavalry divisions would be sent to finish the Germans. The Germans were prepared for this fight by digging deep into the ground. The Germans made a plan to attack the British when they had to stop their own artillery before the attack. When the British stopped, the Germans attacked with grenades and machine guns. The British suffered about 60,000 casualties on July 1, which included 20,000 deaths. The British in all only gained about six and a half miles of land from the Germans. The British Army suffered the worst day in its history.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme took place between 1 March and 17 November in Somme, a region in northern France, and involved the French and British united together to fight the Germans. This was one of the largest battles to take place during WWI. The allies had strategic discussions at Chantilly, which is slightly south of the Somme region. The battle started with the British trying to destroy all of the German defences they could with artillery. Then, once they thought the German defences had been destroyed, they sent in 100,000 infantrymen to clear out any remaining forces from the German line. However, they did not know that the Germans had all hid underground and waited out the artillery, and then come back up when it stopped to easily defend themselves from the advancing British with the new machine gun technology. The battle resulted in 60,000 total casualties for the British, 20,000 of which were deaths. When the battle ended, over a million people had died and the British had only gained 6½ miles.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of the Somme was a battle fought on July 1, 1916 between the British and the French. The British were on the offensive so they devised a plan to gain land from the Germans. First, they would use their artillery to weaken the German defenses. Then, they would send in around 100,000 men from the infantry to do the hand to hand combat. Finally the two divisions of cavalry would ride in and completely eliminate the enemy. Unfortunately for the British, the battle did not end this way. Initial, the plan depended on the destroying of the German defenses. This would have killed men and left them vulnerable to attack. Oppositely, when it came time to start phase 1, the British artillery had little impact on the German defenses. This set up phase two to fail. As the men went in for the "dirty work", they were met not by a confused German army, but rather a fully fortified and fresh German base. This left the approaching British soldiers without cover facing the artillery of the German camp. Due to this, the british sustained serious casualties in the range of 20,000 deaths and 40,000 wounded. This battle was significant because it helped stop the German offensive and turned the tide in the direction the war was going.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Somme, which began on July 1, 1916 and ended November 17, was a battle between the British 4th army and the German defense. The Somme battlefield was located in the Somme River Valley. The British 4th army planned to destroy the eastern part of the German defense with a massive artillery bombardment. After the attack, the British advanced 100,000 soldiers to overcome the German troops. Finally, two cavalry divisions were sent in to finish off the Germans. However, the results of the battle were unexpected. The Germans knew that the British must stop their artillery before it harmed their troops. The Germans had dug deep trenches, and the moment the British artillery stopped, the Germans attacked the British army with a stream of grenades and machine guns. The British army only gained half a mile on the first day of battle. July1, the British had a total of 60,000 casualties and 20,000 deaths. November 17, 1916 signified the end of the battle. The British had only gained six and a half miles of land from the German forces at the cost of more than a million casualties. The Battle of Somme was a typical World War I battle that displayed trench warfare at its worst state. The Battle of Somme managed to turn a French vacation spot into a barren battlefield.
ReplyDeleteOn July 1st, 1916, the British forces fought against the German forces at he Battle of the Somme. Initially the British plan was to heavily shell the Germans and then proceed with a cavalry attack and the subsequently an infantry invasion 100,000 strong. This plan didn't go so well because as soon as the British stopped their artillery, the Germans arose with their weapons in hand to demolish the incoming British attack. The British lost 20,00 soldiers and 40,000 were wounded on July 1st. The British had only gained six and a half miles of ground when the battle concluded. About one million casualties were suffered from this battle. This battle really summed up trench warfare in a nutshell. Millions of lives were lost for almost no gain.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of Somme was a battle fought between British/French troops and German troops along the Somme River. The British/French initially planned to shower the Germans with artillery to destroy their defensive line. They then planned to send soldiers in on foot where the defensive line had been broke therefore gaining land. The artillery was not as destructive as the British/French expected because the Germans were protected in their trenches. However the British/French did not realize this and went along with the plan. They met met the Germans face to face where the Germans were prepared to fight and almost 60,000 British/French troops were slaughtered. The battle lasted for a few months and the British only ended up capturing a small fraction of the land they wanted to capture. This battle is a perfect example for how devastating trench warfare was. It could be argued that the casualties would have been far less with the absence of trench warfare.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of somme consisted of the combined forces of the french and the British against the Germans. The location of the battle was in northern france along the somme river. The Allied plan to take care of the Germans was to completely shell the area with artillery weakening the German forces considerably and therefore making it a cake walk for the british forces to advance further and push the Germans back. But, the germans happened to be dug in extremely well in their fox holes and avoided most of the shelling. So when the British forces arrived and approached the enemy line they found out that the shelling did not work and there were more troops then they thought there would be. The first day of battle was brutal for both sides and it continued to get worse. When the battle was over both sides in total suffered 1 million casualties.The British during the battle of somme lost on average 2,943 men a day. The significance of this battle was that the British and Germans gave up so much for almost nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme took place in 1916. It achieved its name from its location. The battle was fought on either side of the Somme river. This battle consisted of armies from the German, French and British. The French and British were allied against Germany which had invaded France in 1914. This gave them enough of a reason to try fight back and take the offensive against the Germans. The British and French teamed up and attempted an attack on the Germans. This did not end in their favor. They underestimated what the German forces and their weapons and what they were capable of, and this lead them to have over 60,000 British casualties. By the end of the battle, the British and French allies had only gained six miles of land on the Germans. The final outcome of the attack did not seem as if it was worth it. The British lost over 1 million men and the long lasting toll was massive.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Lorenz
DeleteThe Battle of the Somme began on July 1, 1916. The attack was initiated by French and British troops at the northern portion of the Somme river. The battle killed about 58,000 British troops in the first day alone and still hold a record for taking the most lives in one day. The location of the battle would have allowed the British and French troops to separate the German lines and march into the enemy territory. The British had planned to overwhelm the Germans with an artillery strike and proceed to march into and through no mans land with ease. They felt that the artillery strike would have been able to destroy almost all German defenses and leave them vulnerable to attack. Unfortunately for the British, the German forces were much stronger than anticipated. Through the use of strong concrete bunkers built deep in the trenches, the German troops were able to survive through the artillery strike. The artillery strike also failed to destroy the barbed wire that had been placed as a defense. When the 27 divisions of French and British troops marched forward to attack the German forces, they German’s use of machine guns proved to be exceptionally effective. The British and French troops had little defense while crossing no mans and were slaughtered. They were ultimately forced to retreat back into the trenches. The battle lasted on until July 18th and proved to be a disaster for the British and French alliance. It was one of the bloodiest battles ever fought and is remembered today as an example of the horror of war.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of Somme was between the german empire and the allied forces. it took place july 1st to november 18th 1916. the allied forces suffered 623 907 casualties. There was heavy use of trench warfare. the germans used strong concrete bunkers to protect themselves from british bombardments. when british artillery stopped, the germans came out. The germans were stronger with better tactics, but they were eventually overwhelmed. the germans suffered 465000 casualties.
ReplyDeleteOn July 1, 1916 underneath the hot sun, the French-British fourth army began their bombardment of the German front lines. Hoping to strike the Germans before they could regain strength after the battle of Verdun, the mostly British force hoped to decimate the German trenches before the ground troops began their charge, in confidence that the Allies could "Stroll over to the German lines with a pipe and an uncharged rifle". Unfortunately, by this time the Germans knew what to expect. A heavy bombardment would inevitably precede an attack, so the Germans dug in heavily and prepared to resist the coming charge.
ReplyDeleteThe British shells failed to affect the German lines. As 100,000 young Englishmen strolled across open ground, the newly developed German machine guns began the horrific slaughter that would burn the memory of the Somme into the british army forever. Sixty thousand young men became casualties during that first day. The British vast invasion force only managed to capture a meager 6 and a half miles of land. That is almost 10,000 casualties for each mile of captured land. The sheer futility and brutality of the Battle of the Somme has caused it to become the posterchild for Trench Warfare and made it go down in the history books as one of the greatest tactical defeats the british would ever face.
The battle of somme began on july 1st and ended on november 17th. The british and partly french allied troops planned to bombard the german forces and then take them with foot soldiers and calvary. The germans however were expecting this and ended up taking cover from the artillery shells without much caualities. The British were hoping to take advantage of the germans who were fighting on both fronts and capture some land however when their troops marched in they were ambushed by the germans who had heavy machine guns waiting for them. 60,000 soldiers died on the british/french side and the battle of somme was remembered as one of the biggest defeats for the allies in the first world war
ReplyDeleteIn the battle of Somme (1916) the British Fourth Army and the German army faced off in a debatable battle of World War I. In this battle, the British planned a strong invasion. The British hoped to bombard fortified German positions to begin with, which would climate the bulk of German land opposition. Then, the British were to move in with divisions of foot soldiers and finally follow up the attack with divisions of Calvary, which would lead to a quick victory. Ultimately, the attack was disaster as the Germans avoided the initial bombardment in dugouts and trenches and had a much stronger force than anticipated. The British loses on that day would include 60,000 casualties. When the battle came to a halt six months later on November 17th, the British only conquered six and a half miles. There isn't a true overall significance to the battle, but this is just another blunder in how ill preparation can result in catastrophe.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme began on July 1, 1916. The battle was between the Germans and the British. The British planned on having a quick victory through a somewhat complex plan. The British soldiers were first going to attack the Germans using large artillery. They planned on killing most of the Germans this way and then they would bring in about 100,000 foot soldiers to further the victory. Lastly, they planned on finishing up the battle by sending two divisions of cavalry. The British were sure that this would be a sure win. However, the German’s had different plans. They had placed their soldiers deep into the ground, implementing trench warfare. As the British were closing in on the German troops, the soldiers charged out of their trenches and began a brutal assault on the British. Grenades and machine guns were fired at the British. Just on that first day there was 60,000 British casualties with 20,000 deaths. The battle lasted a few months and in the end there were one million casualties total on both sides. The battle was a huge loss of both British and German troops. It showed how serious World War One was and how many people lost their lives. It would be remembered forever.
ReplyDeleteAfter four and a half months, and 58,000 British soldiers, the Battle of the Somme was finally over. But not before earning its place in history as the bloodiest European battle in history. The battle began on the July 1st, 1916, and continued until November 18th. The battle was an offensive by the British and French armies, designed chiefly to drain the supplies of the Germans. The battle is named after the Somme river, a river just south of the 30 km battlefield. This battle is significant because it was the first major offensive of the British Army. The first day was noticeable to the families and homelands of the (british) soldiers because of how high the casualty count was.
ReplyDeleteWar is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
ReplyDeleteYour article is very well done, a good read.