The Battle of the Somme as a Victory for the British

The Battle of the Somme as a Victory for the British

This investigation seeks to evaluate the level of success for the

British in the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and analyse whether this

battle was really a "victory" for the British or not. The main body of

this investigation outlines what happened to the British army in The

Battle of the Somme in 1916, with references to many sources. The

battle is then analysed to see to extent was it a victory for the

British and to what extent it wasn't, with importance on the country

and the army. Two of the sources used in this essay, The Western Front

and The First Day of the Somme, are then evaluated in detail in terms

of their origins, purpose, value and limitations. For evaluating

"victory", many aspects are considered. These include a comparison

between the objectives of Britain before the battle and the results

itself, the number of casualties on both sides, etc.

B Summary of evidence

In 1916, the British planned to attack the Germans near the Somme

River. Their main aim of this attack was to relieve the French

pressure at the battle of Verdun, which was going on from the early

part of the year. 'Their plan was breathtakingly simple. Having

assembled the greatest concentration of artillery in its entire

history, the British army would bombard the German defenses until

their barbed wire was cut destroyed, their trenches caved in, their

strong points were smashed to fragments and the few remaining

defenders were to too scared to fight. Then the British infantry,

outnumbering the German defenders seven to one and equipped with

everything they could possibly require, would leave their trenches,

cross "No Man's Land" and calmly take possession.'[1] The bombardments

went on from June 24th to July 1st, 1916. But their plan had gone

wrong. The Germans had deep dugouts that would not be affected by the

bombardments of the British. Their trenches were so strong that the

shells had no effect on them. The bombardment failed to destroy either