The Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme involved the main allied attack on the Western Front in the 1st World War. It is mainly famous due to the loss of 58,000 British troops on the first day of battle (1st July 1916). The attack ran from 1st July until 18th November and was located upon a 30-kilometre front, from North of the Somme River between Arras and Albert. The offensive was planned earlier in 1915 and was intended to be a joint Franco-Anglo attack. The French Commander in Chief, Joffre, said that the aim was to drain the German forces of reserves, however territorial gain also had some input. Sir Douglas Haig was the Commander in Chief of the BEF who would be conducting the major offensive in 1916. Originally, although the British forces made up the bulk of the offensive forces, the attack was to be predominantly French. However the German siege on Verdun at the beginning of 1916 resulted in the diversion of almost all-French manpower and efforts as Falkenhayn had promised to bleed France white. This changed the intent of the Somme attack and the French ordered the planned date (1st August 1916) to be bought forward to 1st July, the aim now to divert the Germans from Verdun to the defence of the Somme. Haig now had no choice but to take charge of the attack in Joffre's absence. He used both the ideas of himself and those of General Rawlinson. On Saturday 24th June the attack proceeded by an eight-day preliminary bombardment on the German lines. The expectation being that all forward German defences would be destroyed leaving the at... ... middle of paper ... ...Battle of the Ancre where the field fortress of Beaumont Hamel was captured. The British were finally progressing, but even this was bought to a halt when extremely bad weather caused the Somme offensive to end. The result had been an estimated 420,000 British casualties, a further 200,000 for the French and around 500,000 for the Germans and all for only 12 kilometres of land in Britain and Frances favour. Over 1 million lives were lost in this battle alone and all the Somme offensive was designed for was to divert German attention from the French at Verdun. Some believe this battle acted as a learning curve in the employment of artillery, which contributed to the victory in 1918. In my opinion it shows the severity and pointlessness of war. Hardly anything was achieved apart from the loss of thousands of lives.
French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte is remembered as one of the greatest minds in military history. His revolutionary approach to warfare changed the course of history and the principles which governed his style of leadership are still valued today. Although he had an illustrious career of over 25 years and expanded the French Empire from Portugal to Russia, his reign came to end at the hands' of his enemies. The Battle of Waterloo was Napoleon's last stand as a military commander and will be examined for his use of the principles of the operations process. Napoleon failed to implement these activities effectively and is ultimately responsible for the loss of the battle. Napoleon was able to lead his men, but was unable to overcome his failures. He failed to understand the operational environment which affected his subordinates ability share an understanding of the environment. He failed to direct his forces and functions which lead to the loss of initiative and lacked in violence of action. Finally, Napoleon failed to assess the battle continuously and accurately which kept him from adapting when necessary. After a hard fought battle at Waterloo, Napoleon was defeated.
Source A tells us that Haig did not care about his men and is willing
...he Battle of Bastogne was vital to the success of winning the Battle of the Bulge. Bastogne was an important road junction in which seven roads ran through, “Seven roads in, seven roads out” as it was said of the crossroads town. American forces relied on these roads for supply routes. The capture of Bastogne was seen as a critical objective to the Germans due to the importance of the roads. Because the 101st along with the 7th Armored Division were able to withstand the attack, reinforcements were able to reach the battered units, thus ending the siege of Bastogne. The Battle of Bulge proved to be the last German offensive of the Second World War with the war itself ending just 5 months later. American forces suffered significant casualties during the battle, the 101st accounting for over 2000 casualties out of more than 3000 total wounded or killed in the battle.
The Generals and politicians thought the war was going to end very quickly where every I gets to go home on Christmas. Generals and Politicians said “A few quick campaigns and a few decisive victories would “bring the boys home by Christmas, “perhaps even by the fall” (Overfield, James H. Sources of Twentieth-century Global History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. Print.) , p74. They were definitely wrong on that note. The war lasted 4 years in the hell the soldiers called the battlefield. One of the first major battles on the western front was called the Battle of Marne. The battle that halted the Germans from entering France into a long standing stalemate. The trench warfare started here, where soldiers dug deep into the ground and settled down to fight off the enemy soldiers. It was a stalemate for man...
battle of the Somme began on the 1st of July 1916; the aim of the
The First Battle of Ypres, 1914. Strategically located along the roads leading to the Channel ports in. Belgian Flanders, the Belgian city of Ypres is the scene of. numerous battles since the sixteenth century.
In this essay I will explain the battle between Germany and Britain, discuss how important winning this battle was, what Britain had that the Germans did not have, and what could have happened if Britain would have lost. It is known cleverly as “the Battle of Britain”.
The purpose of this speech for the class is to gain better knowledge of one of the most tragic and devastating battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge.
...did not exist.” However, when this information arrived the next morning, Haig told Rawlinson that “The enemy has undoubtedly been severely shaken and our correct course, therefore, is to press him hard with the least possible delay” . This military strategy was one which led, as Terraine argued, to long-term success. Primary source German Order of the Day from General Von Bulow on 3 July stated “the decisive issue of the war depends on… our victory on the Somme. We must win this battle…” . Furthermore, Haig’s strategy is shown to be perceptive and correct when we consider Ludendorff’s, German Chief of Staff, thoughts: “We were completely exhausted on the Western Front… If the war lasted our defeat seemed inevitable... I cannot see as I look back how the German G.H.Q. could have mastered the situation if the Allies had continued their blows as they did in 1916.”
Have you ever been a part of something big? Maybe a it was a big game or
be long or there will not be a single man left in the regiment’ This
The Battle of Normandy was a turning point in World War II. Canada, America, and Great Britain arrived at the beaches of Normandy and their main objective was to push the Nazi’s out of France. The Invasion at Normandy by the Allied Powers winning this battle lead to the liberation of France and Western Europe. Most importantly Hitler’s was being attacked from both the eastern and western front, and caused him to lose power. If the Allied Powers did not succeed in D-Day Hitler would’ve taken over all of Europe.In a document written by General Dwight Eisenhower he persuades the allied powers to invade Normandy. Dwight Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890. Eisenhower became the 34th president of the United States. He served as the president from January 20, 1953 through January 20, 1961. Before his presidency Dwight participated in World War I and was moved up to captain. Dwight would then take part in World War II and work his way up to becoming a General.
The Battle of Verdun took place in France and was the longest single battle to transpire in World War I. It was also known to the world as the deadliest battle of World War I. The battle commenced on February 21, 1916 and lasted until December 18, 1916. Since the beginning of the battle, the armies suffered substantial losses. The tragic loss of many men also classified this battle as the bloodiest of World War I. Although both sides endured harsh fatalities, the strategies and technology of the French were remarkable in their victory over the German Army in the Battle of Verdun.
The battle of the Somme was one of the most tragic battles fought during World War I. The amount of life lost on both sides was tremendous and historians everywhere agree that this battle was one of the bloodiest battles fought. With casualties upwards of a million, it is not surprising that the Somme is often referred to as the ‘bloodbath’. Historian Martin Gilbert explores the severity of the battle in his book; The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War. In his book he attempts to pay tribute to the soldiers who fought and fell in the battle. To do this he uses excerpts from diary entries, letters and poetry written by the soldiers on the front lines to give the reader a first-hand account of what the soldiers were thinking and feeling while fighting. Gilbert is able to effectively portray the horror of the Somme and reduce the anonymity of the fallen by sharing stories from the soldier’s personal writings, however his book would have been more effective if he had a clear well-structured argument.
The Battle of the Somme epitomizes the harsh realities of trench warfare for the Allies and represents the negligent battle planning and technological advancements that are associated with the stalemate of World War One. Trench warfare was common across the Western Front, with similar strategies being employed by both opposing sides. Sir Douglas Haig, one of the British coordinators for the Somme offensive is blamed with an offensive strategy destined for failure. The British offensive, an utter failure, resulted in a stalemate, which was common throughout World War One. The British development of the tank, while it eventually ended the horrendous stalemate, was ineffectively used during the Somme.