Battle Of The Somme: Source Analysis

The British launched The Battle of the Somme to achieve two objectives. The first and most important goal was to relieve pressure on the French Army at Verdun, and the second was to inflict as heavy a loss as possible on the German Armies. The Battle of the Somme had to be fought to save the French Army from the crucifixion of Verdun. The head of the French Army, General Fock, and some leading British commanders did not believe this battle would help, but political masters in London and Paris supported the campaign. For many years The Battle of the Somme received much criticism for the way the battle was fought based on the number of casualties.

“The battle [is also] known by different names. The Germans [called it] ‘Operation Watch on the Rhine’, while the French [called] it ‘Battle of the Ardennes’. [American and Britain] called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive.” The main goal for the Germans for this offensive was to split the British and American forces in half and capture the port city of Antwerp. This would “cause an encirclement of four allied armies and [force] a peace negotiation” (Cirillo). The Germans almost had complete surprise when the offensive was launched on “December 16th, 1944, at 05:30” and the offensive start with “an artillery barrage of over 1,600 artillery pieces.” The assault took place across an “80 mile front [that] the 6th Panzer Army had to cover” (Quarrie 1). “The attack was led by one of the best equipped German divisions on the western front, the 1st SS Panzer Division.” This was the lead unit for the 6th Panzer Army and was the lead division for the assault. The 26th Infantry was covering the part of the front where the push started. They were caught completely by surprise. “Equipped with only 32 M4 tanks, 57 anti-tank guns and thousands of battle-weary men” (MacDonald 1). The initial assault went well for the Germans and they break through the thinly defended American lines. Just “20 hours in [from the start of the assault] German forces are just 55 miles out from their objective”. By this time the casualty rate is below from what the

The Battle of Fromelles was a horrific battle which didn’t help prevent the Battle of Somme. All the battle had done was make people very scared and worried about the Germans. The people who were majorly effected by this were the French British and Australia. The 5th Australian Division suffered 5,533 casualties, 1,547 61st British Division casualties and little less then 1,000 casualties for the Germans.

Well, to start off with the Battle of Somme was ultimately won by the Germans. This is so because they had the more powerful military. According to documents B and C the Germans won the first day of the Battle. In document C he says “the youth of England bled to death.” Describes machine gunfire. and how “Belt after belt was fired…”. I also think that the German won because the British had started the Battle and whoever starts it usually loses. From the beginning the British did not achieve a breakthrough that penetrated the German lines and, end the war. From my knowledge, the Germans were able to contain the British offensive with locally available reserves, but didn't transfer any troops. Also the British suffered extremely heavy casualties,

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.

In “The Face of Battle,” John Keegan analyzed the experiences of the individuals involved in the battles of the Somme and Waterloo; he thoroughly examined the advancements of industrialization in warfare and battle strategy between 1815 and 1916. The industrialization of modern warfare during the battle of the Somme, while progressive, was very much still in its experimental stages. While the inventions during this time period were later evolved into much more useful products, it seems as though the organized warfare in Waterloo was much more effective; the soldier’s mediocre training for the Somme was obvious in the chaotic events that occurred. While each battle was disastrous in their own ways, industrialization certainly improved means of warfare and the experience that the soldiers had.

" Otherwise, in terms of participation and losses, the Battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military

Source F is a primary source and a pictured film (edited) published in 1916 in the preliminary stages of the battle of the Somme. The pictured film gained and attracted over 26 million viewers in the first week of production. The source contains a still image from the government film. ‘The battle of the Somme’ released in August 1916 showing a wounded soldier being alluringly carried through a trench. The Purpose of this source is to try and persuade young people to volunteer and join the fighting in the war. During these years many young British soldiers had been manipulated to join the army it shows that the war was not going so well and that the new technology wasn’t doing so well either. However, in the film it seems that the British government

Having proposed that military history has been failing in its duty, Keegan then continues to demonstrate how it should be done. The battles of Agincourt, Waterloo, and the Somme are the main interests of the book; these battles took place centuries apart and all involved British armies. He examines, in detail, which aspects of war changed or remain constant between the three battles. Keegan brilliantly and

As well as these sources there are also other sources that confirm the theory of Dunkirk being panicked and disorderly. They are written by a British pilot shot down near Dunkirk, a German fighter pilots account of Dunkirk, Charles Lightoller a retired sailor and a painting by Charles Cundall an official war artist. As we can see there are quite a few sources that support this theory. Another aspect of defeat is the loss of troops and equipment.

First, the French had suffered terrible losses at The Battle of Verdun, and so they needed to relieve themselves from the great amount of German forces attacking against them. They hoped this would force most of the German troops from Verdun, so they could defeat them, as the French left half of their army there to fight. The British, also a part of the Triple Entente, agreed to help their French allies, by helping take the pressure off them. This failed significantly, through this major offensive led by the British; it did not withdraw German troops from Verdun. Despite this, France had later been victorious at Verdun, as they were so very close to losing. The second reason behind this was that the British hoped that through this battle, they would break through the German lines and end WWI. They thought that through an artillery bombardment one week before this would completely destroy the German's trench system and flatten their barbed wire defences. Then, under a creeping barrage, they would cross over No Man's Land and easily take over the German's trenches. The last reason for this offensive was for the British General Douglas Haig wanted to give experience of war to the “Kitchener's Army” with over one million trained

The Battle of the somme is known as one of the bloodiest military battles in history, it is also know about and remains one of the most painful and infamous battles of the First world war. On the first day of the battle there were more than 57,000 casualties of the British. At the end of the Somme offensive or campaign, the allies and the British lost about or a little less than one and a half million soldiers. The Battle of the Somme was the first great offensive of the first world war for the British, it made a better, critical attitude for the British soldiers towards the war.

Source 3 is a valid source as it is a newspaper front page that comes from the time of the Battle and offers the British perspective of the Battle. Once again this source draws

There is much justification in the charge, and his standing was not helped by an attitude which at least gave the appearance of coldness and aloofness; and it is true that he was an unimaginative commander not overly receptive to modern ideas. However, it is equally true that he did not receive the support or confidence which a field commander should have had from his government, that his responsibilities were immense, and that he was often under pressure to initiate an offensive to relieve pressure on the French. Despite his reluctance in having British forces placed under foreign command, he worked well with Foch in 1918, determinedly held on throughout the worst of the German assault, and played an important role in the final, victorious advance. At the time he was never regarded as a great general; one contemporary opinion stated that at best he was a ‘safe’ man, and that confidence in him came from an apparently imperturbable nature and not being too clever(!); in essence, he was a man ‘who would meet set-backs with a stiff upper-lip’. Despite his achievements, however, he could never overcome the impression formed by the slaughter on the Somme and at Passchendaele. A balanced view of his still much-argued career is that expressed by Winston

Politicians began to wonder if Haig's approach was working, they accepted the pressure had been lifted at Verdun but they were concerned about the heavy casualty losses. However, on the other side trench welfare was a new kind of fighting, different from the last war that Haig had fought in, (the boar war was 15 years earlier). No one knew how to win a wr like this (stalemate) so the generals fell back on old ideas successfully used in other wars. Source 2 supports the fact that Haig was a good leader and general. It suggests that if a successful general wins wars, then Haig must be a good general. It also supports that Haig's methods were in line with the ideas of the time. It isn't realiable because Philip Warner was/is only a historian so he doesn't know what was going on at the time of the battle of the Somme and we don't know if where he found the information from was a reliable source. Also, we don't know if the place where he found the information from was biased or non biased.