Essay Examples on Battle of the Somme

The following sample essay on The Battle of the Somme lasted from July 1916 to November 1916. It was easily one of the worst battles ever fought. This battle took place at the Somme River,which runs through Europe. The opposing armies fought in a line of trenches over 960 Kilometers long. The trenches stretched from the Belgian Coast to the Frontiers of Switzerland.

Although trench warfare was looked highly upon both sides still relied on heavy infantry attacks. Many men were killed between the two opponents areas of territory known as “No mans land.

” Later into the battle, allied forces decided to attack the Western, Eastern,and Italian fronts all at the same time, and the western region of the Somme was chosen for a French and British assault. These plans were destroyed by the German Supreme Commander. He seized control of the city Verdun with heavy artillery and infantry. The German Commander hoped that the French would try to regain control of the city so that he could kill all of their men and, as he said, “Bleed France to death,” and For the next few months both sides still battled and lost many battle in doing so.

The fighting kept going until British Commander Sir Douglas Haig told French armies to ease off of Verdun. The new British commander was planning to invade and destroy the enemy lines with a lot more men and a lot more weapons. He was confident that this plan would eliminate the entire enemy line and clear a path to new territory.

Get quality help now

Writer Lyla

Verified

Proficient in: World War 1

5 (876)

“ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

When the time finally came one hundred thousand men came out of their trenches and stood shoulder to shoulder with their companions,with more the 20 kilograms of equipment, straight through No mans land and right up to the German guns and infantry.

St. John’s Road was the trench were all the men were positioned. The soldiers had to run 230 kilometers just to reach their own front line. As they made their way to the German front they had to cross pre-cut British wire. The aim of this report is to give an overview of the battle of the Somme, and judge the extent to which it can be seen as a success or failure for the allies. The main part will describe the aims and the hidden intensions of the allies. It will also evaluate how far their plans were realized and where they failed. The victories and the defeats of both antagonists will be extensively discussed. Figures and objective circumstances will be analyzed to prove to what extent the battle was decisive for the final outcome of the First World War.

Most sources were taken from texts, history books and internet sites which were used as a main source. The battle of the Somme was a joint offensive planned and executed by both the French and British. The idea came from Joseph Joffre, the French Commander and was accepted by Sir Douglas Haig who later took over the operation. It was an attack with the hope to make some kind of territorial gain, and took place in hope to destroy German lines. The French army had been forced to ask help from the British because of their losses in Verdun.

This almost lost battle in Verdun caused the French to lose many of their resources. The main aim of the Germans in Verdun was “To Bleed France Dry”.They chose Verdun because of its symbolic value. A symbol of being a strategic area, which has been fought on for many years between France and Prussia, later to become Germany. The battle of the Somme started on Saturday July the 1st 1916. Haig’s strategy was to do eight days of bombing in order to destroy the German front line. He used twenty-seven divisions against the Germans but there were many losses because the bombardment had failed to penetrate the German underground bunkers. Since the Germans were underground, not much had happened to them, while the Allies thought they were going to be able to just “Cross the trench area.