Monday, September 28, 2009

The Battle of the Somme

This battle took place in the southern part of the British line, it was the bloodiest war ever. The Allies demonstrated how important it was to have the most modernist machine guns. With modern machine guns any country would extend their power and take over other countries easily. The purpose of this battle was to draw the German forces away from Verdun. On July 1st of 1916, the British lost about 57,000 causalities and 19, 000 resulted dead. Future Germans leaders participated in this horrible battle.

This battle was appointed by General Sir Douglas Haig. He had military experiences so he was the right person to direct it. His plan was to take off the pressure of the allied French at Verdun. In this battle the Germans troops were force to return to their trenches because they were attack with machine guns. The French bombardment lasted for eight days without stopping in the German lines, their main target was to destroy the entire forward defense and take possession of the German lines. When the battle had ended, the British and French had gained 12 kilometers of ground.

The outcome of the war involved the killing of thousand of soldiers and innocent people. As a result, General Douglas Haig gained was given the title of being “The Butcher of Somme” to make him consciously aware of the many losses in this battle.

2 comments:

  1. Question for clarification: the blog states "it was the bloodiest war ever" in the first line. The blog is talking of the Battle of Somme, is that statement in regards to the war, or was it supposed to mean this particular battle was the bloodiest ever in the war?

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  2. War 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.

    Your article is very well done, a good read.

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