What started of, as a European war had now become a World War. Troops came from Africa, as Britain had owned a great deal of Africa. Unfortunately a quarter of a million Africans were killed. The Germans said Africans were “boots”.
Lions Led by Donkeys.
At this time the British commander General Haig was hated and liked. The called soldiers lions led by donkeys. His orders were a reason why he was hated. (Led to many deaths.) In June 1916 Haig planned the attack the Germans at the River Somme with thousands of bombs and canons. This attack lasted for a week. Haig thought this attack was successful but to his surprise the Germans built deep mines and were not affected by the attack. When the bombing had ended the British went into no mans land but were blown away by the German good weapons. 56 000 men were either injured or killed.
The fighting continued on till the end of November. 1 million men were dead. An Amount of 400 000 Germans and 100 000 British and French were dead. Not including the deaths this battle was quite successful. (Advanced three and a half miles) Later on it began to rain hard causing the battlefield to become muddy and very dangerous. Haig forces advance only 5 miles during the battle of Passchendaele. Not only fighting killed a lot of men. Officers were afraid of Haig and his power so they did not tell him about the muddy battlefield and the number of deaths.
Behind The Lines.
The trenches were essential in the World War. But there were not the best places to live in. Trenches were described as the work of the devil, rats, mice, cats, fire, steel, blood, artillery, fears, corpses, bombs, bulb wire etc. Soldiers began to disobey their generals and just wanted to stay alive. General Robert Nivelle chef of French forces ordered an attack. He said if we don’t advance 6 miles then the attack will be cancelled.
But on the first day of the attack French troops had only moved about 600 yards. The assault had failed but fighting continued. Soldiers were sick and tired of going in and out of the trenches. Petain replaced Nivelle. Petain, hero of Verdun improved the soldier’s living conditions and restored a bit of order. He promised that France would remain on the defensive until it was ready to fight again. Meanwhile, any further offensive on the western front remained Britain responsibility.
