Why is the battle of the Somme regarded as such a great military tragedy?

Why is the battle of the Somme regarded as such a great military tragedy? The battle of the Somme was a major military tragedy as well as a great human heartbreak for the British. The battle of the Somme was fought in France on the river Somme hence the name battle of the Somme. The Somme was fought for two main reasons firstly the British commander sir Douglas Haig made a plan to alleviate strain from the French troops, who were under intense pressure from the Germans in Verdun, where in all 315,000 French soldiers died which meant the planned battle which was originally organised for October was forced forward by three months, without the help of the French as they were still occupied by the Germans in Verdun. The second reason the British attacked on the Somme was to regain the lost land from the Germans. This all meant that the battle of the Somme began at 7 30 am on the 1st July 1916. The word tragedy to me means a sad, unhappy event inevitably causing death. The new penguin dictionary's definition of the word tragedy was - i a disastrous event; a calamity ii a serious drama in which destructive circumstances result in adversity for, and usually the deaths of the main characters. I consider that the battle of the Somme could be regarded as a military tragedy because of the outrageous loss on the first day of the battle. The British suffered the loss of 57,470 of

  • Word count: 3064
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why is the battle of the Somme regarded as such a great military tragedy?

Haig Coursework Q1. Why is the battle of the Somme regarded as such a great military tragedy? The Battle of the Somme was an attack launched in order to relieve pressure from the French army at Verdun; it was a way of diverting the Germans. The Somme valley was chosen as its river marked the junction of the British and French armies on the Western Front. The Battle of the Somme has gone down as the biggest disaster in British history. There is no doubt about this in a historians mind that this battle was a tragedy because this it saw the death of 57,000 British soldiers in the first day of the Battle after the heavy bombardment on July 1st 1916. The main aim of the Battle of the Somme was to commence a five day bombardment, obliterating the German trenches, killing all the soldiers, cutting the barbed wire defences and destroying the fortified villages along with the German machinery. The Allies realised that any attack that was made on the Germans would have to be proceeded by a heavy, accurate and lengthy bombardment. Just prior to the attack it was planned for some mines under the German front line to be exploded. Aerial spotters was intended to locate and put out of action the German artillery batteries by guiding the bombardment to them. The bombardment was supposed to begin on June 24th 1916 and was supposed to last five days. After the bombardment it was

  • Word count: 1013
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why is the Battle of the Somme regarded as such a great military tragedy?

Why is the Battle of the Somme regarded as such a great military tragedy? After the Germans Schieffen Plan had failed both sides tried various attempts to make a break though. These were made mainly by the allied troops. Many of the breakthroughs in 1915 included Chapelle, Ypres and Loos, however only small areas of land were gained. In 1916 the German army tried to destroy the French at Verdun; for they knew that the French would pour men into protecting it. Their aim was to "Bleed France dry". The battle lasted six months, and the French did not collapse. However they needed help so they asked the British to bring forward the attack on the Somme in order to relieve the pressure. The aim of the Somme was to "kill as many Germans as possible". As this battle had been moved forward from August to July because of Verdun it became a mainly British fight. The Somme is regarded as a great military tragedy because it had a huge death count and this was the turning point on the view of the war at home. The Somme had a huge effect on the attitudes at home and of the views of the generals and the leadership of the war. These are some of the main points. There were many factors that affected the success or failure of the battle of the Somme. These were the weapons, tactics, leadership weakness, human cost and the morale of soldiers. One of the important factors

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why did the Normans win the Battle of Hastings?

Why did the Normans win the Battle of Hastings? The leader of the Norman's was William Duke of Normandy. He thought he should be king because he was the king's cousin. The leader of the English was Harold Godwineson. He was crowned king of England on January 6th 1066.When Edward the confessor died. There were many reasons or causes for the victory. Some were to do with the events during the battle; others were to do with what happened during the battle itself. How prepared was William for the Battle? William had different types of troops. He had Archers, Infantry and Cavalry; the equipment/weapons he brought with him was Swords, arrows, Lances and spears. William's determination to win was incredible. The problem William faced getting to England was the wind. He had to wait until the wind changed direction so that he could invade the south coast. What Problems Harold Had before the battle? Totig landed with 60 ships on the south coast but soon left when he heard Harold was coming. Harold's men waited at the south coast for William. Then on 20th September Harald Hardrada landed with 500 ships on the North coast; Totig sailed north and met up with Harald. Harald fought the English Earls Edwin and Morcar they turned and fled. Tostig was made an earl, for serving Harald. When Harold heard this. He quickly marched north to Stamford to meet the Norwegians. (On 25th September

  • Word count: 726
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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