Therefore poor leadership had a key role in making the battle of the Somme a great military tragedy.
Furthermore, General Haig and Deputy General Rawlinson worked out the tactics. However German defences had been underestimated.
This meant that when Haig and Rawlinson were relying on a huge artillery bombardment and mines to cut barbed wire and practically demolish German trenches and dug outs, neither of those were achieved, thus the battle is regarded as a tragedy due to tactics.
Their tactics continued to fail when soldiers were ordered to walk in straight lines across No Man’s Land, however they were simply shot down with the defensive modern weapons German’s had. Therefore the tactics used in the Battle of the Somme is a reason for why this battle is considered a military tragedy as it conveys the unorganised and short thinking that the members of the military had put into the planning of the tactics.
In July, 1916; first day of the Battle of the Somme, there were 57,000 British casualties- a third of which were deaths. Moreover by the end of the battle there were 415,000 British, 195,000 French, and an estimated 600,000 German casualties. Also it is conventional that in a battle the target is to gain as much land as possible however in this battle, only 6 miles of land had been gained by the British and French. Thus many believe the Battle of the Somme was a military tragedy.
Furthermore, Pal’s Battalions were soldiers set in groups according to their local area, which was both a benefit and a hindrance as it could either boost or deflate morale. However friends, brothers and closely related men often died together, which lowered the soldiers’ morale. For instance the 11th Cambridgeshire Battalion sent 750 men; 691 of which became casualties. This lead to a generation of young men often being wiped out of villages across Britain. Such results of death and suffering caused grief for the people of Britain and thus the definition of tragedy was then, truly fulfilled by the Battle of the Somme.
Moreover, a key tactic used that contributed to an alarmingly high number of casualties was War of Attrition. This was a shoot-to-kill policy which resulted in slaughter. Hence the battle of the Somme is regarded as such great military tragedy.
Next, for the first time ever modern weapons were being used. These included heavy artillery, machine guns, grenades, tanks and gas bombs. All of these were effective to an extent that they had to be matched with the right working and environmental conditions as well as modern tactics. However that did not happen, so weapons often caused delays and problems in battle. Hence this is a reason for why the Battle of the Somme is regarded as such great military tragedy.
Throughout the battle, one issue that devastatingly effected soldiers was life in the trenches. The drains were destroyed in battle and so the rain and cold made the battlefield extremely muddy. Moreover hygiene was poor because of the dead human bodies present and their effects. These conditions lead to further diseases, killing as many soldiers as the enemy did.
Even so, there was an unlikely chance that there would be a considerable victory when using trenches. Thus the suffering that life in the trenches caused is one of the reasons for why the Battle of the Somme is regarded as a military tragedy.
In conclusion, I believe the most important reason for why the battle of the Somme is regarded as such a great military tragedy is the number of casualties and deaths. I think this because casualties and deaths can often be seen as the nature of a tragedy and also such issues do not only affect those injured or dead but also those that cared for them or relied on them. This also means that to the many people that did not care so much for politics could have only made a judgement depending on how they felt. In addition, the number of casualties seems unreasonable in comparison to the amount of land gained.
By Yasmine Mohamed-Ali