After this first day, Haig continued the onslaught of the German trenches without much success. (http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWsomme.htm) However, this proved to be very ineffective and after some time General Haig conceded that his tactics were not effective and the new tactic of attrition was used. This tactic meant that the troops would no longer attempt huge breakthroughs but rather try to slowly break down the enemy. This tactic was slightly successful as it gained them up to 12km at the farthest point; however it caused the death of many British and French men.
New technology was also brought in to try and aid the Allies in their fighting of the war. The main new technology was the tank. The Allies hoped that the tank would aid them in fighting and beating the Germans in trench warfare. The first tanks were very slow and vulnerable to artillery. The overall success of the tanks was also limited as many broke down or got stuck in the mud. There were some successes with the tank. One success was at Flers-Courcelette. Apart from this, successes were fewand far between. Overall the tank was a failure because it was too vulnerale to technical failures.
The deteriorating of weather, including “torrential rains” in October meant that the Allies decided to stop their offensive at the Somme. (www.bbc.co.uk/history). Over the period of the Battle both sides lost many men. Britain and Ireland had +360,000 casualties, the entire British Empire, including Britain, had 419,654 casualties. The French army had 204,253 casualties, of which 50,756 were killed or missing. This made a total of 623,907 Allied casualties, of which 146,431 were killed or missing. On the German side, details vary. It is thought that from 465,000 – 600,000 casualties, of these casualties 164,055 were killed or missing. During the whole war it was calculated that 2,943 men were killed every day during the battle of the Somme.
Word Count: 655
C. Evaluation of Sources
The two main sources that I used were the book World War 1 by Susanne Everett, only a certain section, and the electronic source, Wikipedia. Both of these sources hold huge amount of information, quotes, statistics, maps and other useful information. However we must first question the origin, value, limitations and purpose of these sources to see how useful this information is. This book comes from a well known author; there is also an introduction from another well known author. This book has much value to me in helping me research my topic question. This book holds huge amounts of information on the battle of the Somme and the battle of Verdun, which are in many ways linked. This source has many pictures, maps and even quotes and things said from soldiers fighting in the field. There are, however some limitations to this particular source. One major limitation is that it is just written by one person. This means that it is perhaps limited in the opinions of others, or lacking both sides of any particular story. Although the purpose is not entirely clear in this book it was most obviously written as a reference for information on the First World War. Since this is presumable the main purpose of this source it makes it valuable. However there are perhaps other purposes for writing this book. It may be that the author wished to let people know about her point of view. However, it is unlikely that this book would be considered as “the best large scale attempt to analyze World War 1” if it were not based on much fact.
My electronic source, the website Wikipedia is also a good source of information. It is slightly different in the way that the information is presented; it also has different values and limitations. The purpose, however, is most likely to be nearly the same for writing this article as writing the book. This website is a well known and well used source of information for many different subjects. It is considered a good source by most people. This website had great value for me as it provided much information on the Battle of the Somme. It has a great in detail report of the all famous first day in which the British tactics were very unsuccessful and many British were killed. This website also has a good map in which it shows the position of the front line at different important dates during the war. It also includes information on the use of the tank which may be extremely useful when conducting my investigation. The website also includes statistics. It is also a very valuable source because it is the opinion of more than one individual. This source does have some limitations however. One major limitation is that it is available for anyone to edit. I am not sure the exact process of this, but I presume there is some safety filter in place to stop false information entering. However it makes some of the information slightly suspect. Some other limitations are… The purpose of this website is not stated on the front page. However, it is clear that the main aim of this website is to provide the public with free, useful information on many different topics in many different languages.
Word Count: 552
D. Analysis
The Battle of the Somme could have been seen as a victory for either country; however it was more of a defeat for both countries. Many historians will argue that it was mainly a defeat for the Allied forces. This can be heavily supported by opinions, facts and statistics.
One major argument for the Allies losing the battle is the statistics of casualties throughout the battle, especially on the first day. In total the Allies had 623,907 with compared with Germanys 465,000 casualties. On the First day of the Somme, huge amounts of British and French men were killed compared with relatively little Germans. There was also a ratio of 28 British killed to every German at one point on the front line. (www.wikipedia.org). Apart from the high loses; the Allies could consider the Somme a defeat in a number of other ways. The debut of the tank, a new technology that a lot of hopes were based upon, was almost a complete failure. Despite having a few successes, most tanks overheated, broke down or got stuck in the mud of no mans land. Then there is also the lack of progress made compared with expected gains of land. The Allies gained from 8-12km (depending on source), this was far from their original target before the war began. All of these made the battle of the Somme a major defeat for the Allies. It was even said the first day of the Somme was the most sobering experience that the British army had ever experienced.
The battle of the Somme was also a victory for the Allies in more than one way. Despite having more casualties than the German army, they actually had fewer deaths. The Allies had a death count of 146,431 which is almost 20,000 less than the German 146,431. (www.wikipedia.org). The use of the tank can also be viewed as a slight success in a few specific ways. Although most tanks broke down tanks did cause some breakthroughs in the German lines. One major breakthrough by tanks was at Fler, here the tank broke through enemy lines and gained 3,500 yards of land. (www.wikipedia.org). One major British victory was the demonstration that they were, despite German thoughts, a military force to be reckoned with. The Germans had underestimated the British force and now saw the real power behind their largely volunteer army. This battle was also a victory for the Allies because they gained up to 12km of land at the farthest point. Perhaps the main success for the Allies was the successful release of pressure from the German onslaught at Verdun. This was the original reason for the battle of the Somme and it was successfully carried out.
Word Count: 449
E. Conclusion
The battle of the Somme could be viewed as a victory for either side; however it would be much more accurate to say that it was a victory for neither. Many historians claimed it was more of a stalemate than a loss or victory. The most accurate of all these is the belief that all sides were losers. The huge casualty count is a great proof of this. Combined, both sides had over one million casualties. A British historian Gary Sheffield said, "The battle of the Somme was not a victory in itself, but without it the Entente would not have emerged victorious in 1918." (www.wikipedia.org) This is a good summary of how no one was the winner in this bloody and terrible battle. Although the Allies gained land, they had to pay heavily in lives. For this main reason, the battle of the Somme really ended as a stalemate where neither side could take much satisfaction in their efforts.
Word Count: 159
F. Bibliography
Books
Everett, S. World War 1. London, New York, Sydney, Toronto: Hamlyn, 1980
Electronic Sources
The Battle of the Somme (1916). 20 October 2005. Wikipedia. 23 October 2005. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_battle_of_the_Somme>
Ben John. The importance of the Battle of the Somme. 1998. 23 October 2005. <http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~wausie/Somme.html>
John Simkin. The Battle of the Somme. Spartacus. 23 October 2005. <http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWsomme.htm>
Battle of the Somme: 1 July - 13 November 1916. 13/03/2002. 23 October 2005. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwone/battle_somme.shtml>