![]() ![]() Your browser does not support the audio element. Listen to a recorded reading of this page:.Take a ten question quiz about this page. The attack ended in November mostly due to heavy snow in the region.The Allies lost around 89,000 men per mile of territory gained.The British commanders were so confident the German defenses were destroyed that they loaded down the attacking soldiers with supplies and ordered them to walk.This devastatingly brutal Western Front engagement was fought throughout most of 1916: between February 21 to December 18. The first tanks to engage in battle were at the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of Verdun is one of the most well-known battles of World War I.Because many men from the same town were grouped together in the British Pal's battalions, when a battalion was wiped out, often this meant that all the men from a given town in Britain were killed.Interesting Facts about the Battle of the Somme Others say that he had no choice but to move ahead with the attack in order to relieve the French at the Battle of Verdun. Some say that British Commander Haig wasted men and resources in a flawed battle plan. Historians today dispute the impact of the battle. With over 1,000,000 total casualties on each side, the Battle of the Somme was one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The Germans had around 500,000 casualties. During that time they gained around seven miles of territory, but suffered around 623,000 casualties including 423,000 British and 200,000 French. They didn't let up on the attack until November 18. They suffered around 60,000 casualties including 20,000 dead on that first day of battle.ĭespite the heavy casualties, the Allies continued to attack. It was the worst day in the history of British warfare. They were easily gunned down by the Germans. Thousands of British soldiers got out of their trenches and began to advance on the German lines. After eight days, on July 1, 1916, they ordered the attack. The Allied commanders refused to take warning that the bombardment didn't work. Little real damage was done to the German fortifications and many of the British shells were duds and never even exploded. However, the Germans were warned of the bombardment. They bombarded the Germans constantly for eight straight days with 3,000 guns. They believed that this bombardment would destroy the front lines of the German trenches allowing the soldiers to walk in and take over. Tanks were first used at the Battle of the Sommeīefore the actual attack, the Allies began by bombarding the German lines. The French also demanded that the British push up the attack at the Somme from August 1st to July 1st in hopes that German forces would be diverted from Verdun to the Somme. French troops were sent to Verdun to hold off the Germans. However, their plans were changed when the Germans went on the offensive and attacked the French at the Battle of Verdun. The British and French were planning a major offensive attack at the Somme in hopes of breaking the stalemate and pushing the Germans out of France. The German commanders included General Rupprecht (the Crown Prince of Bavaria), General Max von Gallwitz, and General Fritz von Below.įor nearly two years since the First Battle of the Marne, the two sides had been engaged in trench warfare along the western front. Other Allied leaders included French General Ferdinand Foch and British General Henry Rawlinson. The Prussians were victorious, gaining a clear westward path to Paris.The British were led by Commander-in-Chief Sir Douglas Haig. The first Battle of Verdun was fought on August 20, 1792, between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army during the opening months of the War of the First Coalition.
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