The Battle of Somme - Research Paper Example

?Irshad Ahmad Academia-Research.Com Order # 758443 December 04, The Battle Of Somme The Battle of Somme was fought during First World War in 1916. When in 1914, the German army occupied a huge territory of France, the anti-German forces were shackled. In order to free the French territory and regain superiority, they took an offensive against the German army. The battle is ranked among one of the bloodiest in the history (Gilbert, pp21-28). The allied forces under General Joseph, the Commander-in-Chief of the French army got together in December 1915 at Chantilly and decided to take offensive against the Germans in French territory. Anglo-French in nature, the Somme offensive aimed at shattering the powers of Germany. The British army led the allied forces consisting of a major part of British and French army. The German army which awaited them retaliated harshly. The first day of the battle proved the most fatal for the British army. At the end of the day, the British army had lost 60000 of its men (Gilbert, pp65-78). Despite the heavy human loss of almost 1 million from both sides, the British Generals of the time have been criticized for the battle. At the end of the battle, the British army had succeeded in capturing only 12 kilometers from the Germans. The allied forces were still 5 kilometers away from Bapaume which had been termed as a major objective of the battle while Germany was still maintaining much of its frontline. One view however favors the offensive that the battle caused a severe blow to the Germany ultimately bringing its defeat in 1918. At the start of battle, the balance in composition among the British and French was 20 British and 13 French divisions. Though majority of the composition was British, it had earlier been decided that the attack on German army would be primarily a French offensive. The German onslaught at Verdun forced the French to depute a huge manpower of its army. The Somme offensive aimed at draining the German forces of reserves and the territorial target was the secondary objective. The Verdun onslaught changed the nature of the Somme offensive completely. The aim had then become to shift German resources from Verdun to the defense of Somme (Doughty, p291). The heavy bombardment was planned to precede the attack which began on June 24. It was believed that the fierce bombardment would destroy the German front line. After the destruction of the front line, the allied forces would become able to walk into the no man’s land and take edge over the Germans. Both the British and French artillery had an equal share in the 3000 guns for bombardment. After the bombardment, it was planned that a creeping barrage would lead the advancing infantry towards the front line of the Germans then consecutively towards the second and third trench lines. In addition, Rawlinson’s Fourth army was heavily loaded with arms and ammunitions which had the task of consolidation. During the course, the whole Fourth army would attempt a sudden breakthrough by using the cavalry to catch the gap in the German defense lines. After the possession of the German front line, the plan was that the British army would break through to Cambrai and Douai which meant the breakup of German line into two. 750000 soldiers from 27 divisions went into the offensive. About eighty percent of the army was from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The figures comparison favored the attacking allied forces as only 16 Divisions German army defended the battlefield of Somme (Keegan, pp290-292). What Happened? The bombardment began and continued for eight consecutive days. The allied forces of British and France had however looked down upon the strengths of the German army and its strong arrangements. The bombardment had failed to destroy either of the German front line’s barbed wire or the strongly built concrete bunkers. It was evident that the Germans were alert for all of the enemy’s onslaughts. Besides, the munitions and explosives used by the British were defective. Many of them did not explode. On the other hand, the German Machine Guns fired impressively and much to their benefit (Regan, pp154-156). The attack began on July 1 at 07.30. The attack surprised the German forces. The heavy bombardment had however alerted the German forces for a looming attack. Like the results of the bombardment, the British Expeditionary Forces were equally unsuccessful in getting any eminent triumph. Even in the days and weeks to follow, the battlefield saw a slight progress of the British Expeditionary Forces (Keegan, pp294-295). Worth mentioning is the success which the French army achieved on the Southern side. The French achievements were more due to the Germans’ misconception of them. They thought the French would not attack due to their heavy human loss at Verdun. But the French advanced and achieved most of their objectives. Besides, they consolidated their territory before moving forth. The British forces had however been pushed back to their dugouts by the German Machine Guns (Gilbert, pp143). The first day saw a heavy human loss to the British. The British lost its 58000 men but Haig stuck to his plan of offensive. Whenever the British troops advanced towards the target, they were forcefully repulsed hence taking heavy toll of lives. Rawlinson’s men had however succeeded in securing the first line of German trenches on July 11. The same day, the Germany transferred its troops from Verdun to Somme as to take part in strengthening German defense at Somme. The number of troops was then almost doubled for defense. The Germans reorganized the army and Gallwitz was appointed responsible for the affairs of the front line defense. Interestingly, both the armies were convinced of their success and the exhaustion of the enemy. This was the reason that the offensive by the British and French was maintained until November. The British army had a fewer victories to its name (Philpott, pp43-59). In the start of September, the French Tenth army attacked on the Southern line. The British attacked again on the North-eastern line. Tanks were introduced for the first time in history. The tanks gave the British and company an edge over the Germans but they were still too strong to be defeated. Germany had however lost one kilometer of its possessions. A total of 24 tanks participated in the battle and the German strong defense shattered for some period. The tank force was successful in capturing Courcelette and Martinpuich. To stop the tanks’ advancement, Germans to the Southeast swept the ground with fire and they were successful in their plans. To the east, the British army advanced towards Flers and the arrival of four tanks turned the capture of the village possible. On September 26, Haig made yet other attacks against this area. In addition, the British made more attacks in the battles of Transoly Ridges from October 1 to 20 and Ancre Heights from October 1 to 11. French attacked around Chaulnes in the south and Morvel in the east. On November 13, the British Expeditionary Forces captured the fortress of Beaumont Hamel. The British aimed at further advancement but the snowy weather stopped the Somme offensive. The British and French had succeeded in gaining 12 kilometers from the Germans at the cost of 420000 British personnel. The French loss was 200000 men. Germans had lost about 500000 humans. It means a battle which lasted for 5 months and which took 1.1 million humans was fought merely for an area of 12 kilometers (Foley, pp471-504). Somme Versus Other Battles The Battle of Somme differs throughout its course from other battles of the history significantly the battles of the World War. Battles are mostly intended at capturing the territories of the enemy. The battle of Somme was mainly intended at draining the German forces of their reserves. The capturing of land formed the secondary importance. Unlike other battles, the initiator British deployed less experienced army for the most important battle. The British army was mostly composed of volunteers. Though the volunteers were energetic and enthusiastic, few of them had the experience of a major battle. The battle of Somme was different from other battles because of its nature. The British army though suffered heavily did not leave its normal course and went on. The battle differs from other battles on the basis of the human loss. This was the bloodiest battle of the World War. The battle is equally more important than other battles for the introduction of tanks in the battle-fields. In fact the tanks turned the tide for the British and French armies (Philpott, pp114-127). The Battle of Somme is significant for its loss of human lives than other battles. Human casualty for British Empire troops on the very first day was about 58000 which proved to be the deadliest day of the ever British military history. At the end of the battle, the human casualties were above one million. The heavy loss of human lives is still a point of great controversy among the historians and critics. The battle at the end had nothing significant to gain for either side and half of the world experienced the devastating effects of the battle. Generally all the battles are compared in terms of the human casualties on both the sides and the battle of Somme no doubt ranks the highest. No battle of World War I can be said to have a significant effect with regard to the military terms. The countries fought to shed the maximum blood of each other and the battle of Somme stands at the top in this regard (Philpott, p175). Somme And World War I The battle of Somme was initiated by the British hence it had more importance for them. It is widely believed that the British came out victorious at the end. In my opinion, the battle was actually a tie-match. Though the combating armies lost an extremely large number of military personnel, they were unable to get favorable results. The British gained 12 kilometers of land at the cost of 420000 humans. The Germans lost 500000 men and had nothing gained at the end. The battle is recorded as one of the bloodiest battles of all times (Philpot, pp436-443). It was a supposed small attack with an aim to get back a piece of land from the German occupation which however turned into a huge battle. General Haig has been criticized hundreds of times by the historians for his poor leadership and inadequate plans. This remained an unfortunate fact during the course of fight that a large number of true brave men died in a battle which had no victor at the end. Keeping aside the subject of who won the battle, the battle is considered as a loss for both the warring sides as they were left with many of their brave men dead (Doughty, pp376-379). Those who claim the British victory should explain how can one justify a campaign as long as five months with one million heavy deaths toll for only 12 kilometers of land? I would suggest that the British would have had claimed victory had they evacuated the Germans from the whole of the French territory. The British and French aim was to divert the attention of Germans from Verdun to Somme but the casualties at Somme proved to be worse than at Verdun. At the end of the day the battle stopped, both the sides had nothing to claim but to weep over the loss of their starring personnel. The battle had to cast no significant effect on the overall situation of the World war. The German forces evacuated the same field of Somme one year after the battle had ended i.e. 1917 and with their own free will. Conclusion It is sunny clear that the battle of Somme brought victory to neither side. The British and French joint military offensive ear.ned them a total of approximately 12 kilometers but in the course, they lost 620000 armed personnel collectively. On the other hand, the German forces while defending their illegal territory, lost 500000 of their men. There were destructions, miseries and distresses on both the sides and neither side remained ever confident of its victory. The battle of Somme remains in history as one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the World War I. The British loss of its volunteer force from different localities cast a social impact on the British society after war. The battle of Somme remains significant for the debut of tank in warfare. At the end of the battle, the British and French forces were still five kilometers away from Bapaume which was a major objective of the battle which shows the battle brought no results. The German army had been maintaining most of its front line even after a long bloody battle. The nature of the battle has been a controversial debate since times. The Commanding Officers like General Haig and Rawlinson were criticized for the human casualties which outnumbered every other battle. The criticism takes a bitter turn when they are failed to achieve the territorial targets. It is however believed that the battle was the start of new arms’ race among the powers of the world. It is also argued that the battle though not apparently revealed had caused a severe blow to the German manpower and the sudden collapse in 1918 was the outcome of the Somme Battle. Works Cited Gilbert, Martin. The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War. New York: H. Holt, 2006. Print. Philpott, William J. Three Armies on the Somme: The First Battle of the Twentieth Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2010. Print. Doughty, Robert A. "Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War." The English Historical Review. 122.497 (2007): 784-786. Print. Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1998. Print. Foley, R.T. "Learning War's Lessons: the German Army and the Battle of the Somme 1916." Journal of Military History. 75.2 (2011): 471-504. Print. Regan, Geoffrey. The Guinness Book of More Military Blunders. Enfield: Guinness, 1993. Print. Read More