THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1916: THE PLAN AND THE REALITY
THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1916: THE PLAN AND THE REALITY
THE PLAN
[pic]
Discussion Points:
• Was the plan for the Somme offensive a bad one?
• What improvements could you suggest?
• What problems can you see in your suggestions?
THE REALITY
[pic]
The Results
• Haig, the Allied commander, was severely criticised for persisting with suicidal frontal attacks in the face of appalling losses.
• For many it was no longer the glorious patriotic adventure of 1914, but simply the grim slaughter of England’s youth.
• The Somme also contributed to the fall of the British Prime Minister, Asquith, who resigned in December 1916 after mounting criticism.
• He was replaced by Lloyd George. He and Haig hated each other’s guts and frequently clashed later on about how the war should be conducted. Lloyd George wrote of the Somme: “The losses sustained were not only heavy but irreplaceable.”
• Nevertheless, some historians have argued that Haig was quite correct in his tactics:
• The Somme dealt a blow to German morale; they realised the costs of trench warfare, and the German commander Hindenburg admitted that he could not survive many more battles like the Somme.
• He realised that the only advantage the Allies possessed was a greater supply of men, and that the only w ay was to wear down the German forces in a series of bloody battles – in other words, a war of attrition.
Questions
• The British forces suffered 60,000 casualties (20,000 dead) on the first day of the attack. The eventual total was over one million. Why did the generals not change their tactics?
• Why do you think there was a change of attitude to war after the Somme?
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related searches
- the battle of berlin
- the battle of berlin casualties
- the battle of kiev 1941
- battle of the philippine islands
- battle of the philippines wwii
- battle of the philippines 1944
- battle of the philippines ww2
- who won the battle of berlin
- battle of the philippines
- battle of the philippine sea wikipedia
- wwii battle of the philippines
- the battle of berlin facts