THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1916: THE PLAN AND THE REALITY



THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1916: THE PLAN AND THE REALITY

THE PLAN

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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

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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?

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