The Battle of Somme

[saf_angel]

Why did the battle of Somme take place and how succesful was it?

[Johnmof]

The battle took place because the French were taking a hammering at Verdun and pleaded with the British to launch an offensive further North to divert German resources.

Whether it was successful or not depends on your viewpoint. The British lost 60,000 casualties on the first day, almost half of which were killed. The battle raged on for several months, with casualties mounting and no great tactical advantage. However, it did give the French some respite and you could argue that since Germany ultimately lost the war of attrition the battle of the Somme must have played its part. You could also ask whether there was an alternative that could have achieved the same results without such high losses.     

[Jenny Tools]

How's that saf-angel, you can copy, paste and print that out and your homework's all done.

[NapoleonSolo]

Note quite true Johnmof. The British & French planned a joint giant offensive for the spring of 1916, the Somme was chosen because that was where the British & French lines met. When the Germans started to "Bleed the French dry at Verdun"  the Somme offensive now took on  extra impetus in order to relieve the pressure onVerdun. The British now had to shoulder the lions share of the offensive  but there was some French units involved in the Somme & actually had better initial success than the British; they were in general veterans who took no notice of the order to walk  across to the German lines after the bombardment had stopped thus catching the Germans still in their dug outs.

[shazzy shaz]

Well it was ok for the French so they survived at Verdun but it was a pathetic fight because Britain only gained 10 miles of land and lost 450,00 men over the 4 months