Reasons Why the Battle of the Somme is Regarded as Such a military Tradgedy

Reasons Why the Battle of the Somme is Regarded as Such a military Tradgedy

Introduction

============

The battle of the Somme was a battle that took place in Eastern France

and close to the border of Belgium. The battle of the Somme got its

name because it was fought along the valley of the River Somme. The

battle of the Somme began on the 1st of July 1916; the aim of the

battle was to try and break the stalemate and to help relieve some of

the pressure on the French at Verdun. The war was between the allies

and Germany. The battle was a British offensive (attack) on the

Germans.

In this essay I am going to look at cases of bad leadership, Human

suffering and Failure in the battle of the Somme to then try and

discover 'Why the battle of the Somme was regarded as such a military

Tragedy.'

Poor Planning & Pressure

------------------------

One major reason for the tragic outcome of the battle of the Somme was

due to poor planning and pressure.

The preparations for the battle of the Somme were rushed because the

French urged the British to start their offensive on Germany earlier

than planned to help lift the siege on Verdun and relieve the pressure

on the French army at Verdun. The French had lost an enormous amount

of men at Verdun and said that they were prepared to "fight to the

last man," this is why the French generals kept pressuring the British

leaders.

This shows evidence of a tragedy because so many men were killed

needlessly due to poor planning. The casualties and death total would

have been far less if the French didn't rush the British into the

battle.

Failure of the British Artillery Bombardment

--------------------------------------------

The battle of the Somme began with constant artillery bombardment of

the German trenches for five days. The aim of this bombardment was to

break down the German trenches also to break down the barbed wire