The Battle of the Somme in 1916

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“The Battle of the Somme, July-November 1916, was the largest military encounter in history to date, involving over 1.5 million men”, says Furtado, author for History Today (10). Out of this 1.5 million, around 75 to 83 percent died or were injured by the end of the Battle of the Somme. Furtado later remarks that “...troops from Canada, Newfoundland..., South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India, China, Senegal, North Africa, Madagascar, Somalia, Indochina, and others” were all at the Somme (11). The troops at the battle were diverse. Even though this was an international battle with many different ethnicities, it was not about each individual or county. The Battle of the Somme was between the British and French armies against the German armies. The Battle of the Somme foreshadowed the futility of fighting World War I and concluded with few strategic military achievements, many losses, and an inconclusive victory.
World War I was between the Central and Allied Powers. There were two huge alliances in Europe at that time. As stated by the editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Italy made up the Triple Alliance (Abdullah et. al). The Triple Alliance is also known as the Central Powers. The editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, of a different article, remarked that Great Britain, France, and Russia made up the Triple Entente which is also referred to as the Allied Powers (Abdullah et. al). The war between these two powers commenced because of a build in tension from a string of events that occurred. The first of these events was when “...Galvrilo Princip (a Slav nationalist) assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austria-Hungarian Empire” says BBC News (“Summary”)....

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...ory 24.4 (2007): 34-41. World History Collection. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Prior, Robin, and Trevor Wilson. "Summing Up The Somme." History Today 41.11 (1991): 37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Nov. 2013.
"Somme, Battles Of The." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Middle Search Plus. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
"Summary of World War One." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
Terraine, John. "The Texture Of The Somme, 1916." History Today 26.9 (1976): 559. World History Collection. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Abdullah, Mansur G., et. al. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sept. 2006. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
Todman, Daniel. "Douglas Haig." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Ed. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Trueman, Chris. "The Schlieffen Plan." History Learning Site. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014.

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