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British Attitudes To The Battle Of The Somme

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British Attitudes To The Battle Of The Somme
The Battle of the Somme was also known as the Somme Offensive. The British and French faced off against the Germans, resulting in one of the most bloodiest battles of WWI history. It took place between July 1st and November 1st in 1916, at the Somme River, which runs through most of Europe. It’s known for being one of the bloodiest military battles in history, taking the lives of more than 1.5 million men in both Ally and Central Powers. On the first day alone, the British had more than 57,000 casualties. This lowered their morale greatly, but ultimately ended up producing a critical British attitude towards the war. This attitude helped improve military tactics for the Allies, and contributed to their victory in the war. The battle was mostly …show more content…
The French Commander-in-chief, Joseph Joffre, knew the advantage in this battle was always towards whom was defending, in most cases this was the Germans. But the allies are committed to launching a never ending series of attacks, in order to drain the German forces of their reserves. They were determined to liberate the parts of France and Belgium that were occupied by Germany in the first months of the war. The new British commander at the time General Sir Douglas Haig, wanted to launch a joint surprise attack on the Germans in the summer of 1916, with a plan to invade and destroy the enemy lines with a superior amount of men and weapons. But the Germans struck first. In February of 1916, they launched a massive assault on the French city of Verdun. The defense of the city required all available French reserves, causing a major setback to the plan of the British general. General Sir Douglas Haig had decided to relieve pressure for the city of Verdun, they would lead an attack on the Germans along a 25 mile front next to the River Somme. Sir Douglas Haig had received word that the German troops that hold the line at River Somme, are well trained, and most are combat veterans. It was stated in a soldier's diary that he was not fazed, as he was confident his plan to overwhelm the Germans was going to work. The offensive will

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