Why Did The Somme Improve Canada

In the late summer of 1916, tens of thousands of men marched off to the muddy grounds of the Somme. In their wake, they left behind their wives and children, many of whom they would never see again. Those who did return would come back traumatized, frightened of loud noises and too afraid to step outside, empty shells of the men they once were. But their sacrifices were not in vain; the Somme was, unquestionably, the most important battle for both Canada and the World. It encouraged the development of new tactics that would be used effectively in other battles, served to improve Canada’s reputation as a formidable foe, lowered enemy morale significantly, and the horrible conditions encouraged critical questioning of the glory of war. The Somme offensive was launched on July 1st, 1916, and
The Somme came after 18 months of stalemate along the trenches and was a joint operation by the British and French. The Somme was launched for the express purpose of breaking the stalemate along the 25km section at the Somme valley, but German forces attacked the French at Verdun, causing the British to take primary control of the offensive. Infamously called ‘das Blutbad’ by the Germans, the amount of blood spilled at the Somme can not be understated. By the end of four and half long months of combat, more than 420,000 British, which included 24,000 Canadians and 700 Newfoundlanders, and 194,000 French soldiers had been killed or wounded. The Germans also experienced heavy losses, with around 440,000 casualties. Around 3 million soldiers fought at Somme, and by the end of November, there were over a million casualties on all sides, meaning that 1 in 3 men died or suffered a severe injury. When compared to other battles with similar time spans, the human cost of the Battle of the Somme can be seen even more