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The battle Somme was one of the bloodiest and perhaps least effective battles of the war and indeed of any other war. The estimates for casualties are inexact and only educated guesses. It is widely believed that the The British and French suffered some approximately 600,000 killed and wounded. The Germans suffered about 500,000 casualties. The Anglo-French armies did manage to make real and significant gains, especially after the initial phases of the offensive. At the end of the battle in November, the British and French forces had penetrated some 6 miles into German -occupied territory. The offensive had recaptured more grind that at than any other battle since the Battle of the Marne in 1914.  However, they had failed to take many of their objectives such as Peronne and Bapume. It could be argued that the Battle of the Somme did not end as the British resumed their attacks in the area in 1917. The Somme did not deliver a death blow to the Germans, ; they were forced back to their second and third lines of defencedefense. They had retreated in good order , and they had been able to maintain their lines , and there was no general Allied breakthrough. This has led many to see the Somme as a failure. However, some have argued the only benefit to Allies was that they caused 500,000 German casualties because the Germans suffered such significant losses and that this it may have contributed to their eventually eventual collapse in 1918.<ref>Prior, p. 211</ref> This contention is debatable because Germany was able to move a significant number of troops to the Western front after Russia's collapse and replenish the front lines.

The planning for the Somme offensive was rushed. Haig had only been in his role since the previous December. He wanted the British army to attack further north but political considerations meant that he had to heed the opinions of the French. The planning was also rushed as accelerated because the British needed to come to the aid of the French at Verdun and also . Additionally, the British wanted to corrodinate their attack with Russia during the Russian their offensive. This meant that there was a failure to coordinate the British units effectively. Many have argued that the Somme offensive would have had a better chance of success if it had not been rushed. However, it was not only rushed planning that was a problem.  The British High Command was guilty of being over-optimistic. They had assumed that the British artillery barrage would be more effective than it was and they failed to take into account the fact that the Germans had been building extensive lines of defenses before the offensive began. Then there was the British planners’ failure to coordinate the various aspects of the offensive; they proved unable to coordinate the artillery barrage with the infantry’s advance.<ref> Prior, p. 135</ref>

The British High Command was guilty of being over-optimistic. They had assumed that the British artillery barrage would be more effective than it was and they failed to take into account the fact that the Germans had been building extensive lines of defences before the offensive began. Then there was the British planners’ failure to coordinate the various aspects of the offensive, they proved unable to coordinate the artillery barrage with the infantry’s advance.<ref> Prior, p. 135</ref> Furthermore, the British generals had been very conservative in their battle tactics, this can be seen in the orders they gave to walk across no man's land and their continued belief in the effectiveness of cavalry. If the British High Command had planned the offensive better, it could have been a true success instead of being at best only a partial success. Then there was the fact that the British High Command was reluctant to change their the tactics they persisted using the same tactics from July to November and after the first day their enemy knew what to expect and planned accordingly. This meant that the Allies did not secure all their stated objectives.<ref> Wilson, p. 221</ref>