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[[File:British_Lancers.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|18th King George’s Own Lancers near Mametz, on the Somme, 15 July 1916]]The Battle of the Somme or the Somme Offensive was a series of battles that occurred during the Summer and Autumn of 1916. It involved British and French forces launching a massive assault on the German lines in an effort to break the stalemate on the Western Front. The Battle was primarily a battle between the Germans and the British. The offensive achieved very little and both sides suffered heavy casualties. The British only advanced a few miles and the German lines held and the . The stalemate was not brokenby the offensive. Historians have argued whether the Somme was a failure or a partial success. It is clear that the British and French did not secure their main objectives during the battle. This article will seek to understand the reasons why Why did the Somme offensive failed to achieve the majority of its planners’ primary goals. ? This work will demonstrate that the apparent failure at the Somme was due to poor leadership, planning and a stubborn German defence. ==Background==Since 1914, the war on both the eastern and the western front had become a war of attrition. Both sides had established a series of defensive lines, involving thousands of miles of trenches and they regularly attacked and counter-attacked each other for little or no strategic or tactical advantage<ref> Gilbert, M. <i>The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War. </i> (Henry Holt and Company, 2006), p. 56</ref>. The western military and the governments were eager to end the war or at least to be seen as delivering a victory. There were concerns that the public would not tolerate a war indefinitely. The resources of France and Britain had become stretched and they needed a victory to demonstrate that they were winning the war to their public. There was a genuine desire to end the stalemate which was costing thousands of lives per week<ref> Gilbert, p. 112</ref>. Then there was the strategic situation on both the eastern and the western front. The Russians had been planning their own assault on the Austro-Hungarians in the east, an attack from the west would mean that the Germans could not come to the aid of their allies in Vienna. Then there were the almost simultaneous massive battles taking place in Verdun<ref> Gilbert, p. 113</ref>. The Germans and the French were engaged in a bloody battle for the fortress of Verdun. The French army had found itself hard pressed and many feared that they would break and this could result in the Germans driving a wedge between the British in the north and the French armies in the south. The Somme was seen as necessary to alleviate the pressure on the French and to assist the Russian offensive. [[File: British Mark I male tank Somme 25 September 1916.jpg|thumbnail|200px|British tank at the Somme]]==Strategy==General Sir Douglas Haig assumed command of the British army in early 1916. He wanted to launch the offensive nearer the English Channel to be closer to the British supply lines. However, the French pressurised the British to have the offensive in the Somme region. When the Verdun offensive started the Somme area saw the withdrawal of many German units. The Germans had little reserves in the area and it seemed that the Somme was the perfect location<ref>Keegan, J.<i>The First World War </i>.(London: Random House, 1998), p. 12</ref>. The Anglo-French attack was to break the German lines and achieve a breakthrough that would allow the allies to drive a wedge between the Germans armies in France. The British after a five-day bombardment were to launch a massive infantry assault, once the Germans had fled from their trenches, the British cavalry would push forward and seize key objectives such as railroads and bridges in the Somme<ref>Keegan, p. 56</ref>. However, the British had failed to understand the nature of the German defences on the Somme. They had added a third line of defence, had established a telephone system and had dug even more trenches. The German defences did have some deficiencies but they proved to be formidable. The British underestimated the German defences and this was to prove costly during the coming battles<ref> Keegan, p 116</ref>. [[File: Somme 2.jpg|thumbnail|200px|German Soldier at the Somme]]
==Battles Tactics of the Somme==Background====The British committed hundreds of thousands of men to Since 1914, the fighting. The British troops war on both the eastern and the Somme was western front had become a mixture war of the surviving members attrition. Both sides had established a series of the old regular armydefensive lines, the Territorial Force involving thousands of miles of trenches and Kitchener's Army, comprised of volunteers including the ‘Pals Battalions’, that had been recruited from the same towns they regularly attacked and villages counter-attacked each other for little or no strategic or tactical advantage.<ref> MiddlebrookGilbert, M. <i>The First Day on the Somme[https://www.amazon. <com/gp/product/i>. (London, Penguin, 1971<0805081275/ref>.Many of their reserves were transferred to the area. They stationed thousands of artillery pieces in the region. These were expected to play a crucial role in the coming offensive. It was believed that a concentrated artillery barrage could either force the German defenders to flee or else to destroy their defences. Crucially the British had not mastered the tactic of the creeping barrage. This tactic would have allowed the infantry to advance under the cover of shelling. =as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0805081275&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=215891b2156d756f1e4b5799a19bf45c The British failure to do so meant that when the artillery barrage ended that the Germans who survived the artillery onslaught could mow down the advancing soldiers with machine guns. New military technologies were also employed at the battle of the Somme. The British intended using aeroplanes : Heroism and tanks Horror in a major battle for the first time<ref> Prior, RFirst World War].; Wilson, <i> The Somme </i>. (New Haven: Yale University PressHenry Holt and Company, 20052006), p. 11356</ref>. They gave the British more capabilities. The tanks could be sued to punch through the German lines western military and the aeroplanes could gather intelligence on the movements of German troops. However, the British High Command was governments were eager to fail to use these new weapons in an effective way. The planners at the Somme also expected end the infantry to make spectacular gains. The common soldier war or ‘Tommy’ was expected at least to take trenches using only his gun, bayonet and grenadesbe seen as delivering a victory. The British High Command was simply expecting too much of their soldiers, especially given There were concerns that the heavy and sophisticated German defences. The inability of the British to properly employ and coordinate their forces and their unrealistic expectations was to cost many soldiers their lives and to limit the advances made during the offensive<ref> Wilson, p. 116</ref>public would not tolerate a war indefinitely.
The Battle of the Somme was not the failure it is often portrayed. It did play an important role in the eventual German defeat in 1918 and did allow the allies to recapture some strategic territory. However, given the losses the battle did not achieve much and the Germans did not suffer any major strategic defeats. In fact, they proved capable of continuing the fight on the western front for another two years. The failure of the Allies to achieve their main objectives despite the massive losses was due to several factors and they include poor and rushed planning. These meant that there were deficiencies in the planning process and this hampered the allies advance. Then the Germans proved adept in defending their positions and they had established massive defensive lines. The British Generals in particularly placed too much faith on their new weapons especially their tanks and on the ability of artillery to dislodge and destroy defenders in networks of trenches. These all ensured that the Somme largely failed to be the decisive victory that its planners had hoped for in the Spring of 1916.
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