The Battle of the Somme, 1916 (AQA GCSE History)

The Battle of the Somme, 1916 - Timeline & Summary

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The Battle of the Somme, fought from 1st July to 19th November 1916, was the largest and bloodiest battle of the First World War. Lasting 140 days, it was a British-led offensive under General Sir Douglas Haig. It involved British, French, and Empire troops. The battle aimed to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun and weaken German forces.

On the first day, the British suffered over 60,000 casualties—the worst in their history—earning Haig the nickname 'the Butcher of the Somme.' However, the Allies adapted tactics as the battle continued, introducing new tactics like the creeping barrage and weaponry such as the tank.

By its end, the Allies had gained an area of land approximately 25 kilometres long, and six kilometres wide. While the territorial gains were limited and came at a cost of over one million casualties, the Somme succeeded in relieving Verdun and significantly weakening the German Army. Germany struggled to recover from the heavy losses.

Causes of the Battle of the Somme

The Allies aims at the Battle of the Somme

• The British offensive at the Somme aimed to:

  • break the stalemate

  • push back the Germans

The Allies plan for the Battle of the Somme

• General Haig used aircraft for reconnaissance of the German trenches

  • Aircraft would look at the German position, front lines and weaponry

• Haig planned for a large artillery bombardment of the German trenches

  • Haig hoped that the bombardment would:

    • destroy the German front lines

    • cut the barbed wire

    • destroy German artillery

    • kill Germans in the trenches

• Once the bombardment stopped, Haig planned to send the soldiers 'over the top' and take the German trenches

  • It was believed that there would be no Germans left in the trenches and that the advance over no man's land would be easy

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Events of the Battle of the Somme

June, 1916

• On 24th June 1916, the artillery bombardment started and lasted for a week

  • Over 1.5 million shells were fired in eight days

July, 1916

• On July 1st 1916, the bombardment stopped

• The first wave of British soldiers went over the top of the trenches at 7:30 am

  • British and French soldiers were met by German machine gun fire and attacked the Allied advance with ease

• On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the British suffered 60,000 casualties with 20,000 dead

Why did the attack on the 1st of July fail?

• The Allied artillery bombardment had failed

  • The German army knew the attack was coming as they saw the reconnaissance aircraft

    • German soldiers were moved out of the trenches or into concrete-fortified dugouts

• The artillery bombardment had failed to destroy:

  • the barbed wire

    • The shells were not strong enough to break the barbed wire

    • In some places, the barbed wire became even more tangled from the shelling

    • Some of the shells were poor quality and failed to explode

    • The barbed wire was cut in a few places along the German line which created a bottleneck and allowed German soldiers to easily kill the advancing Allied soldiers

  • the German trenches

    • The Allies did not know that the Germans had concrete-fortified trenches

  • the German artillery

    • The Germans knew the attack was coming so they moved their large artillery

• When the artillery bombardment stopped, the Allied advance did not start straight away

  • This gave German soldiers time to get to their positions and prepare for an attack

• The British generals did not change their tactics when it was made clear that the artillery bombardment had failed and continued to send soldiers over the top

  • In some areas, soldiers were ordered to walk over no man's land

    • Soldiers carried heavy backpacks and tools making it harder to manoeuvre their way through no man's land and the German machine gun fire

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July - November, 1916

• General Haig continues to use similar tactics to those used on the first day of the Battle of the Somme

  • The Allies saw some victories and gained German territory

    • Germany attempted to regain this land with a series of counter-attacks

• The Battle of the Somme saw the first use of the creeping barrage and the tank in an attempt to break the stalemate and push the Germans back

  • The creeping barrage saw some success at the Battle of the Somme

• In November, attacks were stopped due to the winter weather

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Significance of the Battle of the Somme

• The Battle of the Somme is generally considered an Allied victory as:

  • The French regained control of Verdun

  • The Allies gained land

    • 25 kilometres long and six kilometres wide

• However, the British and French suffered great casualties

  • Britain and France had approximately 620,000 casualties

  • Germany had approximately 500,000 casualties

• German strategies were highly influenced by the outcomes of both the Battle of Verdun and the Somme, in 1916

  • Germany started to use 'unrestricted' submarine warfare in an attempt to remove Britain from the war

General Douglas Haig

• After the battle, Haig was given the nickname 'The Butcher of the Somme'

  • Haig has been given this title as:

    • many claim he was responsible for the failure of the artillery bombardment

    • it is believed that the soldiers were 'lions led by donkeys'

    • Haig continued with the offensive using similar tactics

    • Haig warned politicians that the country needed to "be taught to bear losses"

    • the Somme was the first offensive using volunteers and Pals battalions, who received little training before the offensive

• Although some historians believe that Haig was 'The Butcher of the Somme', others claim that Haig and the generals were not butchers

  • Generals created plans based on out-of-date information due to poor communications

  • Generals had no experience with this type of warfare and did the best that they could

  • They achieved many of their aims

    • The French regained Verdun

    • They gained German territory