The Battle of the Somme..?

The British generals did NOT choose this place for a major attack In late 1915 there was a meeting of British and French politicians, who decided that a massive joint offensive in 1916 was needed to end the war. Logically, a joint offensive had to be launched where the British and French sectors met. That meant the Somme.

The British generals were handed a task and told to get on with it As you already note, Haig was commander-in-chief of the British forces. Though he has been vilified (mostly unfairly) by history, he was a capab;e and far-sighted general. He was one of the very few who, in 1914, predicted that the war would last years.

He also knew that his army - a vast citizen army with all too little trainng or experience - was not ready for something as massive as the Somme. Nevertheless, he was told to get on with it The whole plan was scuppered when the Germans launched their own offensive at Verdun. This meant that most of the French forces who were to have attacked at the Somme were no longer available.

The attack was ordered ahead anyway, not least to relieve pressure on the French On the first day, the British suffered 60,000 casualties. This was the worst day in British miltary history The battled dragged on until November. Haig wanted to call it off earlier, but was ordered to carry on, in order to relieve pressure on the French The Somme saw the first tank attack in history.It was rushed ahead (in an attempt to reduce casualties) before the new technology had been adequately tested.

More than half of the tabks broke down before making contact with the enemy. Nevertheless, they pointed the way forward The outcome was a horribly costly draw. The British suffered about 500,000 casualties; the French about 75,000; the Germans 650,000.

Various sources give different versions of these figures (probably because no-one has ever agreed exactly where and when the boundaries of the battle should be set) but these are reaosnable averages.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.