How Did The Battle Of The Somme Affect The Battle Of Verdun In Ww1 ?
The Battle of the Somme in World War I was responsible for the death of around 58,000 British soldiers on the first day itself. The battle, which began on July 1st, 1916, continued until November 18, 1916 and was fought on a 30-kilometer stretch between Arras and Albert. This battle had an effect on the Battle of Verdun, which was being fought between the Germans and French troops. |
This battle was planned to start in the year 1915 and was meant to be a joint attack with the British and French troops coming together to drain the German of their reserves. It was primarily meant to be a battle of attrition and gaining territory was not its primary aim. However, the battle was primarily found between the British and the Germans as the French were concentrating on Verdun where the troops were fighting the German army.
It was because of the German attack at Verdun that the date for the Battle of the Somme was brought forward. Earlier, it had been decided that the Somme offensive would take place on August 1st, 1916. However, it was later changed to June, so that the German resources would be divided between the 2 battles.
The entire planning as well as execution was by done by Sir Douglas Haig, who was the British Commander-in-Chief. Before the actual battle began, the German lines were bombarded to destroy the forward defenses, so that the British soldiers could walk through the No Man's Land and take over the German front lines. However, this was not be as the Germans were entrenched in concrete bunkers, and the front line was protect by barbed wire.
While the Battle of the Somme was a disaster and the British lost thousands of men on the very first day of the battle, this battle was necessary to help relieve the French troops that were fighting the Germans. Basically, the Battle of the Somme prevented the German troops from taking over Verdun. If that had occurred, then the Germans would have take over practically the whole of France and history would have been re-written. The battle managed to deal a massive jolt to the morale of the German troops and Germany as a whole.
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The First World War was different from any other war that was fought as technology had made advances and this influenced the weapons that were used during the war, including in the Battle of Verdun. Some of the weapons that were used in the Battle of Verdun are highlighted below. 