The Battles Of Verdun And Somme example essay topic

In World Was I there were many battles but two stand out as more important than the others. The two biggest and most horrifying battles of the World War I were the Battles of Verdun and Somme. The battle of Somme was much more significant compared to the Battle of Verdun in WWI. Both battles were appalling and very tragic but the battle of Somme helped turn the war around for the French. The first major German offensive occurred at Verdun, in 1916 against the French, and not long after, in June of the same year the French were on the brink of defeat. Just as this became apparent the British launched an offensive of their own, along the River Somme, this resulted in the Germans focusing more attention there rather then the battle of Verdun.

The battle of Verdun, was fought at high cost to the French Army, it is often compared to a "sausage machine" (Cavendish 1356), because 315,000 Frenchman were killed at Verdun. Human kind had never seen such battles throughout history, there were so many losses, and it was quite shocking to the soldiers who fought in WWI. Verdun was a traumatic experience that affected the lives of many soldiers even after the war. The German siege of Verdun and its ring of forts was the longest battle of the First World War. Verdun maintained a great mental hold in the minds of the French people.

The plan was to subject Verdun to intense bombardment, thus drawing in and diverting French troops from all over the Western Front to the eight-mile wide front around Verdun. Meanwhile the casualties were mounting rapidly on both sides. The French were certainly losing huge numbers of men, as were their German opposition. By the time the battle ended almost one million casualties had been incurred in roughly equal numbers on each side. On April 9th the third major German offensive launched its offensive attack. Encouraged by the success in capturing "Fort Vaux, German troops almost succeeded in breaking through the French lines" (Cavendish 246).

It was at this stage that the Germans used the latest form of chemical warfare, which was mustard gas. German resources were moved as a result of a Russian offensive on the Eastern Front, which meant that fifteen German divisions had to be withdrawn from Verdun to aid in the defence on the east. There were shortages in practically everything, and rising prices that hurt the economy. The French casualties during the battle were estimated at "550,000 with German losses set at 434,000, half of the total being fatalities" (Stokesbury 142). Further attacks continued throughout the summer and early autumn on Verdun by German forces. The Germans army pushed back the French to there third line by the end of the summer, however, the scale of the German attacks was reduced because of the need to transfer troops to defend their front-line at Somme.

With the German troops being diverted it gave the French troops time to counter-attacked against the German troops in Verdun. The first Battle of the Somme in 1916, between July and November, can be considered extremely important, it had effects upon the German soldiers that contributed to the final outcome of World War I. Even though the battle did have substantial impacts upon the German army at the time, at the same time, however, the battle gave a reminder to the Germans that not everything would go their way, and as a result can be considered as a partially important aspect to the outcome of the war. The Battle of the Somme resulted in huge casualties for both the Allies and Germany. The number of deaths on the first day of the Battle of the Somme were horrendous and absolutely astonishing, almost "sixty thousand" (Ousby 293), yet the generals did not stop there, they carried on until they had accumulated "a loss of 420,000 British, 200,000 French and 650,000 Germans" (Ousby 294).

These are the worst losses in British history for one single day of battle in history. The German commanders decided to retreat, and many historians believe that this to be an "acknowledgement of defeat on behalf of the Germans" (Stokesbury 116), however the Germans made a calculated retreat and practiced what they believed would result in less casualties, by forfeiting small land gains to the Allies. This was insignificant in the process to gain land but can be considered to be a wise compromise however, because by falling back to the Hindenburg line, the Germans could reinforce and strengthen their positions to better defend against the advancing Allies and be able to wait for the troops coming from Verdun. The Battle of the Somme eased the pressure on Verdun by redirecting German troops to Somme. This is why I think that the battle of Somme was much more important to the French to help defeat the Germans in Verdun.

To this extent the battle can be seen as a success even though it has been seen as a total disaster. Some may accept the position that the battle reduced German numbers, it is easy to see with observation that this had an effect on the outcome of the war, because of the number of Allied casualties. The battle had a damaging impact on the morale of the German army, but at the same time it must be remembered that in early 1918 the Germans started an offensive. As a result, it can be seem that the Somme offensive did have an impact upon the German morale.

To some the extent the Battle of the Somme can be described as "important to the outcome of the war's final outcome" (Stokesbury 294). In any country where 420,000 men are killed or wounded, the mental condition of those who are fighting for the same country will be affected. The Battle of the Somme was had of a great importance to the outcome of the WWI. Comprising the main Allied attack on the Western Front during 1916, the Battle of the Somme is famous chiefly on account of the loss of 58,000 British troops on the first day of the battle, on July 1, 1916.

Which to this day remains a one-day record. The attack was launched upon a 15-mile front, from north of the Somme River between Arras and Albert, and ran from July 1 until November 18, at which point it was called off. The offensive was planned late in 1915 and was intended as a joint French and British attack. "The point of the battle was to drain the German forces of reserves, to get German troops transferred from Verdun and the secondary aim was to gain territory" (Ousby 283). The German Verdun offensive transformed the intent of the Somme attack, the French demanded that the planned date of the attack, August 1, 1916, be brought forward to July 1. The point of this was to mainly divert German resources from Verdun in the defence of the Somme.

The attack was preceded by an eight-day preliminary bombardment of the German lines, beginning on June 24. The probability was that the cruelty of the bombardment would entirely destroy all forward German defences, enabling the attacking British troops to practically walk across No Man's Land and take possession of the German front lines from the tattered and dazed German troops. Over fifteen thousand British guns, together with a similar number of French guns, were employed in the bombardment. Following the artillery bombardment, it was determined that a creeping barrage would precede the advancing infantry to the German front line, and onwards to the second and third trench lines. The Royal Artillery had prepared an underground network of telephone cables so as to allow forward observation officers to monitor and correct the bombardment as the battle progressed. However, the advance artillery bombardment failed to destroy either the German front line barbed wire or the heavily built concrete bunkers the Germans had carefully and robustly constructed.

Much of the military capability used by the British proved to be 'duds' badly constructed and ineffective. Many charges did not even go off, even today "farmers of the Western Front come across many tons of unexploded 'iron harvest' each year" (Cavendish 1251). During the bombardment the German troops sought effective shelter in such bunkers, emerging only with the ceasing of the British artillery bombardment, when the German machine guns were manned to great effect, many troops were killed or wounded the moment they stepped out of the front lines into "No Man's Land" (Cavendish 1539). Many men walked slowly towards the German lines, loaded down with supplies, expecting little or no opposition. The French soldiers made for extremely easy targets for the German machine-gunners.

German soldiers seemed to be at the point of exhaustion and that a breakthrough was imminent sooner or later. Thus the offensive was maintained throughout the summer and into November. By this time the French forces in Verdun were on the offensive and were gaining ground and the German forces were weak because of Somme. The French tried to concentrate on keeping up the pressure on the Germans so they could prevent a diversion of German manpower back to Verdun to assist with the German defence there. This is where the battle of Somme was important to the French. Despite the slow but progressive British advance, the poor weather put a halt to the Somme offensive on November 18th.

During the attack the "British and French had gained 5 miles of ground, taking of which resulted in 420,000 estimated British casualties, plus a further 200,000 French casualties. German casualties were estimated to run at around 500,000" (Stokesbury 260). The war that was supposed to be over by Christmas seemed endless, however, in 1918, Germany gave up, and became a liberal Republic. It happened at 11: 00 am, on November 11, after 4 years and over 8 million military deaths on both sides. Germany agreed to President Wilson's 14 points, issued in January 1918 where Germany agreed "not to have secret treaties with other countries, most importantly to end submarine warfare and to free the seas, to give up their colonial claims" (Cavendish 1603, notes).

The battle of Somme was used as a way to get the Germans to slowly give up Verdun, which is what the French wanted. Somme was a significant battle because it helped the French take over Verdun. The French used Somme as a way to slowly drain the German army by sending troops from Verdun to Somme to strength that front but would eventually weaken Verdun. I think that that the Somme offensive was necessary in order to relieve the French at Verdun. The Somme battle was a complete disaster in the mind of a military person but in fact it served as a relief to the pressure that the Germans were putting on the French in Verdun.

It also wore down the German soldiers, both mentally and physically helping a great deal in the Germans defeat. This was a major step in winning the war, and for this reason, makes the Somme a success and mush more significant than Verdun. It is therefore very difficult to classify the Somme as either a total disaster, or a total success. It is in many ways both of these, a success due to the positive things that came out of it, and a crushing disaster due to the losses that were generated by it.