The battle on the Somme: the course of the battle and its outcome

By 1916, the position war in the French theater of war dragged on for too long. For many months, the soldiers of the opposing armies could not advance even a kilometer.

Preparation

The allies in the face of the British and the French agreed on a united offensive. The main role was prepared for the republican parts, while the British undertook to perform the functions of support. It was a battle on the Somme, which became one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

According to the plan, the allies of the Entente were to attack immediately on three fronts: Russian, Italian and French. The main points were discussed in December 1915 in Chantilly in Picardy. Italians and Russians were going to start their operations in June, whereas on the Somme the offensive was scheduled for July 1.

Participants were five armies: three French and two English. However, the Battle of Somme did not go as planned, when a huge number of soldiers perished at Verdun (about 160 thousand). The front, on which the offensive was organized, had a width of 40 kilometers. On this site, the commanders were generals Rawlinson and Fayol. General leadership was carried out by Ferdinand Foch. The German defense was occupied by Fritz von Belov.

Even at the planning stage it became clear that the battle on the Somme would be a long and intense battle, requiring the use of all available resources. The region was dug up by a multitude of lines and trenches. The command expected that first the artillery would devastate each line, after which the infantry would occupy it. So it was to be repeated until the last redoubt falls.

The beginning of the offensive

Initially, the Germans' positions were to be shelled by artillery. This preparation began before the large-scale offensive on June 24. For a whole week redoubts and fortifications of the German army were methodically destroyed, in order to open the way for the infantry to defenseless positions of the enemy. Suffering and tools. About half of the combat-ready units were withdrawn from service.

As it was calculated, the infantry moved on July 1. On the first day, at least 20,000 British soldiers were killed, including employees of expeditionary corps from the colonies of the empire. On the right flank, it was possible to take the enemy's positions, whereas on the left flank the same attempt failed and resulted in a large number of irrecoverable losses. Some French units on this background moved too far and were threatened by encirclement and the emergence of a "cauldron". Therefore, Fayol ordered his soldiers to retreat somewhat and allow the allies to catch up with them.

Positional battle

The offensive remained extremely slow, which in general was a feature of the entire First World War. Each kilometer was given at the cost of a large number of victims. Sometimes soldiers returned to places where a year ago their predecessors were killed and left. The prewar frontier of France, Belgium and Germany turned into a cemetery.

By July, neither side had been able to achieve strategic success. Therefore, the battle on the Somme pulled in itself all the new divisions that were being transferred from other fronts. Soon the Germans felt a shortage of forces, as parallel to the events in Western Europe, the Brusilov offensive of the Russian army in the east developed. There the target of the attack was Austria, and Germany had to hand over to her aid a multitude of soldiers and equipment, so as not to meet in its peaceful rear of the division of Nicholas II.

The exhaustion of the Germans

By September, the war of attrition had turned for the Germans by the fact that they had to suspend all their offensive actions in the fight against the British and the French. This was an important turn in the course of events, which contributed to the battle on the Somme. The outcome of this decision was obvious: the Entente decided to repeat the large-scale July offensive.

Mathematically, the two sides of the conflict were represented by 58 and 40 divisions not in favor of the Germans. In order to raise the morale of the tired soldiers, the heir of the Bavarian kingdom Ruprecht arrived in the army. The British responded by saying that tanks were used for the first time in history. It was a model of the Mark V, which had machine guns and guns (depending on the equipment). The car was unfinished, vulnerable and inefficient. However, she completely demoralized the Germans, who had no idea what the battle for the Somme was preparing for them. The date of the battle stretched for four months (July 1 - November 18).

Results

Later in the autumn, the British and the French advanced 37 kilometers, after which the battle ended on the Somme. Briefly and sketchily continued skirmishes. The front paused in anticipation. Time showed that the losses bleached Germany and provided the Entente with a strategic initiative at the last stage of the war. The invaluable experience of cooperation allowed the British and French headquarters to coordinate their actions in future operations more effectively.

The Allies lost about 146 thousand people killed and 450 thousand wounded in the offensive. The mutilated remained disabled for life, and all because of new types of weapons, for example, mortars. The Germans left on the battlefield 164 thousand dead, and 300 thousand got into the infirmaries.