Was the battle of the somme a success or a failure?

Answer 1

Yes, in some ways the battle of The Somme was succesfull, it surved its purpose and reduced the pressure of the French army. Allthough the battle caused many deaths without much gain of territory.
No the battle of the Somme was a huge failure. 80,000 casualties

Answer 2

The Battle of the Somme was not successful, but here are some of the successes and failures of it (if you are bothered to read them all!)

Successes:

-It gave people a chance to test out modern war weapons, such as tanks. machine guns and cannons

-Lots of volunteers

-Women got involved (only a little) for the first time

-Some English and French troops were successful and took over some German trenches

Failures:

-Going over the top (into "no-man's land" (Google it)): Germans had bunkers to hide in, barbed wire stopped the troops, blasted hole in the ground (made by cannons) made it harder to get across, the soldiers were told to walk in a straight line so they got SLAUGHTERED by the opposition

-many people killed

-600,000 casualties in the first DAY

-Underground bombs, set up by English and French troops went off at the wrong times so the Germans had time to get ready

-7 days of nonstop shelling (google it) killed thousands

-not much territory gained

Answer 3

The first day of the Somme was, and still is, one of the worst military disasters in British history. On the first day alone over 60,000 injuries show this to be an initial failure.

General Haig, the commander of the Somme, relied far too much on a 6 day military bombardment. This hoped to wipe out the Germans from above in order for the British to walk straight across no mans land. Due to this arrogance the British didn't carry Machine Guns... Weapons which made the Germans more powerful in this battle. The Germans stayed in their 30-40ft bunkersunderground and so when the men went over the top they were unprepared and were shot.

A "war of attrition" tactic was one of Haig's famous methods. It was a method which attempted to wear down the other team in the hopes they killed more than they lost. Statistically we see the numbers to be no different.

The initial attempt to achieve a breakthrough on July the 1st was a failure, but, the BEF did gain experience from this event.

Haig, who was very traditional in his methods, changed. He introduced early tanks (a good idea but slow as they used car engines!), and a "creeping barrages" technique which balanced the first half of the war with a more hopeful second.

Morale is seemingly obvious to fall in this situation, but when captured, often the British men exclaimed "Haven't we done well?" Soldiers would also be in better spirits actually out fighting instead of just waiting to go into battle

It's undeniable that there was a disaster at the Somme, but that's inevitable in a war situation. Haig relied too much on military bombardments and tradition but the worst lessons were learnt and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Somme was an "essential precondition to success in the last two years of war".

It wasn't a complete disaster as we do see a victory at the end. The failures were the catalysts towards counter attack, allowing Britian to never face a battle like the Somme again.

Answer 4

The successes of the Battle of the Somme were the new things that were tested. For example, the tank was a new mechanism. The new 'Creeping Barrage' technique was used, and the battle relieved the pressure off Verdun.