Origins of the Campaign
Extract from Somme 1 July 1916: Tragedy and triumph (Campaign 169)
The Somme is a river in northern France that has given its name to a region and a battle. Of all the events of the First World War it is arguable that only Passchendaele comes close to the Somme 's infamy. The Somme still has the power to evoke strong attitudes and emotions in a generation that has seen the demise of the final survivors of the events of 1916. There can be few people who have not heard of the battle of the Somme and most associate this with the events of a single day, 1 July 1916.
Whilst Verdun stands for sacrifice and heroism for a French audience, the Somme is used as a demonstration of British military failure and stupidity. For a public largely unaware of the reasons for the battle, or even where it was fought, it is the slaughter of 60,000 men in a single day that has shaped popular perceptions of the entire war. The 1st of July is held to be the ‘proof' of the futility of British strategy and the failure of incompetent British generals, chiefly Sir Douglas Haig, to adapt to the new technology that confronted them in the deadlock of trench warfare on the Western Front. The fact that this battle was not called off after the failures of the first day and instead dragged on for four more months of mud and blood is seen as compounding the errors of the opening day. This futile waste of men is perceived by many as a clear demonstration of the lack of imagination displayed by the British generals, which is so obvious to subsequent generations. But the facts that form the popular understanding of the battle do not bear close scrutiny. A great deal of what is taken as the context for the battle of the Somme is a combination of myth and partial truth with a good mixture of hindsight. To be able to understand the military and political factors that led to the Somme battle it is necessary to consider the war on all fronts since 1914.
© 2006 Osprey Publishing Ltd, Somme 1 July 1916:Tragedy and triumph (Campaign 169)
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