The Road to the Somme
This 1916 Allied offensive was planned partly to relieve pressure on French forces at Verdun.
What is the Battle of the Somme?
These zigzagging defensive ditches protected soldiers from enemy fire and artillery along the Western Front.
What are Trench warfare trenches?
This date marks the opening of the Battle of the Somme, remembered as the bloodiest day in British military history.
What is July 1, 1916?
First used in combat during this battle, these armored vehicles were meant to cross trenches and resist machine-gun fire.
Answer: What are tanks?
Despite massive losses, this was the primary strategic outcome for the Allies after months of fighting on the Somme.
Answer: What is a limited territorial gain (or breaking through German defenses only slightly)?
This British commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force helped plan the Somme offensive alongside the French.
Who is Douglas Haig?
This tactic involved soldiers climbing out of trenches and advancing across no man’s land toward enemy lines.
What is going “over the top”?
n this first day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 of these, including over 19,000 fatalities.
What are casualties?
This rapid-fire weapon, already deadly before the Somme, became even more devastating when used in defensive positions against advancing troops.
Answer: What is a machine gun?
The enormous losses at the Somme contributed to growing public frustration in this country, where many soldiers volunteered early in the war.
Answer: What is Britain (the United Kingdom)?
Before the Somme began, this devastating German attack in 1916 forced the French to call for British assistance.
What is the Battle of Verdun?
This strip of land between opposing trench lines was often filled with barbed wire, craters, and constant danger.
What is no man’s land?
Many British troops believed this preliminary tactic would destroy German defenses before they advanced.
What is an artillery bombardment?
Poisonous gases like chlorine and phosgene were deployed, leading soldiers to rely on this protective equipment.
Answer: What is a gas mask?
The psychological aftermath of the Somme helped bring attention to this condition, then often called “shell shock.”
Answer: What is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
The Somme offensive was originally intended as a joint operation between Britain and this European country, whose army bore the brunt of earlier fighting.
What is France?
Used heavily on the Somme, this creeping artillery tactic involved a moving wall of explosions advancing ahead of infantry.
What is the creeping barrage?
What is the German Army?
This type of indirect-fire artillery weapon launched explosive shells in high arcs, making it effective for hitting enemy trenches.
Answer: What is a howitzer (or artillery)?
After the Somme, military leaders increasingly relied on this tactic of exhausting the enemy rather than achieving quick breakthroughs.
Answer: What is a war of attrition?
This type of prolonged, fortified warfare along the Western Front defined the conditions leading up to the Somme.
What is Trench warfare?
First introduced in battle during the Somme, these armored vehicles were designed to cross trenches and break through enemy defenses.
What are Mark I tank tanks?
This region in northern France was the site of the Somme battlefield where the first day’s fighting took place.
What is the Somme?
Though primitive compared to later versions, these aircraft were used for reconnaissance and sometimes bombing missions during the battle.
Answer: What are airplanes?
The scale of casualties from battles like the Somme influenced postwar efforts to create this international organization aimed at preventing future wars.
Answer: What is the League of Nations?