Events Leading Up to the Battle of the somme

By 1916, England had raised and trained a massive army to replace the small professional army that was all but destroyed in the first few years of the war. This new army was recruited using propaganda and powerful images upon posters. Unfortunately, this new army lacked combat experience. The French, on the other hand, were almost fully mobilized and prepared to launch a breakthrough offensive to end the war. Under French planning, it was agreed that …

…land. Haig was to continue with his Somme offensive for over one month. He was to only gain a few square kilometers in area for the sacrifice of his men. In total, the British and French losses were to reach 620, 000. Germany was to suffer 450,000 casualties during the month long fighting. The loss of hundreds of thousands of men for little or almost no gain in territory summarizes the bulk of fighting during the Great War.