Battle of Somme
Trench warfare catastrophe
The Battle of the Somme was a massive World War I offensive fought in northern France from July to November 1916.
British forces suffered nearly 60,000 casualties on the first day alone—the bloodiest in British military history.
The battle has become synonymous with the futility and horrific scale of trench warfare: His grandfather died at the Somme.
- trenchLong narrow excavation
- trench warfareCombat from fortified ditches
- mudWet soil mixture
- wireThin metallic conductor
- artilleryLarge-caliber battlefield weapons
shell · infantry · casualties · slaughter · whistles · first day · no-man's-land · going over · poppies · July · offensive · barrage · machine-gun · crater · Picardy · Western Front · 1916 · khaki
- 20th Century HistoryWorld War I, WWI, Great Depression, Russian Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution
- French HistoryNapoleon Bonaparte, French Revolution, Napoleon, Bastille, Reign of Terror
- TragediesHamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet
Battle of SommeSix-Day War
Week-minus-one combat, 1967
Operation Desert Storm · D-Day · decisive victory · walkover · rout
Battle of Sommemobile warfare
Combat emphasizing movement over position
cavalry charge · guerrilla warfare · surgical strike · special operations · flanking maneuver
Battle of Sommebloodless coup
Nonviolent government seizure
Velvet Revolution · peaceful resolution · negotiated settlement · armistice · Glorious Revolution
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