Discussion+Board+--+Somme

In this page, you may leave any comments regarding the Somme and Passchendaele offensives. We have also written a discussion topic below. Please feel free to express your point of view upon the said topic.

James Yen, James Yang and Ryan Chan

To what extent is French pride the main reason for the Battle of the Somme?

French pride certainly plays a very important role in bringing about the the Battle of the Somme. As we all know, at that time the great French fortress of Verdun had been besieged by the German army and was literally at breaking point. Verdun had always been a symbol of French pride and was central in France's belief that Germany could never conquer them, because of this Verdun soon became the "wall" which was all that kept them from despairing. General Ferdinand Foch, who was the supreme commander of the French forces at the time, had known this and recognized the fact that if Verdun was to fall and the symbol of French pride were to shatter the morale of the French would be destroyed and support for the war would crumble. Because of this General Foch had pressured Sir Douglas Haig - supreme commander of the Allied force - to take action and relieve the French forces beleaguered at Verdun. This was perhaps the main reason for the initiation of the Battle of the Somme. -- James Yang

In my point of view, i feel that French pride was indeed a critical factor in bringing about the Battle of the Somme. However, French pride did not bring about the Battle of the Somme, it only caused this offensive to be commenced ahead of time.Originally, the Battle of the Somme was a planned attack imminent to occur. However, 'France's pride', the city of Verdun, was besieged by the German armies. This fueled the French into requesting a counter-offensive as the city of Verdun was France's pride and the downfall of this city would dramatically lower morale and cause other catastrophic effects on French citizens. The British agreed to launch a counter-offensive and decided to commence the Somme Offensive. French pride fueled their decision to commence the Battle of the Somme so i agree that this was a critical reason for the Somme Offensive. However, the extent of this agreement is not vast as the Somme Offensive was an imminent attack so even if the Battle of Verdun did not take place, the Somme Offensive would have commenced anyway. -- James Yen

I actually believe that French pride was one of the main reasons the war has dragged on for so long, or that it has cost both sides so many lives. First off, the French wanted to 'liberate their lost lands', meaning to reclaim the areas of Northern France occupied by German Forces at the time, to be their main priority in the war. However, Northern France also happened to be where the bulk of the German Army was located. Now, I believe it is a strategical failure to blindly attack an enemy stronghold, a lesson I've learnt the hard way while playing Risk. Churchill actually appealed to the Allied High Command to shift the focus to the East (where the Ottoman Empire was) and attempt to create a new front against Germany there, yet the French nagged about how the main goal should still be pushing the Germans off French territory, so the generals that wished to open a new front ended up with just a bunch of recruits and some old ships at Gallipoli. The fact that France was too proud to let their 'territories' stay in enemy hands for just a second longer has led to the Allies fight stalemated battles, such as the Battle of the Somme. These are battles that shouldn't be fought at all. --Jason Wong

Thank you Jason Wong for your comment, we strongly agree with your point of view. --James Yang, James Yen, and Ryan Chan