What were the original plans for the summer offensive along the Somme and why did they change? Was the Somme a case of “lions led by donkeys”? How did the Battle of the Somme become central to British memory of the Great War?
Read:
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Strachan, The First World War, TBD
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Laura Walker, Haig and British Generalship.
Watch the following video:
Participate in the Discussion Forum:
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List three salient facts that you learned from your reading and viewing of the material above.Go to this link of British Library materials on the Battle of the Somme. Choose two of the artefacts and describe them in a post.Go to this link of British Library materials on the Battle of the Somme. Choose two of the artefacts and describe them in a post.
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Go to this link of British Library materials on the Battle of the Somme. Choose two of the artefacts and describe them in a post.
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Visit Paul Reed’s WW1 Revisited blog and look at the photos for the landscape of the Somme battlefield. Then go to my Pinterest board of pictures from the Somme. Write your impressions.
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On my Great War blog, do a category search for the term “Somme ” and read the posts that come up. Comment on something from one of the posts that strikes you as interesting.
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After you have completed all the activities in this module, post to the “What I still have questions about” link. (You can find my responses to the questions from Module 8 here.)
View my lectures:
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Preparing for the Somme (pdf)
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The Pals (pdf)
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Lions led by Donkeys? (pdf)
Write a brief reflective essay on one of the following:
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What preparations did the British make for their great offensive to bust the German line?
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Why did British plans for a great offensive in the summer of 1916 change?
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Why did the Battle of the Somme become the focal point of British memory of the Great War?
Vascik's Great War 