What was the Battle of the Somme?
The Battle of the Somme was a battle that took place during World War I. It was named after the French River Somme where it was fought.
The battle started on 1 July 1916 and lasted for 5 months.
The two sides that were fighting each other were:
The Allies (the British and the French)
The Central Powers (Germany and Austro-Hungary)
The Trenches
During World War I, a lot of the fighting took place in trenches. Trenches were big tunnels dug into the ground where the soldiers hid and shot at their enemies on the other side. The soldiers spent a lot of time in these muddy trenches.
The British and French wanted to push the Germans out of France, so they came up with a plan to shoot non stop at the German trenches and then run towards them and fight. The plan didn’t work very well and more British and French soldiers were harmed than Germans.
By 18 November the battle was over, the Allies lost and thousands of soldiers died. The Battle of the Somme was one of the worst battles in history.
