RSS
 

The Somme – From Defeat To Victory – Part 1

29 Jul


www.amazon.de The Somme – From Defeat To Victory. A BBC documentary from 2006.

Related Post

 
25 Comments

Posted in World War

 

Tags: , , , ,

Leave a Reply

 
 
 
 

  1. Tux3d0

    July 29, 2010 at 4:38 pm

    Best docudrama ever made?

     

  2. fp470

    July 29, 2010 at 5:12 pm

    @Gtaivownz The Germans launched the war for territory whilst France was defending itself. Lets see the British entered the war to protect Belgium and Russia to protect Serbia. The USA entered the war because Woodrow Wilson wanted to get into the war to launch the United States as a major Geo-political player through democratic liberal internationalism (similar to elements of the neo-conservative idea of the world).

     

  3. Gtaivownz

    July 29, 2010 at 5:38 pm

    both sides were fighting for power only the usa fought for democracy so there weren’t good guys or bad guys

     

  4. fp470

    July 29, 2010 at 6:12 pm

    @kilomeister I did not in anyway seek to insult the French!

     

  5. kilomeister

    July 29, 2010 at 6:57 pm

    @fp470 you decried the french! it is easy living on uss great britain?

     

  6. hatemf23

    July 29, 2010 at 7:25 pm

    @fredd21ful because they show from both sides, no good guys vs bad guys bullshit

     

  7. RoCkErX285

    July 29, 2010 at 8:02 pm

    3 million shells. wow.

     

  8. fp470

    July 29, 2010 at 8:21 pm

    @lilbrothaaa I dont mean to decry the French. THey did change too, but were slower to change. They had alot of men with pre-war military service experience. However as a result of Verdun alot of their divisions became conscript and volunteer. As a result of their changing army they changed. Britain’s army was alway mostly volunteer so had to change sooner than the French or Germans.

     

  9. lilbrothaaa

    July 29, 2010 at 9:18 pm

    @fp470
    Well, you’re probably right since the French losses seem to be significantly higher in relation to the German’s than the British after the Somme.

     

  10. fp470

    July 29, 2010 at 10:13 pm

    @lilbrothaaa I should make myself clear here. I fully believe that the new and innovative tactics developed by the Entente were war winning. No amount of abilty to replace yourself would overcome the erronous performance of 1915 and the Somme which in many ways was a massive backwards step for British tactics. The value of the Somme is that it was a real watershed for the old doctrines.

     

  11. lilbrothaaa

    July 29, 2010 at 11:09 pm

    @fp470 That’s exactly what I keep on telling people who say that the German army wasn’t defeated by the end of the war but it has nothing to do with what I wrote here. My point was that I object to the documentary’s statement that the Somme was decisive because the Britons would have develloped new tactics. The Entente would have won with or without these tactics because of the differences in the opponents’ economical strength and ability to replace losses in euqipment and manpower.

     

  12. fp470

    July 29, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    @lilbrothaaa In 1918 the German army was thrashed by the Anglo-French forces in the 100 days. Also the Germans really had alot of their military threat taken out of them during 1917. The British and French secured a military victory over the Germans. Had the war continued to 1919 that may have appeared more obvious to modern observers, the German High Command did not want Germany to be invaded

     

  13. lilbrothaaa

    July 29, 2010 at 11:59 pm

    @soundhitman

    Of course the British had to do something to relieve Verdun and the Russians couldn’t do it alone and they achieved. But the opportunity for the Entente to win the war didn’t arise on the battlefield as much as it did in the factories and shipments of suppies to Britain and France from elsewhere in the world. The Germans of course hardly ever had the chance to win lacking a sufficient source for supplying and replacing casualties.

     

  14. TheWELSHGUARD

    July 30, 2010 at 12:32 am

    in reality they had no choice but to walk to get across the poor souls for one
    .they couldn’t run across they where tired to begin with.
    .they couldn’t crawl because artillery would have decimated them.
    .plus the French had to focus at Verdun with means a lot of soldiers where missing.

     

  15. soundhitman

    July 30, 2010 at 12:59 am

    @lilbrothaaa i completly agree about the blockades but without the constant cannon fodder (british and french infantrieman) putting pressure on the german lines the germans could have concentrated their resources and men against the eastern front so as cruel and sencless as it sounds the causualties that ran head long into sure death did have a porpous as horrible of one it was.

     

  16. Electrode22

    July 30, 2010 at 1:10 am

    @fredd21ful i agree with got a lot of action hehe

     

  17. fp470

    July 30, 2010 at 1:13 am

    @bigblindguy 1. Watch the whole doucmentary
    2. No one knew better, but this war taught us how to fight and organise a modern army.
    3. Comparatively ww2 had a worse causalty rate
    4. The rate of junior and mid-level officers combat deaths in ww1 is higher than any war ever

     

  18. bigblindguy

    July 30, 2010 at 2:08 am

    Lions led by Donkeys! How could you waste the lives of men so brave that they would walk into machinegun fire? We will not see a generation of men like these again, and their commanders threw them away. We will NEVER again have men like these. Shame on all of us. We arent men, were soft little shits to sit watching this.

     

  19. BryceNdaPitt

    July 30, 2010 at 2:48 am

    I agree.This is one of the first war documentaries I’ve seen where you feel like you actually there experiencing it with the troops not jus watching on the sidelines.Also,I think both us and the British make two kic ass allies.We both played parts in the victory.Didnt your coach ever tell you there no I in team.

     

  20. Ccaven

    July 30, 2010 at 3:21 am

    @swanningaround LOL the americans exaggerate everything they do…the brits are pretty down to earth

     

  21. solodatemaru

    July 30, 2010 at 3:58 am

    Are these the same guys that made that really great documentary on Waterloo?

     

  22. lilbrothaaa

    July 30, 2010 at 4:16 am

    I don’t think the Battle of the Somme was decisive. The major reason for the collapse of the German army in 1918 was the inability of the German economy to keep up with that of the Entente nations. In my opinion the blockade of the German sea ports had more decisive impact than anything on the battlefield. With the two opponents being likewise well fed and supplied the war would have lasted forever.

     

  23. swanningaround

    July 30, 2010 at 5:11 am

    @fredd21ful No. The English just tend to exaggerate what they did. The Americans stick to the truth.

     

  24. fp470

    July 30, 2010 at 5:25 am

    @MSdwerr Self defence

     

  25. MSdwerr

    July 30, 2010 at 5:38 am

    why do all the generals have pistols?