Episode 144: Who Won the Battle of the Somme
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What happened when British patrols entered Serre in March 1917?
In March 1917, British patrols walked into Sur without firing a shot. The Germans had gone, withdrawn back to the Hindenburg line, abandoning ground over which some one million men had been killed and wounded. Four months after the Battle of the Somme officially ended, the British were left masters of the field, but it was a field of shell holes, ruins, and unburied corpses. Were they the victors? In this episode we ask, who really won the Battle of the Somme?
Welcome to Not So Quiet on the Western Front, the podcast where we lift the lid, bust the myths, and explore the incredible history of the First World War. I'm Dan Hill, a military historian and battlefield guide specializing in the history of the war on the Western Front.
And I'm Dr. Spencer Jones, author and senior lecturer in war studies at the University of Wolverhampton. Well, hi Dan. Pleasure to be joining you on the podcast as always for what I hesitate to say is our last episode on the Battle of the Psalm. I'm sure there'll be more in the future, but it really this is the the way we round off the series that we've been doing from starting with day one through the various phases of the battle. And by the end of it, we come to the big question which dogged The armies at the time, it dogged the politicians at the time, and I'd say one hundred and ten years on, it still dogs historians. And that is, who won the
Battle of the Somme? So very good question, Hi Spence. Uh I'm not sure I as I was saying to you just before we start, I'm not sure I have a a decent answer for this. So I guess as we talk through it, that will either solidify or otherwise. But it's a great question and one that's definitely not straightforward, but obviously is worth our time in considering. And you know, straight off the bat here, we should say, we'd love to hear your thoughts as well to our listeners out there who would like to share any. Opinions, they're absolutely valid and certainly Spence nor I hold a monopoly on good knowledge for the First World War and kind of understanding of how these kind of big battles play out. But I I suppose to go back to the the old phrase that you like to use, the the kind of historian's hedge, if you like.
I mean you could you could use it approach this in a number of ways. Would say I don't know, it depends. What does it depend on? How do we measure success in such a catastrophic battle such as this? Are there different levels we can measure it on? Is it done purely on casualty numbers? Do we do it on what the end result is after that event? What happens before it? Um where do we even start with this one?
I think that question Could be applied to most of the battles of the First World War. And it was a puzzle for the generation of the First World War because they had been raised on ideas of warfare that were drawn from a little bit of a selective reading, it must be said, of the 19th century. But it emphasized the great decisive battles, it emphasized maneuver, it emphasized the role of individual brilliance. And for Europe, this generally read as the Napoleonic Wars, although the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 were of course very, very influential in Germany. And for the Americans, this read as the Civil War of the 1860s. And what's interesting, of course, is the more one reads about those wars I've just mentioned, with the exception of 1870, which was very unusual, we see long periods of brutal slogging attrition.
through the Napoleonic Wars, through the Civil War. We see indecisive battles in both those wars. But selective memory had sort of erased these over the over time. And by the time of the First World War, the general memory was for the battles that really changed something. Gettysburg, Waterloo, Austerlitz, Trafalgar at Sea. The great moment, not the many battles around it that perhaps left things unsatisfied or just led to future battles. stand the line. And when you come to the First World War and you are the public, the politicians, even the generals were looking for what a decisive battle looked like.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened when British patrols entered Serre in March 1917?
0:00–5:39
2
How did early WWI thinking about decisive battles shape expectations for the Somme?
5:39–12:47
3
What were the German strategic goals at Verdun and how did the Somme affect them?
12:47–20:25
4
How did the Germans view the Somme as a defensive victory and what were the casualties?
20:25–27:52
5
What were the British and Allied tactical and operational successes and failures on the Somme?
27:52–36:13
6
How did the Somme influence the manpower balance and industrial capacity of the warring sides?
36:13–42:20
7
What cultural and historical narratives have emerged about the Somme’s legacy?
42:20–48:33
8
Who, if anyone, can be said to have ‘won’ the Battle of the Somme?
48:33–48:51
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WW1: Not So Quiet On The Western Front!
Episode 143: The Ancre: The Final Major Battle of the Somme
Episode 142: French Army on the Somme
Episode 141: Thiepval 1916: Storming the Impossible Ridge
Episode 140: Flers-Courcelette: The Somme's Tactical Turning Point?
Episode 139: Pozières: Australia's Bloodiest Battle of the Somme
Episode 138: Somme's Woodland: Mametz, Trônes, Delville & High Wood