Somme: Difference between revisions
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==Battles of the Somme==
At the beginning of the First World War, during the Race to the Sea of September and November 1914, the Somme became the site of the Battle of Albert. The battle was a five-day engagement between [[25 September|25]] and [[29 September]], with the French Tenth Army attacking at [[Albert (
That Battle of the Somme was one of the most costly battles of the First World War, by the number of [[troop]] casualties, as Allied forces attempted to break through the German lines along a 25-mile (40 km) front north and south of the River Somme. The [[Allies]] had originally intended the Somme to be the site of one of several simultaneous major offensives by Allied powers against the [[Central Powers]] in 1916. However, before these offensives could begin, the Germans attacked first, engaging the Allies at the Battle of Verdun. As this battle dragged on, the purpose of the Somme campaign (which was still in the planning stage) shifted from striking a decisive blow against Germany to drawing German forces away from [[Verdun]] and relieving the Allied forces there. By its end the losses on the Somme had exceeded those at Verdun.
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