Why did the war last so long?

Read the passage and answer the following questions.

Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme took place during the First World War in France by the
River Somme. It began on 1st July 1916 and ended on 18th November 1916. The
French army had lost many soldiers to the German army at Verdun. The British Army
were ordered to help the French army defend themselves against the Germans.

Trenches

During the First World War, huge trenches were dug into the ground wherever there
was a battle. The soldiers would live in the trenches and, when ordered to, had to
climb up out of the trenches and run towards the enemy troops. This was called “going
over the top”. Trenches were muddy, narrow and damp.

The British Plan

The plan was to fire at the German lines and then advance towards them on foot and
fight face to face.

Many British commanders did not think this was a very good strategy, but others like
the British General, Douglas Haig, thought it was the best thing to do.

On that first day, the British Army fired 1 738 000 shells at the German trenches.
Then they advanced towards them.

It was catastrophic.

The Germans were hardly affected as they hid deep in their trenches. They stayed
where they were, and as the British Army came towards them, they started firing.
The British soldiers were mown down by German machine gunfire. The British Army
suffered 20 000 casualties on that first day! Many people in Britain were angry at the
huge loss of so many young men, and called it ‘The Lost Generation’.

Back in Britain, people began to build simple war shrines in honour of the fallen
soldiers.

These were simple, wooden tablets with the names of the men carved into them.

The End of the War

Winter was closing in. The terrible weather meant men were trying to fight in muddy,
boggy fields. Fighting was suspended. The plan was to carry on fighting in February,
but the Germans decided to retreat. The battle was officially over on 18th November
1916.
Battle of the Somme Facts
It had been a terrible battle, with 4,20,000 casualties
for the British Army.
The French lost 2,00,000 men.
The Germans lost 5,00,000 men.
Many men from Britain had been grouped together in
battalions from the same town. The groups were
called British Pals.

Answer the following Questions

1. What date did the battle begin? (1 mark)
ANSWER- 19th July 1916

2. In what country was the Battle of the Somme fought? (1 mark)

ANSWER- France

3. Name two other countries where soldiers from the British Army came from. (2marks)

ANSWER- Irish and Canadian

4. How many British soldiers were killed or wounded on the first day of battle?
(1
mark)
ANSWER- there were 20,000 British soldiers killed in the first day of battle.
5. Why did people build war shrines? (1 marks)
ANSWER- people built simple war shrines in honour of the fallen soldiers.

6. What was the plan of the British? (2 marks)

ANSWER-The plan was to fire at the German lines and then advance towards
them on foot and fight face to face.
 7. What do you think about the Battle of the Somme? Was it a successful battle? Why?
(2marks)
ANSWER- i think that the battle of the Somme was cruel i dont think it was
successful or unsuccessful

Q2) Understanding the trenches (Read the passage and

answer the following questions)
When the war broke out, everybody believed it would be over quickly. They were
wrong! Both sides were strong and nobody was winning. This is was called a
stalemate. As the winter started on the Western front, the two sides had no choice
but to stay put. The land was flat and there was nowhere to hide from the enemy, so
both sides dug trenches to fight in. These trenches stretched for many miles. The
stalemate lasted for nearly four years.
Complete the sentences below by using the keywords form the word bank and fill in
the blanks. Use the resources sheet “Inside a World War 1 trench’” to help you.
Word bank
No- man’s land, sandbags, dugouts, fire step, western, duckboards, ammunition
Barbed wire, ditch,
On the 1)____western___________________ Front, the two armies fought in
trenches. A trench was two and a half metres deep. The area between the two
enemies’ trenches was named 2)______________. It was a very dangerous
place. It was covered in 3)__barbed wire_________, which is very sharp and
would tear your skin. This made it very difficult to cross. The floor of the trench
was covered in 4)___duckboards________ to keep the bottom dry. The rain
water was collected in a drainage 5)___ditch________underneath. To be able
to fire your gun at the enemy. You had to stand on a 6) ______fire step______.
Spare bullets would be kept on the 7)____ammunation_____shelf.

Answers (1 mark)
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
Q9) Why were the trenches such a dangerous place? (3 marks)
ANSWER- you could get diseases, it was very unhygienic, if u go out you could
get fired, poisonous gas attacks and artillery shelling.