First Battle of the Somme

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Three soldiers in World War I uniforms and helmets operate a St. Etienne machine gun in a trench at the Somme.

Map of the Western Front during World War I from 1914 to 1918, showing northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Colored lines indicate the farthest German advance in September 1914, the front line at the beginning of 1915, German and Allied offensives, and the armistice line of 1918. Major cities such as Paris, Brussels, and Verdun, as well as key rivers and geographic features, are labeled.

A soldier in a trench looks toward a barren battlefield with shattered trees as a shell explodes in the distance during the Battle of the Somme in World War I.

Sir Douglas Haig

Somme, First Battle of the

At a Glance

Three soldiers in World War I uniforms and helmets operate a St. Etienne machine gun in a trench at the Somme.

Battle of the Somme summary

First Battle of the Somme: Media

World War I [1916]

Images

Three soldiers in World War I uniforms and helmets operate a St. Etienne machine gun in a trench at the Somme.

Somme; machine gun

French soldiers operating a Saint-Étienne machine gun at the Somme, World War I.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Map of the Western Front during World War I from 1914 to 1918, showing northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and western Germany. Colored lines indicate the farthest German advance in September 1914, the front line at the beginning of 1915, German and Allied offensives, and the armistice line of 1918. Major cities such as Paris, Brussels, and Verdun, as well as key rivers and geographic features, are labeled.

Western Front in World War I, 1914–18

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

A soldier in a trench looks toward a barren battlefield with shattered trees as a shell explodes in the distance during the Battle of the Somme in World War I.

World War I: Somme

A French soldier in a trench at the Somme, World War I.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Sir Douglas Haig

Sir Douglas Haig

Sir Douglas Haig, portrait by John Singer Sargent; in the Scottish National Portrait...

Courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. Purchased 1925

Somme, First Battle of the

Somme, First Battle of the

Canadian troops at the First Battle of the Somme, November 1916.

Canada Department of National Defense/Library and Archives Canada (PA-000839)

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