The Battle of the Somme in pictures, 1916
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
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In December 1915, Allied commanders had met to discuss strategies for the following year and agreed to launch a joint French and British attack in the region of the River Somme in the summer of 1916.
The location was mainly chosen as it was where French and British forces on the Western Front met. But the German attack on the French at Verdun in February 1916 forced Britain to take the lead in the Somme offensive.
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The trench warfare in World War I was horrific. Absolute madness! It was such madness to use this senseless tactic and let the soldiers run into machine gun fire. The machine gun, along with barbed wire and mines, made movement across open land to attack the enemy actually impossible. Barrage by machine guns onto enemy lines could actually not be overcome with infantry. The logical tactic would have been to remain in the trenches and repel the enemy soldiers' attacks. Everything else was insane. Only the artillery fire made sense! But artillery alone couldn't destroy the enemy's positions. It only made sense to attack when there were tanks. When the tanks attacked first and the infantry could attack under cover of the tanks so that the soldiers were protected from the deadly machine gun fire through the tanks. Previously, the responsible generals would have had to accept the stalemate at the front without senselessly sacrificing the soldiers. It is a mystery to me that for years they tried on both sides to conquer the enemy positions with the same pointless tactic of running without any covering into machine gun fire. Were all the generals just fools? Or completely unscrupulous? I could understand if they had tried it one or or twice times. But then they should have realized, after failure, that the price for such an attack was far too high. Unbelievable that the soldiers didn't rebel and obey orders to run to certain death. In certain situations, soldiers have the right to disobey when they are commanded by insane or completely incompetent officers. The soldiers could have said after the successful rebellion that they were not cowards and were ready to fight. But under the condition of a change in strategy. So no senseless attacks against machine gun positions. But just to stay on the defensive. After various unsuccessful attacks, the enemy would probably have understood that ceasefire negotiations were appropriate. Such a successful rebellion would certainly have saved many lives. Unfortunately it was different and millions of soldiers died senselessly.
Leastways this war had a positive aspect, because as a result of this war the monarchs of Russia, Austria and Germany were destroyed and the nations oppressed by these monarchs had the opportunity to free themselves from foreign rule. One of these liberated nations was my nation Poland!
What very few people know is that the Poles were enormously damaged by this war, which was not the fault of the Poles at all. Poland was considerably damaged by the First World War. What very few know is that Poland also suffered enormous losses from WW1! Poland was ruined after World War I. The front rolled over Polish territory several times! ! Much of the heavy fighting on the war's Eastern Front took place on the territory of the future Polish state. The scorched-earth retreat strategies left much of the war zone uninhabitable. The economic damages were extreme for Poland through the First World War, which the Austrians are jointly responsible for with the Germans! But also the number of dead was enormous! 450,000 Polish soldiers died and close to one million were wounded while forced fighting in the Russian, Austrian, and German armies. In addition 678,000 dead civilians as a result of first World War. Total deaths from 1914-18, military and civilian, within the 1919-1939 borders, were 1,128,000. Many Poles were also forced to work in Germany. Poles were indiscriminately forced into forced labor in raids. The working and living conditions of the forced laborers in the labor battalions were very poor. This weakened the Polish population additionally. The Polish territories conquered by the German army from the previous Russian occupiers were also looted, including the robbery of entire factories. Large areas were deliberately devastated by the German army during their retreat from the Vistula...shattered towns and villages. That was the scorched earth tactic!There were also massacres of civilians such as the massacre of Kalisz (before that Russian-occupied) On 2 August 1914. The German soldiers took polish hostages, mistreating them and even killing them. The town was burnt down! Only the churche and some public offices survived. A significant number of citizens were murdered with many women and children. Prior to the war, Kalisz had 65,000 inhabitants. Afterwards, it was left with 5,000 inhabitants. About 1 million Polish refugees fled eastward behind Russian lines during the war. Poles were also deported by the Russians. As a result of the death and deportation, the number of persons living in the later Second Polish Republic fell by 14.9%. It is estimated that in the years 1914-1918 about 30% of national wealth in Poland was destroyed.
And from this pile of rubble, which was also divided into 3 parts, the Poles had to build a state. Poland was occupied by Russians, Austrians and Germans for over 100 years. So after the occupiers were driven out Poland was reunited from 3 parts and from 3 different parts had to be developed a united state! So Poland had to unify the disparate systems of law, economics, and administration in the former German, Austrian, and Russian sectors of Poland. There were in Poland 3 different currencies with 3 different banking systems, 3 different legal systems and 3 types of rail systems with different track widths each needing to be consolidated. 3 education systems. Also soldiers from 3 armies so the army must also be assembled from 3 different armies. There were triples of everything, 3, 3, 3 etc. etc. etc. etc. Everything was available 3 times and had to be combined to a unit. But it succeeded to re-establish the Polish state. Although there was little industry in Poland because of the occupation that lasted over 100 years. The Russian, Austrian and Prussian/German occupiers prevented Poland's industrial development. It was amazing how quickly Poland built up an industry! So there was also economic success! In fact, just 10 years after gaining independence, Poland exported various industrial products such as locomotives civil aircraft, combat aircraft and tanks. But it was probably a mistake for Poland to export weapons, considering that the Germans defeated Poland in 1939 primarily because Poland had far fewer weapons. But Poland did not arm itself as much as the Germans because Poland relied on the French and British allies. Which was a mistake, as was shown by the betrayal of these allies in 1939. But this disgraceful betrayal of 1939 is a different topic!
I hope one will forgive me for this little excursion into Polish history. :)
I forgive you brother ‐ very interesting what you have to say - what of Poland today I'm told it looks like the American dream ? .
@@jamescorlett5272 Thanks for calling me brother! Dream? One shouldn't exaggerate! But Poland is on the right track! I don't want to brag, but there are many positive aspects in Poland. For example, Poland has a very low crime rate compared to other European countries! Poland was poor because of the Germans. They ruined Poland's economy in World War II and then brought communism to Poland because the communists were greatly strengthened by their war.
But Poland is no longer poor. Poland's economy has been growing enormously for the past 30 years. Wiki quote: The country is considered by many to be a successful post-communist state. It is classified as a high-income economy by the World Bank, ranking 22nd worldwide in terms of GDP (PPP), 23rd in terms of GDP (nominal), and 23rd in the 2018 Economic Complexity Index. As of 2019, the Polish economy had been growing steadily for 28 years, a record high in the EU. This record was only surpassed by Australia in the world economy. GDP per capita at purchasing power parity has grown on average by 6% p.a. over the last 20 years, the highest in Central Europe. Poland's GDP has increased seven-fold since 1990.
Here are some quotes from links related to Poland that Poles can be proud of.
UA-cam video with the title: Future Is Bright for Poland! ua-cam.com/video/jY9Bjp26_Lw/v-deo.html
UA-cam video with the title: Why is Poland outgrowing the UK? ua-cam.com/video/OJ3iufd_SQM/v-deo.html
UA-cam video with the title: Why is Poland so successful? ua-cam.com/video/YUOuZh-h2Ng/v-deo.html
Here are some link titles about Poland that I quote:
Poland one of the fastest growing economies in Europe!
Poland one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe!
Poland: A Development Success Story"
Poland is the economic locomotive of Europe
Poland 2025: Europe's new growth engine - McKinsey"
How Poland Became Europe's Growth Champion: Insights from the Successful Post-Socialist"
Poland is also one of the best in Europe according to the Gini index, which measures social inequality.
Poland's New Golden Age
Europe’s Growth Champion: Insights from the Economic Rise of Poland
Poland: A Development Success Story!
Poland holds great economic potential!
Poland one of the lowest crime rates in Europe!
Link from McKinsey & Company with the title:" "Poland 2025: Europe's new growth engine"
By the way, Poland one of the best in Europe regarding the share of people living in their own home. For comparison, the home ownership rate in Poland is 86% and in Germany 49%. Which Poles can also be proud of.
Poland one of the best in Europe in dealing with the pandemic because Poland has been ranked sixth among 23 rich countries in an index compiled by The Economist comparing how well economies have done during the pandemic. Which Poles can also be proud of.
Incidentally, Polish pupils have significantly better ratings in the PISA OECD's Program for International Student Assessment than Danish and German pupils. Anyone can check that and google "PISA Scores by Country 2023"! Which Poles can also be proud of.
Poland was the only country in EU that had economic growth in the Financial crisis of 2007-2008 ! Poland's GDP in the crisis grew in 2009 + 2.2%. In contrast, Swedish GDP contracted by -5.2 in 2009. Denmark - 7% Which Poles can also be proud of.
Greetings from Poland!
@@jamescorlett5272 There's a comment from me! UA-cam doesn't always notify you of new comments. Since I put effort into writing the comment above, I'll let you know that I posted a comment.
@@jamescorlett5272 There's a comment from me! UA-cam doesn't always notify you of new comments. Since I put effort into writing the comment above, I'll let you know that I posted a comment.