Battle Of Passchendaele Research Paper

The Battle of Passchendaele, or the Third Battle of Ypres, was a campaign fought in World War I by the Allies, namely the British Empire and France, and Germany. The campaign began on 31 July 1917, lasting until 6 November of that year, when Passchendaele fell to the Allies. Its impetus can be found in the long term events preceding it, such as the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the alliance system, the Schlieffen Plan, and trench warfare which resulted in a war of attrition; as well as the short term background, such as the Battle of the Somme and subsequent pressure from the War Cabinet, and the successes at Messines Ridge and Gravenstafel Spur. The Battle of Passchendaele has also created many dramatic consequences that are

On 1 July 1916, Britain and France launched a joint attack known as the Battle of the Somme, with the newly appointed British Commander in Chief, General Douglas Haig, leading the British forces. The battle ended with more than a million Allied and German casualties and an Allied gain of a mere twelve kilometres of ground. Historians cite Haig’s leadership, particularly his intransigent strategies which utilise flawed tactics, are to blame for the futile offensive. To appease the irate War Cabinet after the failures at the Somme, he intended on launching an attack in Flanders, aiming to destroy German submarine bases on the Belgian coast and submarine producers in places like Passchendaele. Earlier that summer, British forces, including the ANZACs, launched an offensive in Messines Ridge – beginning with the detonation of large mines at 3:10 am, resulting in 10,000 German deaths. This explosion was the largest explosion before 1945, and could even be heard in London. By 7 am, ANZAC forces successfully captured Messines and defended it from subsequent German counter-attacks, all accomplished with a relatively low amount of casualties. Haig was encouraged by the successes achieved by the ANZACs, and was an important prerequisite for a Passchendaele offensive. Haig was also convinced that German morale was broken,

Many New Zealanders enlisted to go off to foreign lands like Belgium to undertake the now-dispelled notion that fighting for one’s country is the most heroic way to serve one’s country, and that dying for one’s country is “sweet and honourable”. Those who did so had no idea about the scale of the deaths, or how they would die on the battlefield. Most would have never found out that their body will never make it back home, that they will not have funerals, and that they will not be buried at home. This problem affected not only the dead soldiers, but their families and friends – whose grief is compounded with the fact that they will never see their loved ones ever again. When a soldier did die, the only people who could mourn were his comrades. Most would be apathetic towards their death, and there is not much evidence that shows soldiers mourning the fallen. They would have to contain their feelings from fear of looking weak or getting distracted away from the task at hand: fighting. At home, families waited long periods of time, and thoroughly sought details about their loved one’s death. Death notices were published in local newspapers, informing the local community of the loss of a family. Almost 12,000 soldiers, 520 of which are from New Zealand, are buried in Tyne Cot Cemetery, formerly a captured German pillbox. Over half of New Zealand headstones are