Because of the drama performances this week and standardized testing next week, this is a good time to do a two-week assignment (not any longer, you just have extra time to complete it).
As we study World War I (and shortly thereafter World War II) I want you to consider the devastating effects of such protracted conflict in the middle of a densly populated continent. Many of the major battles occurred near cities and millions of people were displaced - some would return to find that everything they owned was destroyed by the war. Of course, the US would play a role in both wars, but in each case the US was not involved in the early military conflicts and had almost no damage at home; this was very different from the European experience to say the least. (In World War II the Japanese made only minimal attempts to attack American domestic targets, and a German submarine was forced to land on the coast of the US after experiencing difficulties. The Germans tried to turn themselves in but no one would believe them until they went to great lenghts to prove their story!)
Your assignment is to research a battle of World War I (excellent link: http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/ ) and share your findings. Do your best to determine the effects of your chosen battle on the local population. Then envision what it would be like if such a battle were to occur close to Somerset. How do you think life would be different? Can you imagine any way in which it would be the same?
Please remember to comply with all the requirements for these assignments. Thanks and God bless!
The Battle of Verdun was fought in Verdun, France. It started in February of 1916 and ended in December of the same year. This battle has been viewed as one of the “best” battles, meaning that it was the most trying and exhaustive. General Erich von Falkenhayn of Germany was the author of the attack on Verdun. This French city was surrounded and guarded by forts that were underground. This was the opportunity to demonstrate the French confidence in their army. They believed they could show their military strength. The battle grew to a stage where small groups of soldiers were fighting their own battles. They had to protect their “local territory”, or territory they were taking control of. I can only imagine the effects this battle had on the people around it. When looking at the death count, over 1 million men died over all. That alone would have such a negative impact on the moral of the individuals living in those areas. If a battle of this magnitude were to happen near Somerset, the effects would maybe not be as devastating because of the smaller population, but would still be detrimental to everyone. Everything would shut down, I assume, because of the atmospheres and dangers. As for ways that it would remain the same, that’s harder to imagine. People would have to try to keep moving forward as they are now, just with more desperation.
ReplyDeleteI have chosen this week to do my essay on The battle of Somme.This battle will go down in history as the battle with the most men lost in battle in a single day. to put some numbers along with that statement i will tell you that there were 20,000 men killed that day and over 40,000 wounded and we aren't talking little petty injuries we are talking life changing injuries that may have eventually resulted in death. in this particular battle French and British armies joined forces and ganged up on the German troops. their epic plan was to just put on their big boy panties and bombard German lines as if they were something phenomenal and this time they succeeded which I'm sure just made their day.but i reassure you the British and French did not come out of this unscathed there loses reached nearly three-quarters of a million men. so this was a pretty bitter sweet victory for them I'm sure.
ReplyDeletenow if something of this magnitude were to hit so close to home(somerset)i dont really know what we would do. a loss that great would be far more devastating considering our already small population. but i think life as we know it would probably carry on about the same people personalities would probably just be the biggest difference. i could see a bitterness or resentment occurring among the people, especially the family members of the fallen soldiers. i for one just pray a tragedy like this never comes to pass in our little town of somerset.
On August 6, 1915, the Battle of Lone Pine began. Under the command of Commander-in-Chief Sir Ian Hamilton, the Allies attempted to distract the Axis from the planned landings at Sulva Bay.
ReplyDeleteAt 5:30 PM, the Battle of Lone Pine started with Sir William Birchwood's 1st Australian Division attacked the "Lone Pine" position was was held by Turish soldiers. The battle quickly turned into a hand-to-hand fight and lasted for five days. Surely it must have been five very long days for the attacking Austrailians!
With the sun to their back, and in the Turkish's eyes, the Austraillians braved the log covered trenches that hid the enemy behind them. The hand-to-hand fighting was fought in these trenches, and was often fought in darkness. Must have been scary, not sure if you were fighting an enemy or your friend. The fighting was so close and so fierce, that grenades and bayonets were useless, and so the fighting was with fists and bayonet swords. By 6 pm, the Australlians held the trenches. It took two more days for Lone Pine to be secured. After this, the Turkish soldiers counter-attacked several times, resulting in the battle lasting five days.
The total casulties of this battle were 10,000. 7,000 of these were Turkish and 3,000 were Australian. The position at Lone Pine was not good, however, as it failed in it's attempt to distract the Turkish soldiers from the landings and actually provided them a better way to attack at Sari Bair once they realized how important it was.
I don't think that there was any local population around this area, and so there was no effect. On the soldiers there was a definite effect, but not on civilian population. How do I think life would be different if a battle like this was to occur in Somerset? Well, I think most of the town would be destroyed and the local population would be in fear at all the bodies littering the streets and all the blood everywhere. It would certainly change the way many people think and would cause people to realize how precious life is. As to what ways life would stay the same, I believe that nothing would really stay the same. People would change, the land could even change via grenades and bombs. After an area has been in a war zone, nothing is ever the same. It would be a significant life-changing event for everyone in and around Somerset if a battle such as the Battle of Lone Pine were to happen.
Works Cited: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/lonepine.htm
Jess_megs 15,
ReplyDeleteGood essay!! I like you're ideas about what would happen if a battle like that were to hit Somerset. I especially like how you mentioned the resentment and bitterness people would probably feel. That is entirely true and something I completly didn't think of. There would be a lot of that. I know I would certainly not show the people who killed my friends and family any love. Good essay!
emily c.
ReplyDeletegreat job on your essay it was very good i find it very interesting that the armies broke out into mini groups and fought one another like it makes me wonder what was going through their heads and like what they thought it would accomplish. its also quite scary the vast number of men that died because of all of this. ha i can definitely see how this could be called one of the most exhaustive. no doubt about it.
private elijah
ReplyDeletei agree with what you said about how things would change. like yea people would definitely begin to realize how precious and fragile life truly is, an how everyday we think we are living but really we are just hanging in the balance given each breath individually. i agree also that if something like this ever happened here the land and the economic aspect of things would be shot there would be no hope for us at all. very good job on your essay :)
For this weeks essay, i have chosen to write about the Gallipoli Campaign, or other wise known as tthe Dardanelles Campaign, or the Battle of Gallipoli. This battle was fought during World War 1, on the Gallipoli peninsula. This battle was fought between April 1915 and January 1916. It was Winston Churchills idea to start a battle there. He proposed to the British governments War Council that if the started focusing their soldiers down to the Dardanelles, to cut off the supplies and food and food and war equipment of the Germans, that the Germans would have to split their army and start a new war down there. Churchill thought that if the Germans split their army, that they would be easy to defeat. But to capture the dardanelles, he would have to defeat the Turks, which he thought would be no problem. The initial attacks at first went well, but turned out to be much more difficult than expected. They had to call for reinforcements, which also struggled against the turks. Quickly the British lost 2/3 of their of their battleships. The British lost 20,000 of 70,000 soldiers. The Allies lost this battle, the main reason they lost this battle was because they completely underestimated their opponent. If a battle like this were to happen in somerset, i thinnk life would be much harder, with everything being destroyed and having to be rebuilt.
ReplyDeleteThis weeks assignment is probably one of my favorite ones that we have had this year. Right after the one about sports. I think that World War I and World War II are some of the most interesting time periods in history. There were so many advancements that came as a result of research done during the wars. If Germany had not begun using U-Boats then we probably would not have the advanced sonar and ultrasound technology that we have today. This is just one example of something good that came out of the wars.
ReplyDeleteNow on to the assignment. The battle that I chose was The Third Battle of Ypres. This battle took place in June, 1917. The leader was a British general named Douglas Haig. Ypres is a city in Belgium that was in the middle of the Axis and Allied lines. General Haig believed that if his men could break through the lines at Ypres then they would have an easy time taking all the area around it. The battle began on June seventh. The Allies got the upper hand quickly by setting off nineteen massive mines that caused mass chaos in the German lines. Even though the first part of the plan worked the military failed to give further orders and the Axis powers had time to set up better defenses.
If something this was to happen near Somerset it would be a really bad thing. It would cause mass confusion. It would be a bad day for America of a foreign army was able to get this far inside our border. I don’t think that Americans would handle the situation as well as Europeans did.
The Battle of Verdun was fought in France from February 21 to December 18, 1916. This Battle was between France and Germany; resulting with around 400,000 Allied and 350,000 German troops’s deaths over a few square miles of land. Verdun was the longest battle of World War 1. It was an artillery battle, primarily; nearly 40,000 artillery shells were exchanged.
ReplyDeleteThe Germans’ code name for The Battle of Verdun was “Judgment.” This entire battle came about because of a plan by the German Chief of General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn. Falkenhayn launched a German attack on France’s city Verdun, because it was an important historic sentiment to the French. He wanted to “bleed France white.” Verdun’s source of historical importance came from the forts that surrounded and protected the city. Erich had a clever plan because, of course, the French would fiercely fight focused upon defending their beloved forts. He was a bit too confident, though. It’s been considered the greatest battle ever because of its length and such exhaustion. If anything similar to this battle EVER was happening near Somerset, all the people would die of heart attacks first.
The Battle of Verdun
ReplyDeleteVerdun was founded by the Gauls. It's name is Latin for "strong fort". It is an old city that dates back before the empire of Charlemagne.
Verdun was the site of one of the costliest battles of W.W.I.
General Petain organized repeated small scale counter attacks to slow German advance. He is responsible for the Bar-le-Duc road into Verdun, (the only road that survived German shelling) to remain open. It became known as La Voie Sacree (the Sacred Way), because it continued to carry vital supplies and reinforcements into the town of Verdun.
After March 1916,( 45 miles of the Voie Sacree) 3,900 trucks were on the move day and night, this is a road that connects Bar-le-Duc which is a small town to Verdun which isn't much bigger. Bar-le-Duc's population today is 16,0411 (2006). Verdun's population today is 19,624 (1999). I can't imagine that these town's
were larger,in fact during W.W.I., I think they could have been smaller. When war broke out in this area, this road began to take the brunt of abuse. During the initial crisis of February 21,-March 22nd, 600 trucks per day had already delivered 48,000 tons of ammunition,6,400tons of other material and 263,000men to the battlefield. After February 21st, all horse drawn traffic (town people?) and troop movement on foot had been ordered off the road leaving it open for truck and motor car traffic only. After March 1916, one truck passed every 14 seconds, making the wear and tear on the road a mess. Quarries had to be opened nearby to supply the road with crushed stone. Over the next 10 months 8,5000 men from 16 labor battalions worked to keep the road in shape. At this point the railway lines had been interrupted by German forces. To make up for this, they widened the road so it could accommodate more road flow.
Le Chemin de Fer Meusien was a narrow-gauge single track railway that ran parallel to the roadside and was able to move 1,800 tons of supply a day. This included the bulk of food for 16,000 officers and 420,000 men not to mention 136,000 horses.
These two sleepy little towns were soon descended upon by a world that did not leave it in the condition it received it. I see no difference if this would happen in Somerset. Europe is a little more accustomed to the boundaries of a country being moved compared to the citizens of the United States. But war scars land and if Somerset would be in a war we and our land would never be the same.
source cit: http:///www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/, wikipeida The Battle of Verdun
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteGood essay!! I especially liked how you said that everyone would die of a heart attack first if a battle like that was to happen near Somerset. That cracked me up!! Good essay!!
Camden,
Good essay. I like your comment on how a battle like that would create mass confusion. That is completly true and made me think of various Civil War battles (such as Fredericksburg where all the civilians in the town ran from the town when the Union first started shelling the town.) Somerset would be no different then Fredericksburg and I'm sure most, if not all, of the citizens would be beatin' the heck out of town to escape the battle. Good essay.
I’m going to write about the conclude of tha world war l .As we know this was begun by the separated in Europe called Strategic Alliance System and the most important thing was the assassination in June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, was the proximate trigger of the war. Long-term causes, such as imperialistic foreign policies of the great powers of Europe, such as theGerman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire, the British Empire, France, and Italy, played a major role .And the war started on 28th of July 1914 .The things that made this war worse than others are the inventions such as dirigible ,airplanes, poisons gas and machine gun etc.Woodrow Wilson the represent of America’s president came up with an idea about world peace and the league of nations and American got involved to this way. Finally the war ended in January,1919 .4 countries signed the treaty called Versailles that said first of all Germany has to give all the landed that they gained during the war back to each countries that got involved .Second of all they has to limited 100000 soldiers couldn’t draft new soldiers.and the last one is Germany has to pay all the repayment that about 33 billions.
ReplyDeleteI would like to talk about the Battle of the Somme for my Essay of this week. I am really glad we talk about this war because it’s about my family, my country and I think it’s one of the most interesting war in history.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of the Somme took place one hundred and twenty-five miles northwest of Verdun at the river named Somme in France. The British and French met there where they planned an offensive in 1916. They wanted to relieve some pressure on the French army. British General Douglas Haig ordered a massive bombardment of the German lines that would last a week and could be heard across the Channel in England. But the German troops were deeply dug in and the bombardment did not reach them. After the attack, of the 100,000 British troops who attacked the German lines July 1, 1916, 20,000 were killed and over 40,000 were wounded. The British had never lost so many soldiers in history. This battle didn’t move the front line trenches much but involved over 2 million men along a 30 mile front. British and French losses numbered nearly three-quarters of a million men.
If this battle had been fought near Somerset, this place wouldn’t on the map anymore. The population of Kentucky is of 4,339,367 (2010). I let you do the math. The damage would be unimaginable.
World War I or the Great War, 1914-1918, was a war centered in Europe between the Allies and the Axis Powers. The reason given for starting the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, in June of 1914. However, it is felt that this was only an excuse to battle the bigger problem of Imperialism in the region. Imperialism is where there are unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships in a particular geographic region. World War I was the second deadliest conflict in Western history. A total of about 13 million people were killed.
ReplyDeleteI want to write about the first battle of WWI, the Battle of Liège.
The battle began on August 4, 1914, and lasted exactly 12 days. It was Germany’s plan to attack France. In order to do that they wanted to sneak through Belgium and into France. But Belgium decided not to let them pass and instead they held out against the German attackers for 12 days. The city of Paris was heavily populated and the Allies had built fortifications around it. These 12 days bought valuable time for the Allies as it allowed France and Britain time to organize themselves and plan a defense of Paris. Eventually the Axis Powers broke through a weak place in the defense and overtook the Allied Armies.
A battle of this magnitude would devastate a town the size of Somerset, especially since Germany’s front consisted of about 320,000 soldiers. There are similarities in that Liège was used strategically as it was a pass between the mountains of Ardenne. Somerset, although not being a major city, could be considered a pass between some of the mountain ranges in this area.
Life is always different in war time. The only people that dramatize and glorify war are those that have never fought in one, I think.
This week I'm doing my essay on The Battle of Verdun, fought in Verdun, France. This was one of the most major battles in World War I, if not the most. This war was fought between Germany and France; this war began on February 21 and ended on December 18, 1916. The terrain was rough and hilly, and it was just north of Verdun, located in north-eastern France. During the war Germany failed to achieve both of its goals: capture the French city of Verdun, and there second goal was to inflict as many casualties to their French adversaries as possible. At the end of the war The Battle of Verdun was viewed by Verdun scholar Alain Denizot as a French tactical victory, it can also viewed as a costly strategic stalemate.
ReplyDeleteThe Battle of Verdun resulted in 306,000 deaths between the German and French forces. This was one of the longest and devastating battles in World War I.
If something like this happened in Somerset it would be terrible, but if something like this was taking place in Somerset just try to imagine what must be going on around us; I'm sure if this was going on in Somerset it would be the least of our problems, I can't imagine just what kind of things would be going on around us. If this happened in Somerset it would be devastating, are economy might actually become worse than it is now, that’s bad.
This week I will write about “The Battle of Ypres”. This Battle took place near Ypres, Belgium in 1914-1915. The British General Douglas Haig thought his army was strong and ready to fight the Germans. On June 7, 1917, the Allies, under the German lines south-east of the city Ypres, disrupted and disorganized the German defensive positions, with the help of a demanding counter-battery. But till the British army was ready to go on with the battle, one of the wettest fall in years had set in. In this three-month battle men, animals and their equipment and possessions were all covered and “swallowed” like it often happens in quicksand. So General Douglas Haig’s plan of a win in the battle failed again.
ReplyDeleteI think, if a battle like this would take place today, a lot of people would just be lost and would definitely not know what to do. I mean I understand, since I would say, that many people wouldn’t be prepared because we just don’t think a battle could start right where we live. People, always like to think that terrible things like accidents, injuries and War will not happen to them, just to other people we don’t know. But what makes us think this way? Do we feel more secured? I have no answer for that, since I personally also like to think that this would never happen to me. But we can never be sure, so we should think about what we would do if this would happen to us today.
Im doing my report on the Battle of the Somme. This battle is called the the Battle of the Somme because the British and French armies met at the Somme River. The battle was called off on November 18. The Battle of the Somme is many times viewed as the battle that symbolised horrors of war in World War I. Sadly a main memory of the Battle of the Somme is the fact that 58,000 British troops died on just the first day. Many men in this Battle were persuaded to volunteer and were part of "Kitchener's Volunteer Army." If we were to combine the deaths from the German and French sides there would be nearly 700,000 troops lost, 200,000 from the French side and 500,000 troops from the German side.
ReplyDeleteThe reason for the Battle of the Somme was because the French kept losing at Verdun and they were tired of losing so the allied high command attacked the Germans, causing the Germans to be distracted and move some of their troops away from Verdun. This was much help to the French side. By the time the war came to an end the allied forces successfully advanced along a 30 mile strip of land. Machine guns were used in this Battle by the Germans. The Germans used them mainly against the British and French. But the British troops still succeeded in advancing across a 25 mile front. So this battle was pretty interesting it sounds like, and just as every other battle would have been it sounded very traumatizing.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/somme.htm
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/somme.htm
To billy the squid, great job on your essay about the battle of verdun. i think you made a great choice of choosing topics, i really liked it. and i found it very interesting to read about. This battle really was one of the most important battles of w w 1. It was a very long battle but fortunately the France won it for the allies. I really learned a lot of information about the batle of Verdun. and i really enjoyed reading your article about it. But Great job billy tha squid, i really liked it.
ReplyDeleteto lauren 33, great job on your essay lauren. i really like your choice of topic, about the battle of verdun . this was one of the most important battles of world war 1, and you described it very well . but greayt job on your essay i really liked it, and leaned a lot about this battle from it.
ReplyDeleteJess_megs15, it is crazy to think about all of those men dying. Combine that thought with what would happen in an occurrence of a situation with such a magnitude here. It puts the wars, soldiers, and the purpose into a new perspective. It’s harder to see everything with a more critical viewpoint directed toward the actual soldiers and their families. We always need to look at these kinds of situations with an all-inclusive mind. The facts may be further or explained if we just looked for the justifications.
ReplyDeleteLauren, this battle was awful. I also did my essay on the Battle of Verdun and found it interesting. The magnitude of this battle was so great. Many died and so many things took place. I didn’t remember reading about the nickname “Judgment”, but the name is very appropriate for this particular battle. It was violent and exhausting. These kinds of things seem almost unreal to us.
Jess_megs15, I really liked your essay and it was interesting to learn more about the Battle of Somme. Like you I hope that a great battle like this never occurs here in Somerset. It is horrible to think that 20,000 men died in only one day. In a war I think people are not looked at as valuable creatures but only as a target that you have to fight in order to get what you want. I don’t think that life after a battle like this could continue the way it did before. For example the economy would change for sure, because many workers or farmers would be lost.
ReplyDeleteChristian, good job on your essay. I found it interesting to read more about the Battle of Galipoli, because we had discussed it in class. I didn’t really understand it before and your essay was very easy to understand. I think it is a common mistake to underestimate the other side’s power in a battle, since it has often happened in history before. I think it is better to prepare for a powerful army than to assume the other side is weak. With an attitude like that in a battle it is easy to lose.
Emily C. , the battle of Verdun was a really big one. Like you said, it had a high death rate and it was really exhausting for the soldiers during battle. I am sure that if this kind of battle would happen here, near Somerset or any other not to big city today it would have big and serious consequences. We would probably not be able to fight a big army and we would definitely not know how to defend ourselves. I really liked and enjoyed reading your work of this week. You did a great job.
ReplyDeleteCamden, since I chose the same battle as you to write about I liked your essay. You wrote a little more details about the Third Battle of Ypres which was really good and helped to understand what was going on in the past. And I definitely agree that a battle like this would cause serious problems if it would happen near Somerset. Good job. Keep up your good work.
Stella- Thanks for explaining the start of WWI. People do not realize that if people are sitting on a political power keg all it takes is one assassination to start a war. I agree with you about Imperialism being a bigger problem in the region. One of the other problems was Kaiser Wilhelm II. He was the grandson of the British Queen Victoria. He was related to many kings and princes around Europe. He was the problem grandchild of Queen Victoria. He had a chip on his shoulder and was always trying to prove he was the best. Bismark made the remark that he wanted everyday to be his birthday! He had great insecurities. He helped propel WWI.
ReplyDeleteChristian: Thanks for choosing the Battle of Gallipoli. Winston Churchill learned a valuable lesson during that mission. Before WWII, that battle branded him as a military man in politics that didn't know what he was doing. The British people learned to trust him. But the Battle of Gallipoli was a battle that took years to overcome.
Well I decided to do my essay on the Battle of Verdun. The Germans made battle plans to attack the French city of Verdun, that was heavily fortified by underground forts. The battle lasted a little under a year roughly 10 months or so. The battle was fought mostly in small groups here and there fighting local battles. Military historians still classify this battle as the “greatest and most demanding battle in history.’ The battle ended with the front lines of both sides nearly the same, however there were over 300,000 french and german casualties and over 750,000 wounded.
ReplyDeleteNow what if a battle just like this were to be fought around somerset? Life as we know it here would be completely different. First off there would obviously be extraordinary damage to the buildings, and the infrastructure of our little town would be weakened severely. This battle lasted almost a year. Now how would you like to be scared for your life, fearing almost every moment that youre awake that a bomb will be dropped on your head, and every time you go to bed thinking you wont wake up in the morning? That along with the deaths of so many people that you have known for your entire life would just be the most demoralizing thing I can imagine.
Studying World War 1 has been the most interesting part of the year for me. I find it ridiculous how all the countries just jumped into the war and grieve at the number who died over something that now seems so trivial. Even thought we discussed it in class, I chose to write about the Battle of Somme. To begin the battle, the French and the British joined forces at the Somme River. Their ambition was to relieve some of the intensity of war at Verdun. They expected to enter into an aggressive battle that would last a week long, but they came to find the Germans so deeply entrenched and could not reach them. Out of the 100,000 British troops who attacked the Germans that day, 20,000 were killed and 40,000 were wounded. It was the most deaths and casualties Britain has faced in all of their history. This battle didn’t even help move either army’s lines.
ReplyDeleteI think if Somerset were in a battle like this, there would be no recovery. If you consider how many deaths there were in that one battle, the majority of Somerset would probably be wiped out. Okay, I admit that’s probably an exaggeration, but you get the point. It would greatly affect families and I can’t help but think that church attendance would probably go through the roof. Economically, we would struggle to the point of many restaurants and shopping centers closing down. All in all, Somerset would suffer a huge blow that would destroy us if a battle like this were to happen.
Emily C., great job on your essay. It’s hard to comprehend 1 million deaths in that battle alone. The effect it would have on Somerset would definitely be devastating. It’s also hard for me to imagine anything being the same after a battle like that. People’s morals would be challenged and trust in the Lord would waver. I do believe Somerset could recover from something like that, but it would be a very steep uphill battle.
ReplyDeleteCamden, I agree that the Americans would probably not be able to handle the effects of battle as well as the Europeans. For so long we have been safe within our country without the pressure of war anywhere near us. If the war were to come to us, our economy would definitely crash and the people would definitely be in mass confusion. I’d also like to point out that the Axis powers failure to communicate resulted in the loss of that battle.
Camden,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you on this being one of our better assignments. World War 1 and World War 2 were indeed interesting yet devastating times of history. I do see how all our submarine technology is directly descended from the german u-boats and we would not have them today if it were not for that. I have to disagree with you greatly about your comment how you think the US would not handle a situation like this as well as the Europeans did. Its true that we have not had any experience in dealing with internal battles like this, but that does nt mean we are not capable of doing it. Our army is powerful and even though we have made some bad choices before when it comes down to it, especially if its gonna be on home turf, we will destroy them.
Billy the Squid,
Nice essay man. I enjoyed your comment “are economy might actually become worse than it is now, that’s bad” for 2 reasons. 1 because you said “are” instead of “our” that just made me laugh at you. And 2, just because it is a funny statement.
Paco,
ReplyDeleteYour essay was good, very informative on what went down during the Battle of Verdun. Also thank you for pointing out my one grammatical mistake, great essay though.
Abbie,
Great essay as usual. I learned a lot about what happened during the Battle Somme. I also agree that if something like this happened in Somerset it would be a huge economic blow, which we probably never would recover from. Great Essay!
Abbie, I agree with you. Although im sadly not much of a history fanatic, the topic of World War I had been extremely interesting. The battle of the Somme in itself was horrifying and just think, that's only one of the many battles of World War I. Im sure it was a devastating time period for tons of thousands of people. And although our nation has many problems, im thankful that we haven't had a devastation like this in the U.S. Now as for my thought on if Somerset faced a war like World War I, full recovery would be nearly impossible.Good Job on your report :)
ReplyDeletePaco, also great job on your report. Just as probably every other battle fought in World War I, the Battle of Verdun seemed traumatizing.. ok, so everyone is mentioning all their thought on if Somerset got involved in something like that. They keep mentioning how buildings and stuff but think about the history of Somerset, wars don't change just physical aspects of things but also the direction of a nation (city) and its history!! Good job
ReplyDeleteFor this weeks homework i choose to do it on The Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun all started in Febuary in 1916. It turned out to be much much more than exspected not only were there people fighting in and fighting the war with everything they had there were also other people fighting i guess you could say there own little battle there were groups of people from both of the sides fighting over what they thought was more important not just little fights either it was the same as the war just smaller and more personal for then cause there was not as many people. It was all very dangerous and kept poeple fighting for their lives and protection. In the end the front lines were nearly the same as they were when the war and all the smaller abttles began. But in the end 300,000 French and Germans were killed and over 750,000 were woundeed. And to top it all off all the fault for this war and smaller battles and worries was German General Erich Von Falkenhayn's fault. The effects of this battle were very sad and bad. If something like that happened here i think were all so spoiled we would know how to react.
ReplyDeleteAbbie I really really enjoyed reading your essay on The Battle of Somme. It was very interesting I agree that World War 1 has been the most interesting. You have some very very good opinions on The Somme Battle im going to be honest when I first hear about it I didn’t think it was all that interesting but after reading your essay about it you really changed my mind and made me pay more attention. All in all I think you did a really great job.
ReplyDeleteDear Camden I really enjoyed reading your essay also. It actually kept my attention unlike Akers ha. I to thought writing about the wars was more interesting than other essays we have done. I didn’t know much about the battle you chose but after reading it , it became pretty interesting. I really agree though on the part about Somerset it would be really hard on us and im not sure that we would even know what to do right away. All in all your essay was very good.
ReplyDeleteIn this week’s essay I am writing about the battle of Verdun. This battle was a battle between France and Germany in the city Verdun, France. In the course of this battle many families had to hear bad news because over 300,000 people were pronounced dead and 750,000 were injured. I could only imagine how the families felt when they heard that their son, father, or brother had been killed in combat. ( not women because at this time it was very unusual for a woman to fight in war.) Many said that the war itself took on almost a lifer of its own because the young men fought on both sides protecting not only themselves but each other and their countries. Because of this many historians of this era and more say that this was one of the most demanding battles of the entire war. This is a pretty big statement because the Great War was the biggest bloodshed in history up to that point. In conclusion I would say that I would probably agree with the historians who argue this point because so many people did loose their life in this war and so many families, friends, and countries were hurt in this battle.
ReplyDeleteThe battle of Verdun was fought in Verdun, France; hints the name. This battle started in February 1916. German General Erich Von Falkenhayl was the general deciding to take on an attack against Verdun, even knowing about the underground ring of protective forts. This turned into the greatest battle of the Great war, or WWI known today. 300,000 French and Germans were killed during this battle.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think if a battle such as this were to happen today in Somerset more people would step in because our world is full of violence. I think it would change education, jobs, life in general, it would stop everything because of how much everyone here would care about defeat, no matter how much others wanted it to end, I think as a whole the US wants to come off as we don’t like war, but look at the movies, TV shows, music, and the way we act. Violence is in the very tops of America’s, even Somerset’s entertainment, and I believe people would love to have so much violence in action without being personally punished for it.
http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/maps/maps_verdun.html
Abbie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your essay, i agree with you a lot of Somerset would be wiped out since 300,000 were killed in the Battle of Verdun, the population would go down, and like you said economically we would struggle greatly putting the majority of our money into countiuning war with weapons, amo, food for soilders, ect.
Emily C, i liked your essay, I enjoyed the way you believed that it would just be more of a struggle, I could tell you were putting God first while thinking about the struggle we would all go through if it ever happened. :)
It is hard to imagine war in the United States and certainly not near Somerset. I have been reading some of the writeups on these World War I battles. I have also seen different movies on TV with a World War I and II theme and I know that it would be very frightening to have live during those times. I am thankful that I was not. I am thankful that America is safe and that war is not going on here.
ReplyDeleteThe battle I chose is “The Battle of the Somme.” It took place from July 1, 1916 through November 18, 1916. It took place on the banks of the Somme Department of France. The battle was between the Germans and the British and French. It was one of the largest battles of this World War with one of the bloodiest military operations ever recorded – over 1.5 million deaths. France had been pretty much over taken by Germany and the Allies (France, Britain, Russia, and Italy) wanted to cause a hard blow to the German troops. But the first day the British army lost nearly 60,000 soliders. Many of the soliders were from local areas and it is recorded that this battle has left a “lasting cultural legacy in Britain.” It also greatly affected New Foundalnd because many men from there had volunteered to serve in this army and lost their lives that day. Some historians see the battle as a negative because so many men died. Others see it as a plus because the British and French were able to gain a total of 6 miles into German territory.
To live near such a battle would be devestating. I cannot even begin to imagine what that would be like. I believe everyone in that area probably lost someone they knew in the Battle of Somme. I am so thankful for peace and safety in America. I believe a war battle would probably wipe a small town of Somerset off the map.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme
A lot of people wrote about the Battle of Verdun so I decided to comment to two people about this battle.
ReplyDeleteEmily – You have a great essay on the Battle of Verdun. How devestating it was that they lost over 1 million people. Living in America it is hard to even relate to the information. We are safe and are at peace on American soil. I think we as Americans can not even begin to imagine how hard it was to live in such surroundings. You mentioned the soldiers protecting their “local territory.” I believe it would be like that should any in Somerset even survive being near such a battle. We would try to protect our own.
Paco - a great essay on the Battle of Verdun. So many lives were lost and many many were wounded. I like your comment to Camden when you disagree by saying that America could have handled such a battle. I would like to think that this is the case. All militaries make errors, they make mistakes. I'm glad I am American and that I can rely upon our troops to protect us. Great essay.
ReplyDeleteIn February of 1916 the Verdun battle began its course when the German general Erich von Falkenhayn led his army into an attack on Verdun France. The city of Verdun was protected by underground forts which the French was considered the strength of their army and country. After a few weeks of fighting the battle of Verdun became something a little more personal. The men from the German and French armies began to fight small groups trying to fight for not only there county but for their lives. Even now, the battle of Verdun is considered the greatest battle in history because of the large numbers of troops lost and the tiresome ongoing fight to live. In December on 1916 when the battle came to an end both the French and Germans sides had lost over 300,000 people and 750,000 were wounded. Many people gave their own lives over the course of 10 months for their countries.
ReplyDelete