The Battle of the Somme was fought between 1 July and 18 November 1916 by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. The largest battle of World War I on the Western Front, it was fought on both sides of upper reaches of the river Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies. More than three million men fought in the battle, of whom more than one million were either wounded or killed, making it one of the deadliest battles in human history. It illustrated the deadly potential of mechanized warfare that began in the mid–19th century. This map, adapted from an original published by the United States Military Academy, shows the situation during the first day on the Somme (1 July), as well as Allied gains up to 19 November, immediately after the end of the battle.

Map credit: United States Military Academy, edited and vectorised by Grandiose; inset map by Giro720