7 - The scientific method

Summary

For the British the Somme carries a freight of meaning, whereas for the French it denotes merely a river or the département to which the river gives its name. For the French 1916 means Verdun and the more than 370,000 casualties in the epic ten-month struggle to repel the German assault. Nevertheless, Joffre intended the 1916 campaign to take place on the Somme, maintained that intention through thick and thin, and finally devoted to it on 1 July approximately half the numbers of men that the British did. Hence, once again, Foch’s role in 1916 was to attempt to achieve Joffre’s strategic aims in cooperation with the British.

Although Foch’s thinking about the failed methods of 1915 was incorporated into the revised army doctrine that Joffre disseminated, along with the after-action reports solicited from commanders on the other French fronts, 1916 became another disappointing and frustrating experience for the Northern Army Group commander. The new doctrine reflected ideas about the so-called ‘scientific method’, but Foch was unable to apply the method fully because once again the enemy forestalled the planning for the 1916 campaign by his attack on the French at Verdun that began on 21 February.