Which battle, fought in 1916 and lasting about six months, is considered the bloodiest with over a million casualties?

Which battle, fought in 1916 and lasting about six months, is considered the bloodiest with over a million casualties?

• A. The Somme
• B. The Marne
• C. Gallipoli
• D. Verdun

Answer: (A)

The key idea is recognizing how a battle’s scale and how long it raged on the front can identify which engagement it was. In 1916, the battle that lasted about six months and produced more than a million casualties was the Somme. It began in July 1916 and continued, with brutal trench warfare and heavy artillery, until mid to late November on the Western Front. Its sheer toll—roughly a million combined losses for both sides—made it infamous as the bloodiest single campaign of World War I and a stark example of attritional warfare. Why this fits better than the others: Verdun was extremely deadly but stretched most of 1916 and its total casualties are usually given in the range under a million, with a different sense of its length. The Marne occurred in 1914 and is remembered for stopping a German advance early in the war, not for a six-month 1916 grind. Gallipoli began in 1915 and wrapped up in 1916 on a different front, with casualty totals not centered on a six-month Western Front assault. So the Somme matches the clue of a 1916, roughly six-month battle with over a million casualties, making it the best choice.

The key idea is recognizing how a battle’s scale and how long it raged on the front can identify which engagement it was. In 1916, the battle that lasted about six months and produced more than a million casualties was the Somme. It began in July 1916 and continued, with brutal trench warfare and heavy artillery, until mid to late November on the Western Front. Its sheer toll—roughly a million combined losses for both sides—made it infamous as the bloodiest single campaign of World War I and a stark example of attritional warfare.

Why this fits better than the others: Verdun was extremely deadly but stretched most of 1916 and its total casualties are usually given in the range under a million, with a different sense of its length. The Marne occurred in 1914 and is remembered for stopping a German advance early in the war, not for a six-month 1916 grind. Gallipoli began in 1915 and wrapped up in 1916 on a different front, with casualty totals not centered on a six-month Western Front assault. So the Somme matches the clue of a 1916, roughly six-month battle with over a million casualties, making it the best choice.