Week 5

Tasks

• Explain my decision to not use the CSV.
• Describe how I created the front lines map on the ArcGIS Online site and give a little bit of a historical background behind each movement.
• Talk about where I go from here and my next project I will be working on.

 

 

CSV Decision

So last week I talked about my difficulties with the CSV template and how I was unable to figure out the thumbnail template. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to not use the CSV template. Even though while working with story maps the CSV can be very useful in the long-run, for my project I do not think I will be working long enough to see the benefits of the CSV. I believe it would bring me more difficulties than it would benefits, and that is why I am choosing not to use a CSV for my final project story map.

Using Arc GIS for Front lines map

Last class period I made the decision to continue with my idea of making a map of the front lines through out the battle of the somme. The idea being there will be a map where you can turn on and off layers that specify certain days. Each day will have a different front line and information on the events leading up to the shift in the lines. To start this project their needed to be a basemap for which the front lines could be drawn. I located the correct area of the Battle of the Somme through my knowledge from visiting the sites and from various maps.

The Battle of the Somme occured north of the Somme River as to try to divert attention from the German troops in Verdun. The hope of the Allies was that the Battle of the Somme could be used to flank the Germans and catch them off gaurd. The French were getting hammered at Verdun, and the Somme was more of an act of despiration than anything.

                                                                                                                             

After the Allies chose this area to begin their attack they needed a plan. The British believed that they could plant a series of explosives underneath the German lines without them knowing. On the morning of July first the British planned to blow-up their explosives and with the Germans so caught off guard, be able to walk to the German front lines. The explosives were a major failure and the British were slaughtered in the tens of thousands.... on the first day. The British has approximatly 58,000 casualties on the first day alone.

Using the various maps of the front lines from the Battle of the Somme (see below for various maps), I drew a line of the front lines where they were located on the morning of July 1st. I did this by clicking add, add map notes. There is then an option to draw a free-hand line. This is how I was able to draw the front line on the map of the Somme.

 

July 1st

 

                                                                                                                               

 

The British then made another small gain on July 14, 1916. This movement in the front lines was made through a series of artillery bombardments. And that would be the story of this battle, a battle of many small, insignificant gains. For this reason there were many that believed this battle had been unnecessary. Their opinions were based on the fact that an enormous amount of lives were lost with minimal military gains.

 

 

July 14th

 

 

 

As you can see for this line I used a dashed line. This will give the viewer a better visual on the movement of the front lines. This was done by clicking on the edit button located on the toolbar. Once in that mode the user can click on any feature that was previously created and a tab will pop up with a number of different options for editing. You can then click on the change symbol button to change things such as color and line type.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                             

 







The next gain in the front lines was on September 15th. This gain was brought most significantly by the use of tanks for the first time in this battle. I illustrated this by using an even tinier dashed line to, once again, show the progression of the Allies as they moved East.

 

September 15th

                                                                                                                   


The final front line I drew was at the end of the Battle of the Somme in November 18, 1916. General Haig called an end to the fighting on this day. After thousands of casualties and minimal gains this battle was seem by many as a waste of resources. Was the loss of all these soldiers worth the diversion of attention to keep Verdun in the hands of the French worth it? I guess that is for you to decide.

 

November 18th

 

 

 

I once again used an even smaller dashed line for this date. For this line I also used pins to help me locate where the line was supposed to be placed. I placed these pins on the map on major cities that the front lines either passed through or came near to. After I was finished drawing the front line I would delete the pins to make the map look neat and professional. After finishing the front lines on the map I decided to insert arrows to show which way the lines were moving. The lines go from solid to dashed to try to show the direction of movement, but I believe the arrows are a better visual representation. I also inserted a symbol to show where the explosions of the Lochnagar and Hawthorn craters were located on the first day. While there were many more explosions than just at these two locations I am focusing on these becuase these are sites that we visited while we took our trip to France. Focusing on these two sites is awesome for me because we visited those sites in person and now I can look at a map and see the exact location and the significance that they had on the battle.

 

 

 

A picture of our visit to the Lochnagar Crater

Various front line maps: Front Lines 1; Front Lines 2; Front Lines 3

 

Unfinished frontlines map: Battle of the Somme

 

 

 

Story Map

 

I am currently in the process of gaining information for this project. I want to make a picture story map of key events and figures that played a large role in the Battle of the Somme. While I don't have a start on this project to display I do have an assortment of links and a few books that have been/ will be very useful to me while gaining information. Two books I have rented from the McIntyre Library are The 1916 Battle of the Somme: A Reappraisal by Peter H. Liddle and The Somme: the day-by-day account: by Chris McCarthy.

 

This will be the project I will start to work on for this next week, along with fine tuning and finishing up my interactive map of the front lines. I have yet to add the descriptions to the points and lines on the map. I'm also sure there will be other things I think of to add to my front lines map so I wouldn't consider it finished by any means. Once I finish both the front lines map and the picture story map I will have a full historical summary of the events that happened at the Somme from the beginning to the end of the battle.

 

 

By clicking on the edit tab on the toolbar you can then click on any feature and add a description to that line, point, or area

 

 

 

One idea I had focusing on the front lines map was I want to be able to edit the legend. Once I am able to edit the legend I would be able to insert my front lines map into a template to make it look more professional. Hopefully I can do a little bit of searching and figure that out by next week.