Week 8

Tasks

• Complete an overview of my final project to be placed on the class website

 

This week was Thanksgiving Break so not much progress was made concerning my final project. Although I did sit down with my professor before break to go over what I would need to do to Georeference my maps, I didn't have access to a computer over break and not much was completed.

 

 

Overview

 

Background: I am a geography major at the University of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I’ve always wanted to get the opportunity to travel outside of the country. I mean I’ve been to Canada, but that doesn’t really count! When I found out about the trip to Europe I was immediately intrigued, even though I knew nothing about the class. I found out that during the trip we would be travelling to Europe for ten days to visit WWI battlefields. At this point in my college career I’m not completely sure what area of geography I’d like to go in to. When I met with my advisor, Joe Hupy, and he told me, “It’s almost as important to find out what areas you don’t want to study as it is to find out the areas you do want to study.” With this bit of knowledge I decided to sign up for the Geography 368 class going to Europe and I haven’t regretted it one bit. I hope that after this class I will have either found an interest or disinterest within the geography field.

Introduction: My final project is focusing on the Battle of the Somme during The Great War of 1916. The Battle of the Somme was fought to divert the German’s attention from Verdun where the French were losing ground. Many saw it as a battle of attrition and viewed it as a waste of resources with no significant ground won. While learning about this battle’s relevance during our trip to France I decided to create a web map of the frontlines during the Battle of the Somme. I’m hoping by creating this front lines map, and adding in significant information, that viewers will be able to visually see the relevance of this battle. Along with the frontlines the map contains significant events and the smaller battles within the battle. The significant events include the mine explosions from the first day of battle. These features all put together on one map will enable the every-day history junkie to become more informed on the battle itself and the significance it played during WWI.

History: The Battle of the Somme was a battle fought by the Allied troops against the imposing German army. The reason for the fighting at the Somme was to divert the German’s attention away from the French city of Verdun. The French reserves were being diminished at Verdun and the Germans needed to be drawn away. On July 1, 1916 the British set off several large mine explosions all along the presumed German front. During out trip to France we were actually able to visit the explosion sites of the Lochnagar and Hawthorn craters. The crater left in the earth by these explosions are massive even to this day.  The idea was that the British could dig tunnels underneath where they believed the Germans would be on that morning and place explosives in the tunnels. Then on that morning the British could detonate the explosives and simply crawl over the top of the trenches and walk across no-mans-land to claim the German side. The mine explosions weren’t as successful as they had hoped and the British were slaughtered in the thousands. This day is known by some as the Massacre of the Somme. There were approximately 58,000 casualties on the first day of fighting. While this day is what The Battle of the Somme is predominantly known for, the fighting did last for another five months or so. There were many smaller battles fought within The Battle of the Somme, for a list of each of the smaller battles refer to my Week 7 blog post (geog368.blogspot.com). The major frontlines moves were made on July 14, September 15, and finally on November 18 the fighting ceased. Besides the first day of fighting at the Somme this battle is also known for WWI’s first use of tanks. In the Battle of Flers-Courcelette tanks assisted the Allies in their capture of the city of Flers. The cold November weather and the depletion of resources is believed to be the major contributor to the ending of the battle.

Overall Methods: My project was done using ArcGIS Online and was completed by using the Map Notes feature that enables the user to draw on the basemap location of your choosing. For my project I used a topographic basemap. This basemap contained more geographical locations like cities and forests. These helped me to place the front lines on the map with accuracy.

 

 

 

 

 

These were some of the maps that I used to help me draw in the front lines on ArcGIS Online. After I drew these front lines I did a lot of my research using the site, Somme. This site helped me to find the specific battle location on the Somme and landmarks that were significant to the battle. With the addition of the landmarks you are really able to see how the geography of the land helped shape the front lines throughout the battle. You will be able to better see my methods for using the Map Notes in my Week 7 Blog Post (http://geog368.blogspot.com/). Also in my Week 7 Blog Post you can view a screen shot of my process of research as I gained more indepth information on The Battle of the Somme. After I had completed my map I pulled it up into ArcGIS Explorer Online. This enabled me to create slides where I could turn on and off layers to tell a story of The Battle of the Somme.

Final Project: My final project is in presentation mode. I created my map and all of its features using ArcGIS Online and then opened it up into ArcGIS Explorer Online. This enables me to create several slides and walk you through the battle slide-by-slide. I started off with a slide of the first day of battle. This slide has all of the mine explosions on it. What is awesome about this format is that the user can drag their mouse over a feature to see what it is and then click on the feature to get a more in-depth description of that feature. Then I went from battle-to-battle showing visually how the battle progressed.