ONE MINUTE HISTORY - July 31, 2023

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Incitatus Ch.

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Published on August 1, 2023 2:00:08 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv2Y2pj9OLQ

Duration: 0:59

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On this day, one of the most brutal battles of the First World War began. On July 31, 1917, the British Fifth Army launched an attack against German defenses on the ridges outside of Ypres, Belgium, beginning the three month long Battle of Passchendaele. British and French forces slowly stormed heavily fortified German positions, but when unseasonably early rainstorms began in the middle of August, the battlefield devolved into yet another muddy, hellish quagmire. The Allies eventually made some modest gains, but both sides lost well over 200,000 men and most historians consider it to be one of the most senseless engagements of a senseless war. Passchendaele was also notable for featuring many soldiers from Britain’s overseas dominions, and the battle looms especially large in the military histories of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.