World War I was unlike any preceding wars due to its distinct nature. The new technology, tactical strategies, and industrialization contributed to the massive loss of life, and neither side achieved an overwhelming victory in the end. The nature of World War I, as the countries and soldiers involved understood it at the time, was fairly complex and multi-faceted due to battle strategies, lack of definitive victories, and uncertainty regarding how long the war was going to last.

In 1916, the war had been ongoing for approximately two years, and both sides of the conflict were still relatively optimistic about the war. They had not yet reached a point of wartime exhaustion and political/social unrest, and each side believed that they had the opportunity to make strides and hoped to be moving closer towards a resolution. Both, the Central Powers and the Entente/Allies, had achieved varying degrees of tactical victories throughout the course of the war thus far. Therefore, the war was very back-and-forth in terms of which side held the upper-hand in the conflict. The Central Powers were tactically victorious during the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive by effectively driving the Russians back hundreds of miles, whereas the Entente was tactically successful during the Siege of Przemysl, as the Austro-Hungarians were forced to surrender the fort and were unable to conduct an offensive without the assistance of the Germans for the remainder of the war. In 1916, the Allies were anxious to launch a large offensive against the Germans on the Western Front, and thus, the Battle of the Somme was conceived.