How a Terrible Battle Helped to Change Europe
Ninety years ago on a sunny morning in Northern France，something happened that changed Britain and Europe for ever．At half past seven on the morning of July 1，1916，whistles blew and thousands of British soldiers【51】______their positions to attack their German enemies．【52】______the end of the day，20，000 of them were dead，and another 30，000 wounded or missing．The Battle of the Somme，【53】______it is called，lasted for six months．When it ended，125，000British soldiers were dead．They had gained five kilometers of ground．
This was one of a series of great battles during the WWI．The【54】______on the Somme was staged to relieve pressure on the French，who were【55】______in a great battle of their own at a place called Verdun．By the time the battle ended，over a million French and German troops had been killed．
About 17 million people were killed in WWI．There have been wars with greater numbers of dead．But there has never been one【56】______most of the dead were concentrated in such a small area．On the Somme battlefield，two men died for every metre of space．
Local farmers working in the land still【57】______the bodies of those who died in that battle．The dead of all nations were buried in a series of giant graveyards【58】______the line of the border between France and Belgium．Relatives and descendants(后代) of those who died still【59】______these graveyards today．
It took a second great conflict before Europe was to【60】______against war itself．Twenty-eight years after the Somme battle，a liberating army of British，American and Canadian troops took【61】______France from another German invasion．More than 500，000 people were killed．New graveyards were built．
Two great conflicts across two generations helped to change the European【62】______about war．Germany，once the most warlike country in Europe，is now probably more in favor of peace than any other．One major【63】______of war in Europe was rivalry(竞争) between France and Germany．The European Union was specifically formed to【】______that rivalry．
The last British veteran(老兵) of the Somme battle died in 2005，aged 108．And the WWI is passing out of【65】______and into history．But for anyone who wants to understand how Europeans think，it is still important to know a little about the terrible s of July 1,1916．
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