Does General Haig Deserve to Be Remembered 'The Butcher of the Somme'?

Douglas Haig was a British general during the First World War. He first commissioned into the 7th Queen’s Own Hussars in 1885, and was made a Field Marshall in 1917. He held numerous positions of command, and was the commander of the British Empire’s forces at the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme was fought from the 1st of July 1916 to the 18th of November the same year, and the tactics used by Haig (such as walking towards the enemy, the war of attrition etc remain very controversial to this day. The Battle of the Somme was fought the relieve the French forces at Verdun by attacking the Germans north of Verdun, therefore forcing Germany to move some of their men away from Verdun and relieving the French. Allied forces won 7 miles of ground, and the British lost 481,842 fighting men.

The soldier-writer Charles Carrington said, “The Somme battle raised the morale of the British Army. Although we did not win a decisive victory there was what matters most,a definite and growing sense of superiority, man to man…We were quite sure we had got the German beat.” (M.Brown ,”Somme where in France”,History today,July 2006,Vol. 56 Issue 7,pp22-4)

Some people have the view that British generals such as Haig were useless leaders. Famous sources like ‘O What a lovely War’, ‘Blackadder’ and ‘The Trench’ support this. However from the 1980s many military historians have challenged this interpretation and states that under Haigs leadership, Britain and her allies won the war from encouraging new weapons and military tactics. After Haigs death in 1918, historians blamed him for needless laughter of nearly 750,000 British soldiers on the Western Front and biographers pilloned him for his overconfidence, insensitivity and logical

The British launched The Battle of the Somme to achieve two objectives. The first and most important goal was to relieve pressure on the French Army at Verdun, and the second was to inflict as heavy a loss as possible on the German Armies. The Battle of the Somme had to be fought to save the French Army from the crucifixion of Verdun. The head of the French Army, General Fock, and some leading British commanders did not believe this battle would help, but political masters in London and Paris supported the campaign. For many years The Battle of the Somme received much criticism for the way the battle was fought based on the number of casualties.

     Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Curries was not pleased at the prospect of going to Passchendaele. Currie, like many Canadian soldiers, had grim memories of the Ypres salient, and grim memories to he Ypres salient, and admitted that his “experience in the salient in 1915 and in 1916 were such that I never wanted to see the place again.” Unfortunately, on 3 October, Currie was warned that the Corps might be sent north, to take part in the offensive in Flanders. Currie could make no sense of Passchendaele, and he was furious. “Passchendaele!” he raged in front of his staff. “What’s the good of it? Let the Germans have it--keep it--rot in it! Rot in the mud! There’s a mistake somewhere. it must be a mistake! It isn’t worth a drop of blood.” Although Currie was not at all happy that the Canadians had been told to take Passchendaele. One of Currie’s first moves was to assign intelligence officers to the various headquarters with which the Canadian Corps would be associated: Second Army, II Anzac Corps, which was responsible for the sector the Canadians would be taking over, and its front-line divisions, the New Zealand and 3rd Australian. These officers, and the general staff were to acquire

The first day of the battle of the Somme was a dreadful scene but a victory for the Germans.According to Document B: George Coppard (British soldier) ,it states that ,” Hundreds of dead,many of the British 37th Brigade..Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground,like a fish caught in the net...The Germans faith in the wire had paid off.” This evidence shows that a lot of the British army had died due to the German’s barbed wire and as a result is was an horrendous scene to look at.Also written in Document C: Ottis Lais(German soldier),it states that,”As the destructive British shell rushed towards our artillery which was firing courageously..the british keep charging forward...Despite the fact that hundreds are already lying dead

In the fifteenth document we come across this British soldier describing the battle of the Somme, The young soldier, Christian Creswell Carver writes to his brother about the intensive warfare he faced. He illustrates the war by describing the sounds and views of what he sees on different occasions. He describes the sounds of gunfire over the trees as a noise exactly like a great wave. He depicts the battle as being swallowed up by the great wave and being spit up and washed even further away. He then speaks on the gas attacks he had to endure, describing it as a great cloud that formed into lines and slowly made its way to their trenches.

In 1916, the battle of the Somme began, intending to end the war for the allies. It pitted an unexperienced British army, against a professional German one. It was also, however significant in many ways. Two of the main areas where the battle of the Somme was significant were in its military value, and the reactions it caused, on the home front.

The Battle of the Somme epitomizes the harsh realities of trench warfare for the Allies and represents the negligent battle planning and technological advancements that are associated with the stalemate of World War One. Trench warfare was common across the Western Front, with similar strategies being employed by both opposing sides. Sir Douglas Haig, one of the British coordinators for the Somme offensive is blamed with an offensive strategy destined for failure. The British offensive, an utter failure, resulted in a stalemate, which was common throughout World War One. The British development of the tank, while it eventually ended the horrendous stalemate, was ineffectively used during the Somme.

At the start of World War I in 1914, Currie was chosen to command the 2nd Infantry Brigade. By February of 1915, he and his men were fighting in France. In the face of German poison gas attacks, Currie and his brigade held their line against the advancing German troops. As a result, he was promoted to major-general and commander of the 1st Canadian Division. He was also given the first order of knighthood, the Companionship of the Bath, a great honor bestowed to soldiers demonstrating the highest caliber of service. Additionally, the French government made him a commander of the Legion of Honor. At the battles of Festubert and Givenchy in 1915, Currie led the 2nd Brigade. He then became commander-in-chief of the Canadian Corps. Shortly after this, King George V of England made him a Knight-Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. During the war, Currie wrote an analysis on his strategies in battle, which became required for study

In “The Face of Battle,” John Keegan analyzed the experiences of the individuals involved in the battles of the Somme and Waterloo; he thoroughly examined the advancements of industrialization in warfare and battle strategy between 1815 and 1916. The industrialization of modern warfare during the battle of the Somme, while progressive, was very much still in its experimental stages. While the inventions during this time period were later evolved into much more useful products, it seems as though the organized warfare in Waterloo was much more effective; the soldier’s mediocre training for the Somme was obvious in the chaotic events that occurred. While each battle was disastrous in their own ways, industrialization certainly improved means of warfare and the experience that the soldiers had.

Furthermore, Not everything in The Somme was good. The soldiers at The Somme experienced more traumatic events than the soldiers in the battle waterloo. The technology at The Somme was more advanced therefore, there was bullets flying everywhere. The soldiers could not see anything they were just running to make it somewhere. When they would turn around they would see their friends and family dead or wounded. In the months that the war lasted the British lost 50,000 lives. Many of the soldiers who went the battle in The Somme only went to make there families proud and get new girlfriends, of course to show their love for their country. Also, the soldiers and the family and friends would go war together. Most of the soldiers in The Somme

Winston Churchill’s headstrong resiliency in the face of danger defined his career as a war leader. Former Prime Minister David Cameron states,” He was an incredible leader for our country, and indeed for the whole free world, at an impossibly difficult time.” (1). Five months before his inauguration, Churchill gave his speech “House of Many Mansions” wherein he urged the then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and other world

The battle of the Somme was the battle fought in World War 1. The battle of the Somme began when the French army required help from the British army to help fight the battle, Battle of Verdun, against the Germans. Britain went to the River Somme which distracted Germany so the German army divided in order to fight the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Verdun at the same time. The battle of the Somme was fought by the British Empire against the German Empire. The British Empire was led by General Douglas Haig. General Douglas Haig was the senior officer and he led the western front from the late 1915 until the end of the war. General Douglas Haig served as the commander of the British Army for 3 years (1918-1921). Sadly 10 years after the war Haig passed away. The phrase ‘butcher of the Somme’ was given to General Douglas Haig. The phrase is given to General Douglas Haig as many people believe that he was responsible for the deaths of many innocent soldiers. The phrase ‘butcher of the Somme’ means how many soldiers died during the battle of the Somme due to the tactics General Douglas Haig used. Is General Douglas Haig a hero or butcher?

The First World War witnessed an appalling number of casualties. Due partly to this fact, some historians, developed the perception that commanders on both sides dependence on only one disastrous approach to breaking the stalemate. These historians attributed the loss of life to the reliance on soldiers charging across no-man’s land only to be mowed down by enemy machineguns. The accuracy of this, however, is fallacious since a variety of tactics existed on both sides. The main reason for battlefield success and eventual victory came from the transformation of battlefield tactics; nevertheless, moral played a major role by greatly affecting the development of new tactics and the final outcome of the war.