haig essay

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Field Marshal Douglas Haig is one of the most controversial figures in history. Casualty figures were extremely high, which earned Haig the name tag ‘Butcher of the Somme’. By the end of the battle, in November 1916, the British had lost 420,000 soldiers. Critics claim that his poor decision making make him responsible for the deaths. However people argue against this saying that Haig achieved his goals during the war. Although people say that Haig was not a butcher, I still think that he was a butcher due to his poor decision making and willingness to sacrifice lives.
The first source states ‘Haig hated being told any new information which went against his preconceived ideas or beliefs’ this illustrates Haig as very adamant. Source 3 also states that Haig was adamant, ‘throughout the war huge bombardments failed again and again yet we persisted in employing the same hopeless method of attack’. The people who wrote these sources were all working in the army or working under Haig so they had an idea of what he was a like so this is a reliable source to show that he is a butcher. Source 5 is from a TV show called Blackadder. Blackadder exaggerated historical events for comical value. ‘Field Marshal Haig is about to make another gargantuan effort to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin’. This means that no matter how many lives are effortlessly lost Haig will continue to move on. Although this statement is exaggerated it still shows Haig’s true colours. Source 6 is another example from Blackadder and it shows Haig planning his attack at the Somme using toy soldiers and sweeping the ones he expects to be killed with no care at all. Source 7 shows statistics from a history learning website it says ‘the British had lost 420,000; the French lost nearly 200,000 men and the Germans 500,000’. Statistics are very reliable because it is pure evidence. These statistics support Haig as being a butcher and show the sheer loss of life in this battle.
Source 11 shows John Mills as Haig in the 1969 film ‘Oh What a Lovely War!’ the film shows Haig playing childish party games whilst the death toll of many innocent soldiers rises. This relates to all of the previous sources demonstrating Haig as laid back and unaffiliated. Source 13 is from Ben Walsh who is a modern historian so he is reliable as he has used sources from eye witnesses, ‘the Germans had stretched wire like a band more than 30 metres wide. It was almost impossible to penetrate’. Haig overestimated the ability of the artillery to destroy the German defences, therefore losing many soldiers because of this; many shells were not powerful enough to destroy the defences or failed to go off.
Source 16 states ‘Haig’s stubbornness in the offensive all but ruined us on the Somme’ this statement was written by Staff Officer J.F.C Fuller as he was a staff officer he worked under Haig and knows what he was like, he was also an eye witness so he is reliable.
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