In February 1916, after a year of stalemate, the Germans decided to attack France and capture strategic French forts in the area of Verdun, 15 miles west of Paris. They aimed to 'bleed France white' with the attrition tactic developed by their commander, Falkenhayn. In an attempt to force the Germans away from Verdun, the French allies from Britain, led by General Haig, planned an artillery bombardment of the Germans. The battle carried on for a whole 10 months with a death toll of approximately 1.25 million warriors.
General Haig, a strong believer in attrition, was the culprit in many people's views including a German commander who praised the British soldiers and described them as 'lions led by donkeys' also criticizing their leaders. One of the reasons why Haig was blamed was due to his stubbornness in changing his ways. It was clear from day 1 that the plan was a failure as Britain lost 60,000 soldiers in that day increasing to 420,000 in the next 4 months. Historians John Laffin and Paul Fussell criticized Haig's strategy. Laffin believed that if deployed more defensively, Britain would not have lost so many men. Meanwhile, Fussell lamented the lack of simple and effective ideas used such as stopping the British barrage for two minutes before dawn, the time when a large portion of the attacks occurred. As a result, the Germans, expecting an attack, would return to their trenches to set up their machine guns. Had Haig taken risks and tried new ideas he might have not been blamed for the slaughter of so many troops.
On the other hand, General Haig was viewed innocent by some in regards to the poor quality of the shells fired by the British artillery. 1/3 of the shells failed which was not Haig's fault. Also, the attacks were not a total failure as part of the goal was reached when the Germans had to withdraw some troops from Verdun which eased the pressure on France. The Germany army also had to cope with the huge loss of junior officers, out of the 650,000 casualties, who could not be replaced.
In conclusion, despite the poor quality of artillery at his disposal, General Haig should be known as the 'Butcher of the Somme' as he had many alternative plans to use when his original one was unsuccessful. His poor management also played a part as he has been criticized for wasting what could have been a crucial weapon, the tank.
By Karim Zahran
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
On September 4, 1914, the rapid advances of the German army through Belgium and northern France caused a major panic in the French army and many troops were rushed from Paris, in taxis, to halt in the advance. With the combination of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), the Germans were eventually halted and the war settled into the familiar defensive series of entrenchments. Ironically, by the end of May 1918, the Germans had again reached the Marne after the enormous successes of Lunderdorff’s Offensives of that year. The battle of the Marne was very costly in terms of casualties. In fact, it was a precursor of what was…
- 900 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Colonel Maxwell’s battalion the 12th Middlesex were going to attack from the front the 11th royals on the left flank. They were tasked with attacking the most fortified positions of Thiepval. The attack began with artillery bombardment such as July 1st attack. Maxwell’s men were using the new tactic creeping barrage basically it started with shooting in no mans land and as the infantry were pushing forward they field artillery would be advancing in order to keep the German heads down so the British infantry could advance and attack.…
- 865 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Battle of the Somme took place during 1916 to take pressure off the French at Verdun and the Russians on the Eastern Front. The French were under heavy fire at Verdun and had been since February, and the army itself was close to cracking. The Russians had fought gallantly on the Eastern Front to try and avert the German Forces away from the Western Front. After launching many small offensives the Russians had gained very little ground for the amount of lives lost. This essay is going to explore; 1st Day of the Battle of the Somme, the Pals Battalions used during the Battle and the tactics developed after the Battle of the Somme was over. Each of these key areas contribute because the first day of the Battle of the Somme had the highest casualty rate the British Army had ever suffered, Pals Battalions were inexperienced in the art of battle, and the tactic used before the battle were inconclusive in helping with the battle overall.…
- 1160 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Source B proposes that although the British were organized and everything was going according to their plan, the first line, which had nearly reached the German front line, were shot down due to machine-gun fire. The soldiers were caught in the open with no shelter and didn’t stand a chance. The machine guns were unexpected because Haig predicted that since the Germans had been bombarded with shells for a week, they would all be dead and their weapons would have been destroyed. Haig was complacent and this cost him dearly, the Germans had dug outs which provided shelter, these were often 40 feet in depth.…
- 685 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Though the German defense was not as strong as Omaha, the Allies took heavy damage from enemy machine guns and snipers (123). Another problem for the Allies were the German mortars with support from machine gun fire, which was the main weapon that killed Allied soldiers (118) Because the German resistance built up during the attack as the Allies gained more of a foothold on the beach, they suffered major casualties (Bishop and McNab 141). Although the German forces were strong, they lacked certain advantages such as high ground like the forces at Omaha (Symonds 281). Even though the Germans at Juno were losing the battle, Hitler had forbidden any withdrawal of troops, making it easier for the Allies to attack (Der Vat 139).…
- 1082 Words
- 5 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Though they won in the long run, the first day of the Battle of Somme was a major defeat for the British. Over 57,000 British soldiers died on the first day. According to George Coppard, hundreds of his fellow soldiers lay dead the morning after the attack. Many were caught in the barbed wire of the Germans trenches, leaving few survivors (Document B). The skillful thinking of the Germans saved them from facing a loss as grand as Britains.…
- 236 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
The Battle of Verdun was in Feb – Nove 1916. “They shall not pass” is the saying aligned with it. It involved generals, Falkenhayn for Germany and Petain for France. It was Germany’s aim to “bleed the French white” through a war of attrition. Using heavy artillery bombardment and diphosgene gas. It resulted in an early German advance later re won by France. The failures of Verdun lead to Falkenhayn replaced by Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Another battle was the Battle of the Somme. This was from July – Nov 1916. It is in the Guinness book of records as it has record numbers of casualties. General Haig was involved. The aim being to break through and relieve France at Verdun. They used artillery assaults and creeping barrage tanks. Another battle was the Battle of Passchendaele. This was between Julys – Nov 1917. It is known for the mud. It was also with General Haig. The aim was to gain control of the seaports and draw pressure off France. The use of heavy artillery bombardment. The result was only a small territorial gain and the opportunity to send reserves after a breakthrough at Cambrai. There were also attempts made beyond the Western Front, these included places like Gallipoli. There was the naval blockade, which saw Germany launch its unrestricted submarine warfare and peace movements such as Papal peace note to reduce arms and the women’s peace…
- 865 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
One quote to properly explain this is, “The strategies put in place were timed to precede and shatter the Great offensive that the French were.” (New York Times, 1918) The New York Times reported this because, the French were mourning the substantial amount of human loss that took place at that time, which gave the Germans a reason to make a smart, and good move towards taking more land from the French, and when they executed this strategy when they rushed the French, they were extremely successful, and was one of the reasons on why the French went into defensive mode. Another quote to show an example on how the French reacted to when the Germans came to attack is, “‘Troops resting in reserve areas refused to return to the front,’ writes historian Adam Hochschild. Rebellion breaks out in more than thirty divisions. An infantry regiment took over a town and refused to move.” (Hochschild, Schuster 2017) Once the French army transitioned into a defensive army. A couple of battles in, the Germans kept on succeeding and this is because, many of the French’s front rows of army didn’t want to fight mostly because they didn’t want to die. The majority who were on reserve or in bases, or trenches also didn’t want to leave because of the fear of death. So, when the small amount of French people fearless and…
- 1810 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Gilbert, Martin. The Battle of the Somme: “It Is going to Be A Bloody Holocaust” The…
- 477 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
The source is a short excerpt from some a piece of writing about the first day. Despite the catastrophic events of day one (with so man deaths as noted in Source B) the writer of this source has written about it from a different perspective than what we are used to. The extract focuses on the heavy artillery bombardment of the German trenches with constant attacks of ammunition. The negative impacts on Britain are not really mentioned in this section however the author does talk about the ‘immediate effect on the Germans’ and how it caused a ‘transfer of 60 heavy guns’ and also the movement of ‘two infantry divisions from Verdun to the Somme’. This shows some success as it is now known that this battle was mainly a way to free up French soldiers in Verdun and to distract the Germans from Verdun to stop their motive which was to ‘bleed France white’.…
- 1577 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Douglas Haig was Britain’s commander-in-chief during the battle of the Somme and took much criticism for the utter loss of life in this battle. Haig put his belief in one final mighty push against the Germans to be executed in the Somme region of France. Haig did not rate very highly the war's new weaponry. "The machine gun is a much over rated weapon," he said in 1915; he made similar remarks over the use of the tank. The tank was a British invention which had made its debut on the Somme…
- 1645 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
It was the key to the offensive movement for the British to advance and destroy the Germans. Within the eight days of raining artillery steel, the British artillerymen shot 1,738,000 rounds (Cowley). It would equal up to 217,250 rounds of artillery shells per day. The thought behind Haig's plan of bombardment was to destroy the fortified trenches and barbed wire placed in front of the German trenches, paving the way for British troops. "The enemy's position to be attacked was of a very considerable character, situated on high, undulating tract of ground.…
- 2060 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
The Battle of Verdun was one of the bloodiest battles in World War I. What sets it apart from other battles is the brutal tactics that were used by the German army against the French. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought through hazardous conditions with artillery raining down on them constantly. This type of warfare is unmatched by the battles and wars that are fought today. This is mostly due to the vast differences in technology and weaponry. The fighting armies back then didn’t have the ability for fast communications and effective reconnaissance to assist their ground troops in coordinating effective attacks and counter-offensives.…
- 1397 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
The battle along the coast of Normandy was a turning point in the Allies fight against the German occupation of France. The eventual (and hard-earned) success of the five landings prevented Hitler from sending more troops into France to build up the Eastern Front against the Soviets. Normandy was a difficult and well-fought battle, which used multiple ingenious strategies in order to overcome German forces. In order to lower the enemy’s defenses at Normandy enough to where a successful invasion could be carried out, the Allied Forces devised a clever plan in order to reduce Germany’s tactical advantage.…
- 982 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
At the beginning of the war, everyone, including the British thought that the war will bring us a small amount of casualties. Since everyone thought that…
- 319 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays