In his chapter on the Battle of the Somme‚ Keegan analyzes the factors that caused the British offensive to fall apart. As Keegan explains‚ the Allied plan for the offensive consisted of a week-long artillery bombardment followed by an infantry attack behind an artillery barrage. The main goals of the first bombardment were to cut German communications lines and keep the Germans from preparing before the Allied attack. The assumption was that the Germans would not be prepared to fight back after
Premium World War II World War I Allies
Field Marshal Douglas Haig was a British senior officer in World War One and commanded in the Battle of the Somme‚ which was arguably one of the bloodiest battles in British military history. Haig gained the title of the butcher of the Somme after the end of World War One‚ due to the indescribable amount of casualties and deaths that took place. One could say that Haig deserves the title because of the huge loss of life‚ his bad planning and repetition of bad tactics and the fact that he was completely
Free Trench warfare World War I
the battle of the Somme a success or failure? It’s a question that has plagued the minds of many historians over the years. On one hand‚ without the battle the war could have had a very different outcome; but on the other hand‚ was it really worth all the slaughter and bloodshed? In 1916‚ General Sir Douglas Haig was enforced with chance to conduct a major offensive against the Germans‚ ‘The Big Push’ some called it. His plan was to gather thousands of troops to attack the enemy at the Somme‚ forcing
Premium World War II World War I United Kingdom
The battle of Somme was a tiresome attrition battle. For approximately five months the British‚ French and German armies engaged in what was called “one of the bloodiest (battles) of World War One”. Located in Northern France. During this battle the British were unsuccessful; their strategies were incompetent to the harsh conditions of the stalemate. Thus‚ making the battle of Somme a complete failure to the Triple Entente. Many historians argue that the Germans had caused more significant amount
Premium World War I World War II United Kingdom
the good of their selves the U.S. 1) The Battle of Cambrai (November 20th- December 4th 1917). It was fought in Cambrari‚ France. It was the British against the Germans. The significance of the battle was that it was the first battle that actually used tanks
Premium United States World War II 2003 invasion of Iraq
To what extent does Haig deserve to be called butcher and a bungler? To a certain extent Haig does deserve to be called a butcher and a bungler as his conduct in WWI proved poor. He was the architect of many of the British failures of 1915-18. In 1915 he was responsible for the offensive at Loos which resulted of huge British losses for very little gain. In 1916 he commanded the battle of the Somme for which he earned the title of “the butcher of the Somme” due to the massively high rate of casualties
Premium World War I World War II Military
To what extent does Haig deserve the title “Butcher of the Somme”? On 27th June 1916 the Battle of Somme began. This battle is also known as the battle of the most dead soldiers in all the wars. Most of the historians blamed Haig for all the deaths and casualties who are known as the orthodox but there were many contradictions on this point by many historians who are known as revisionist. This essay is going to be looking at both the perspective and then will conclude by evaluating on which side
Free Trench warfare World War I Battle of the Somme
Why Was the First Day of the Battle of the Somme (1st July 1916) Such A Disaster? The Battle of the Somme began on the 1st of July 1916 just north of Somme. This was over a month earlier than planned but the British needed to attack early in order to draw out the German troops from Verdun and save the French army. The battle was intended to create a rupture in the German line which could then be exploited so the Allies could get deep into the enemy lines. But the first day was a disaster and
Premium British Army Allies Trench warfare
“The Battle of the Somme was a total failure” How far do Sources A-F support this statement? On the 1st July 1916‚ the battle of the Somme began. Sources A‚ D‚ E and F suggest that the Battle of The Somme wasn’t a total failure. However‚ Sources B and C suggest that the British underestimated the Germans and this was the cause of their massacre. Source B proposes that although the British were organized and everything was going according to their plan‚ the first line‚ which had nearly reached
Premium World War II United Kingdom World War I
Does field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig deserve the name ‘The Butcher of the Somme’? The battle of the Somme took place in 1916 and was Haig’s idea. He wanted to draw enemy troops away from the battle at Verdun to give the allies a better chance of victory. Haig’s tactic was to send troops over the top to attack the German trenches and end the stalemate. Before the troops were sent over the top there would be severe artillery bombardment of the enemy trenches. This was designed to damage or destroy
Free Trench warfare Western Front Battle of the Somme