Is it fair to criticize General Haig as a donkey who led lions? Douglas Haig was a General during World War One. There is much controversy over General Haig’s reputation due to the high level of losses during his battles in command. Many people agree with David Lloyd George’s attitude of Haig and many other British Generals of World War One. They are said to be “donkeys”‚ incompetents who sent the “lions” (the soldier) into futile bloody battles. Many popular books‚ films and television programs
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Why Did the Battle of the Somme go so Badly for the British Army? 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
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among the rotting carcass of their own fellow soldiers. During “The Battle of Somme”‚ in 1916‚ German soldiers was trained to spot how British officers dressed and was ordered to kill them. I also know from my own knowledge that before the battle had started‚ British forces had fired over 1‚700‚000 shells at the German soldiers‚ this potentially could have been a leading factor to make‚ “The Battle of Somme” the bloodiest battles of the war‚ or of any war before or since. Source A3 is a photograph
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Haig was born in Edinburgh on 19 June 1861. He was born into a wealthy family that had good business. When Haig was younger he went to a good school and in 1884 went to Royal Military Academy at Sand Hurst. He first served as a Calvary Commander; however this experience was not useful in the battle of Somme because it was trench warfare which was a new kind of war so he couldn’t use the same tactics. He was also a celebrated commander of the Boer war‚ but the Africans were weaker and were poorer
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Haig was a significant character for various reasons during World War One‚ most of which were negative. In his earlier days‚ Haig was significant because it was ultimately his leadership that resulted in a number of disasterous losses for the British Army‚ for example the Battle of the Somme (1916) which is still seen as one of the British Army’s biggest failures to this day. His intial failures stem from his backward leadership and poor connection with the British troops. Having said this‚ in the
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Does General Haig deserve to be remembered as the Butcher of the Somme? In 1st July 1916‚ the river the Somme in France is used as the fighting tool place and war has begun near the river so the war is named. During the period‚ General Douglas Haig is the Commander-in-Chief for the British Army so he took full control of the attack. The General wanted to make a breakthough to get through the German trenches and defeat the army once and for all. What he planned to do is to firstly smash the German’s
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Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig: World War I’s Worst General Even so‚ a staff colonel had the cheek to write: "The events of July 1st bore out the conclusions of the British higher command and amply justified the tactical methods employed." Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig‚ chief of staff of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and architect of the battle‚ evidently agreed. On the day after the debacle‚ stating that the enemy "has undoubtedly been shaken and has few reserves in hand‚" he discussed
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Why was the first day of the Battle of the Somme on the 1st of July such a disaster? On 1st July 1916‚ the first phase of the allied offensive‚ took place on the Northern side of the Western front and was known as the Battle of the Somme. The main reason for the battle was to take pressure off the French army‚ which had been under heavy attack at Verdun since February‚ and was close to cracking. It was hoped that a major British offensive on the Somme would force the Germans to withdraw troops
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What kind of leader was Haig? Interpretation – A view from somebody’s point of view that may not be necessary be true. The battle of the Somme occurred on the 1th of July 1916‚ with the English and French army fighting against the German. English’s army’s leader‚ Haig‚ was considered to be a donkey‚ meaning to be a bad general. The historian John Laffin claims that Haig was an awful leader; he says that “Haig really thought he was doing what the people wanted him to do” which makes us think that
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Haig was the Butcher of the Somme Explain how far you agree with this view Field Marshal Haig is known as the butcher of the Somme. But was he really to blame and responsible for the death of many soldiers he was in charge of during World War 1? He is remembered mainly for the death of thousands of men during the Battle of the Somme. On the first day alone 60‚000 British soldiers lost their lives. The reason that so many soldiers died was because Haig ordered his men to walk across no man’s
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