In source B it shows the damage caused by a shell, however it’s not clear whether it was a British trench that had been bombed or a captured trench with British shell damage. This source presents many questions. Is it a piece of propaganda that has been set up? Is it a typical example of the damage caused? These questions aren’t easily answered however I believe that this isn’t a typical example of damage caused by a shell because if this was just one of many types like it, the British should have easily been able to defeat any enemy, this as we no isn’t true.
- It is very difficult to decide whether Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig was a ‘successful commander’. I believe there are two views that you can take. The first takes the view of Philip Warner (Source E) he said “If the test of a successful general is whether or not he wins wars, then Haig must be judged a success.” This is true as often great military commanders are only remembered for their victories.
The second view is similar to the view of Anthony Livesey (Source D) he said “and he [Haig] had great self-confidence.” He also said “…his [Haig] belief that he had been chosen by God…” He also said “It was probably this inability to recognise defeat that led to his continuing attacks on the Somme…” All these statements suggest that Haig was a bone-idle and un-knowledgeable about the conditions faced by soldiers at the front.
Many front line soldiers all had a similar view of Haig as is said in source C-“The biggest murderer of the lot was Haig.” This is a very extreme view and shows the hatefulness felt towards Haig.
However I feel that as a military commander his ability to win the war was overshadowed by his inability to recognise that mass loss of life was more important to save then a few yards of ground that would probably be gained back later.
- There is no doubt that the two significant battles of 1916 greatly affected the outcome of the war in the end. However I disagree with the statement that “the writing was on the wall for Germany after 1916”. This is for several reasons. Firstly is the significance of the two major battles; the Somme and Verdun.
On February 21st 1916 German infantry divisions emerged from their deep entrenchments four miles north of Fort Douaumont. It took the Germans 5 days to capture Fort Douaumont, only 121/2 miles from Verdun itself. General Petain, who took command of troops in Verdun on 24th February 1916, introduced new tactics which would either result in victory or a fatal defeat. Petain said that every inch of land shall be defended with all resolve. French soldiers did this with a mass epidemic of patriotism fuelled with the influential words of General Petain “Ils ne passeront pas” which means “They shall not pass”. By the time the Somme offensive began it was clear that the French tactics had worked that Verdun would not fall into German hands. This is significant because of the casualties. Germany had planned to ‘bleed France white’ by forcing them to lose huge amounts of men defending Verdun. However not only did France lose 540,000 casualties the Germans lost around 434,000 casualties as well. This is very important because France could replace men later in the war with American troops and Germany could not. The Somme was the other major infantry battle during 1916. The some had mixed results; The British soldiers lost confidence in the ability of the artillery to destroy barbed wire and machine gun positions. Very little ground was gained, the advance ranged from 7 miles to just 300m. Some infantry began to respect and almost fear the Germans because they believed that nobody could survive the bombardment given to them. The Germans weren’t beaten at the Somme however they did get a severe battering and lost many irreplaceable men. Overall survivors of the Somme lost confidence in the High Command and a general attitude of defeatism spread across the army.
The second reason that the writing wasn’t on the wall for Germany after 1916 was because that they simply weren’t defeated in any battles. At Verdun they failed to capture the fortress and due to the Somme offensive taking the pressure of the French defending the city the Germans were driven back to their original positions of February 1916 by November 1916. At the Somme they took around 500,000 casualties but were only driven back, at the deepest point, 12km. They also inflicted significant casualties on the British infantry. The British and the French failed to break through the German lines and therefore the war continued for another 2 years with several important battles after 1916 including Passchendaele, Cambrai and the second battle of the Marne, all of which were significant in the eventual defeat of the central powers.
The final reason that German wasn’t defeated outright in 1916 was because I believe the most important factor to their eventual defeat was the introduction of American troops. America declared war in April 1917 and I believe that this did put the ‘writing on the wall’ for Germany. This is because now the Allied Forces had the significant advantage of over 2 million extra men on the front and the Central Powers, especially Germany, couldn’t replace the men lost in battles. America’s first influential battle was the second battle of the Marne where over 85,000 American troops took part in the battle. This battle is widely regarded as the last attempt by the Central Powers to beak through the Allied lines.
So in conclusion I believe that although both the Somme and Verdun played a major part in reducing the power and size of the German army it failed to immediately destroy the moral and resolve of the soldiers and resulted in heavy casualties for the Allies. However, due to later influences including America’s arrival into the war, the Allies were able to replace the men lost in major battles and eventually wear down the political strength of Germany and break down their home front resulting in the collapse of the German army and the end of the Great War.
