WHY DO YOU THINK THAT SOURCES I & J DIFFER ABOUT THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME?
Sources I and J are both written by Lloyd George, the first when he was ‘Secretary for War’ in 1916 and the second after his retirement in the 1930’s in-between of which he was of course he was the British Priminister who signed the peace treaties following the first world war.
If one looks at source I first, the obvious thing you notice is that it is a very small source as its only an extract of two sentences from a letter he wrote to Field Marshal Haig on the 21st September after visiting the battlefield. George is very congratulatory of the progress that was been made and plaudits the tactics that Haig has been using ‘news of the last few days has confirmed our hopes that the tide has now definitely turned in our favour’ and ‘I congratulate you most warmly on the skill with which your plans were laid’. Source I was written a good few weeks into the Battle of the Somme and so it would have been apparent that the battle was going quite to plan, so I find it quite surprising how a very much internal letter is so complimentary of the way the battle is going. There are a few possible reasons for this, perhaps that George had the same mentality as Haig and thinks every metre gained is a metre closure to victory ignoring the human cost to get the metre of land in the first place, and basically accepted a war of attrition as the most successful tactic. Another possible reason for George’s positive overview of the situation could be that he realises the battle isn’t going quite to plan and sees morale is dropping throughout the British forces and feels that its in there best interest that he gives an over positive synopsis of the battle, to boost morale. In addition, George could feel sympathetic to Haig and understands the difficult situation he is in, and knows if he is overcritical it may well lead to him being ‘revealed of his duties’. Further more, George will be aware that they must show total solidarity and cohesion to the troops and their superiors in Whitehall, and may think that a major change of strategy would be disheartening for the troops and may cause their superiors to ask some serious question along the lines of why we persisted in using one specify strategy only to then go and make a complete change of approach.
