Assesement of Haig and other Generals in WW1

“The whole planning of the Somme campaign was ham-fisted and clumsy.   The fault for the failure of most of the strategic planning must fall on Haig.   Because the plan failed, Haig must be held responsible.” General Haig used the same tactic that he used in previous battles, this however was a mistake. WWI was unlike any other battle before with new weapons, technology and larger armies. It was clear that the scale of the battle cannot be compared to previous ones. Without much strategy or thought, Haig sent thousands of men ‘over the top’ to their deaths to achieve his unrealistic objectives. Even after seeing that it was not working, he still continued. The first day reported huge losses and none of Haig’s objectives were fulfilled, showing how ineffective his tactic was. The only reason he has for his continuous attempts to send soldiers over the top, was to wear down the Germans. “Victory will belong to the side that holds out the longest. There is no other course open but to fight it out. Every position must be held to the last man. There must be no retirement.   With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end.” Without realising how deep the German trenches were, Haig continuously bombarded the Germans. This took away the element of surprise which allowed the Germans to prepare. Haig had the large and powerful British navy at his command, which sadly, he did not utilise.

Haig had a large army, powerful navy and many new weapons which he should have used efficiently to create an effective strategy, instead of sending his troops over the top, dozens of times. With this careless tactic, Haig gave the impression of being, as many described him as, “unimaginative and dull.” A good General must not be this, but in fact be creative and able to efficiently utilise all of their resources to generate brilliant tactics. On the other hand, Haig’s ‘tactic’ was to basically send all of his troops over the top in order to wear down Germany. Although this worked in the end, it came at a huge cost and destroyed his name.

Defence of Haig and other Generals

When evaluating the Generals leadership in WWI, we must not only look at the number of casualties made and blame the people in charge, but we have to evaluate the position the generals were in and their situation. WWI was a revolutionary war which introduced the use of new technology and weapons. It displayed the largest scale battle ever fought in history. The generals were set to command the largest army ever set by their respective countries. Their much gained experience in previous wars could not prepare them for such a difficult task. Many casualties should have been expected early on, as did happen, but the generals learned from their mistakes and developed new tactics and strategies.

Historians often evaluate the generals performances based on modern situations, but these were much different back then. It was more difficult to communicate. Carrier pigeons and dogs were often used to transmit messages. These were obviously not always accurate so delivering messages limited communication between generals, soldiers and their base, making it difficult for the generals to organise and control an army.

The machine guns and tanks were two of the many new weapons introduced. These were very powerful and effective but difficult to use. They were new to all generals and they did not know how to efficiently use them, this explained the huge casualty losses in the first few battles. They eventually learned to effectively use the new weapons such as the machine guns and tanks and they properly utilised them in later wars.

The Generals, especially Haig, were complained by the soldiers as they hardly visited the fronts and injured soldiers. Haig cannot be blamed for this as his predecessor, Sir John French, frequently did this and was heavily criticised for decreasing the gap of authority between generals and soldiers. Haig did not want to make the same mistake as French which explains his actions. The fronts were dangerous, too dangerous for Haig to visit. Also no one expected such heavy fighting early one, so Haig was not able to see the events taking place in the fronts. Events were occurring too quickly for the generals to respond.

Haig already had a great reputation so his experience cannot be questioned. There was no one better suited for the job and if there was, they might have led Britain to defeat or even caused more casualties. No general knew how to manage their vast armies and new technology and resorted to old tactics, which was to send their soldiers over the top in order to wear their opponents down. By the end of the battle, the British Army had suffered 420,000 casualties, the French losing 200,000 men and the Germans nearly 500,000. These figures show that all sides lost many men and were in stalemate. “The German army had been fought to a standstill and was utterly worn out.” Haig’s costly method was effective and in the end, killed more Germans than Britain’s.

Haig was involved in the Battle of the Somme against his will. It was due to the alliances that this war took place so this should be the reason for the many casualties. But in the end, Haig ultimately led Britain to victory in the Battle of the Somme. He continued leading Britain to their largest number of consecutive victories in history. All the countries lost hundreds of thousands of men in the war and were all in stalemate, but Britain under the command of Haig made the only breakthrough between all the generals in Britain, France and Germany. Too much responsibility and expectations were placed on Haig but in the end, it was his side that won the war. Haig should be praised for not allowing emotions to conflict with his decisions and being able to cope with all of Britain’s anger placed on him.