Battle Of The Somme Coursework 3

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Battle of the Somme Coursework- Question 5

   This question is asking me to study Sources I and J, and then to comment on why I think that these sources differ about the Battle of the Somme. I shall start by elaborating the whole of Source I by adding fact to theory. This Source was written by Lloyd George to Haig on September 21st, 1916, after visiting the battlefield. At the time of writing this, Lloyd George was Secretary of war, which meant that he was responsible for war. Throughout he is trying to boost morale, and tries to make the Somme out to be a complete success, “… confirmed our hopes that the tide has now definitely turned in our favour.” Tanks were used for the 1st time on the Somme, to attack the village of  Flers. There were 50 altogether, by the end of the attack, approximately half had broke. They had been brought out to use too quickly and they had problems such as their tracks, steering and mechanical problems. Although, the tanks were rather successful as this village was taken. The Germans retreated. Lloyd George is congratulating himself so much in order for him to look good, as he was wishing to advance politically.

   Source J written by Lloyd George in his War Memoirs. It was written in the 1930s. He says in it that “I expressed my doubts to General Haig as to whether cavalry could ever operate successfully on a front bristling for miles with barbed wire and machine guns.” Here he means that Haig thought the machine gun was over rated and preferred cavalry. Haig was a man who was not used to modern tactics and weaponry; he wished to stand still in time with cavalry and older weapons. Herbert Asquith retired from being Prime Minister in December 1919 due to the failure of the war, and Lloyd George took over the role until 1922 when he retired. Although, Lloyd George was War Leader from 1916, so he was in charge since then. In his memoirs, Lloyd George makes himself look the better man and decides to blame other people for the losses. He was basically using the phrase “I told you so…” throughout this extract. Here he is creating an anti-war feeling, and trying to compel the blame onto Haig as he was no longer living then.

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   At Mametz, 8000 Welsh were killed. These men suffered due to the incompetence of their leaders. Lloyd George was Welsh and he put his friends in charge of the Welsh divisions. The 38th division were a Welsh division and Haig had criticised them for taking to days to clear the wood of Mametz in July, 1916. Although these men were controlled by Lloyd George’s friends, of whom he had put in control as a favour, not due to their potential. Therefore, he should accept some blame.

   As a conclusion, I think that Sources I and J differ about the ...

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