Does General Haig deserve the title Butcher of the Somme?

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Does General Haig deserve the title ‘Butcher of the Somme’?

In this essay I will discus whether General Haig deserves to be remembered as ‘the butcher of the Somme’.

General Haig’s title of ‘the butcher of the Somme’ originated after the First World War, when, due to large number of casualties Britain suffered from the war and mostly  the Somme. The people of Britain wanted someone to blame. This was a coping mechanism in which people could deal with the loss of the ‘lost generation’.

Arguably Haig does deserve his nickname. This is because Haig sent thousands of men to their deaths continuously after his war efforts seemed not to be working. For instance 60,000 soldiers died in the first day alone in the battle of the Somme.  The reason that so many people died was that Haig ordered his men to walk across no-mans land. They were easy targets for the German machine guns. However Haig assisted Britain in winning the war and although he did so with tremendous loss of life, these men did not die pointlessly.  They died to protect their families and everyone else on the home front, and they died to prevent Britain from becoming a German Nation.

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Haig was also faced with an almost impossible task of winning the war in the quickest means possible. Haig was under constant pressure from the government to have a large victory to boost morale. This factor as well as the fact that Haig was not used to the tactics of a war of attrition may have caused Haig to act rashly and therefore if he was not under so much pressure he may have acted differently. Haig was also fed false Intel that was meant to boost morale. Haig was advised that his seven day artillery bombardment had proven ...

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Overall, this is an excellent response that answers the question well and is focused throughout. The author does well to support points with concise evidence but also ensures that both sides of the debate are considered before reaching a conclusion. The introduction is the weakest area and could have included a line of argument. 5 stars.