Source F is a newspaper article from the Daily Express printed on 3rd July 1916 reporting the events of 1st July. I found this article biased towards the British army, therefore showed that Haig was a good general as they showed only the bad side of the Germans and not the British. For example “… over 9500 prisoners have been taken.” shows how many German soldiers have been kidnapped, but nowhere in the article does it mention how badly the British did.
Source H is an extract from the book My War Memoirs by the German General Ludendorff, published in 1919. The quote “If the war lasted our defeat seemed inevitable.” shows that the Germans would have lost, and they couldn’t avoid it. I think that because a German general wrote this, and they were saying that the British and French did well, then they must have done well. Throughout the extract, the writer says how well the Entente did. “We had heavy losses in men and material” shows they were at a loss and would have struggled to victory.
Source L is Gary Sheffield, military historian, speaking on a radio programme in 1996. The phrase “Haig was far the idiot of the popular myth and the fact his armies won the greatest series of victories in British military history mean that we must take him seriously as a commander.” shows that Haig was not who many thought he was, which was an idiot. Because he led the British army to many victories, he is in fact a good leader.
Source M is a piece of writing by Philip Warner in 1991. “If the criterion of a successful general is to win wars, Haig must be judged a success …” shows that Haig must be a good general because he made the British army win not only many battles, but also the First World War.
Source N is comments on Haig by a soldier from the First World War. I think this shows that Haig was a hero because as a soldier from the time, he has a clear image of what happened. He questions what Haig had done as if it would have been bad if he didn’t chose to do it; “If he hadn’t sent us over the top at the Somme, what would have happened? What would have happened if the war would have gone on and on …”. I think that the soldier thought that Haig chose all the right ideas. He also thought that Haig was a good commander: “Haig looked every inch a commander. He was a very capable man …”. I think that this shows that Haig really was a good commander because it came from someone who saw him at the time.
Next, I am going to discover how Haig could have been accused of being a possible butcher. Sources B, D, E, G, I, J and K show how he could have been called a butcher.
Source B(i) is a short piece of writing by Sir William Robertson, a senior general in the British army and it was written shortly before the Battle of the Somme. The source does show that Haig is relieving pressure off the French at Verdun which could be reflected as him being a hero. However, it does state “The second objective is to inflict as heavy losses as possible upon the German armies.” which evidently shows that he is a butcher, killing/injuring as many as possible.
Source B(ii) is an extract written by General Rawlinson who is the general charge of the British forces on the Somme. The phrase “Our object seems rather to kill as many Germans as possible …” shows Haig is a butcher because it says that he was willing to kill as many Germans as possible.
Source D is an extract from The First Day of the Somme by Martin Middlebrook and it was written in 1971. “… in several places, the wire was still intact …” this shows that Haig’s tactics could’ve been improved and “… many shells failed to explode …” supports my explanation.
Source E is an extract from With a Machine Gun to Cambrai by George Coppard, written in 1919. Coppard was a soldier in the Battle of the Somme. The quote “Hundreds of dead were strung out …” clearly shows that Haig was a butcher of the war, because of the simple reason that hundreds were dead.
Source G is an extract and map from The Somme by Leslie Coate and it was written in 1983. I think this source shows that Haig was a butcher of the war because of the following statement “ … 21000 British soldiers who died that day.”. This is pretty obvious really as you wouldn’t expect 21000 men to die on one day.
Source I is an extract from War Memoirs by David Lloyd George and it was published in 1936. There are two main statements which I have found in the text to make me think that Haig could be a possible butcher. The first is “… one of the bloodiest battles ever fought …” as it clearly shows that the battle was very bloody. The second is “… The casualties on both sides were well over a million …” as it obviously shows there were many severely wounded or dead.
Source J is statistics of casualties during the Battle of the Somme. Although the statistics are all different, I feel that Haig was claimed a butcher correctly as the number was well over half a million either side.
Source K is an extract from The Western Front by Rosemary Rees, a school textbook which was written in 1995. I feel that this shows Haig as a butcher for one reason, and that reason is “… His one tactic was to attack over and over again, no matter how little was gained or how many died.” I think that this shows Haig is a butcher because its almost as if he doesn’t care how many people die because of him.
