'Haig was an uncaring general who sacrificed the lives of his soldiers for no good reason.' How far do these sources support this view?

going to get killed?’ Yes. Clearly Field Marshal Haig is about yet another giant effort to move his drinks cabinet six inches closer to Berlin.” When it says about Haigs drink cabinet being 6 inches closer to Berlin, it is saying that he doesn’t have a lot to do with what goes on at the front he just stays with his drinks cabinet at the back. This could show that he would sacrifice the lives of his men for no good reason as he doesn’t go to the front and help them. Source F is from a recent book called ‘British Butchers and Bunglars of world war’ I think that this source claims that Haig sacrificed his men for no good reason because for 1, if he wouldn’t sacrifice his men’s lives which is like butchering then he wouldn’t be in a book called ‘British butchers and bunglars of world war’. “Haig was as stubborn as a donkey and as unthinking as a donkey. The principle that guided him was if he could kill more Germans than the Germans could kill his men, then he at some time win the war.” This shows that as long as he thinks that he will be able to win the war by doing this, he would sacrifice his men’s lives to do it, and as it says that he is stubborn before that, this shows that he probably wouldn’t let anybody else tell him any different and even if they did he wouldn’t listen to them. It then carries on to say. “That was an appalling kind of strategy. It is not a strategy at all, it’s slaughter.” That quote tells us what we are trying to prove in the question, that it is slaughter and slaughter is when you kill people for no good reason. “He knew he had no chance of a breakthrough but still sent men to their deaths.” This quote also tells us what we are trying to prove. Source G was from the ‘German official history of the first world war’, published in the 1930’s. The title makes you think that it wont be bias towards either of the sides. “If the Battle of the Somme had no great importance in the strategic sense, its consequences nevertheless were great, particularly as regards moral” This quote says that Haig had not planned what he was going to do at the battle of the Somme he hadn’t got a plan so the consequences were great. This also shows that he didn’t care about his men because if he did care about his men and not sacrificing there lives for no good reason then he would have made a plan. “This was the more marked as the heavy losses had made it necessary to send to the front a great number of soldiers whose training were poor.” This shows that he didn’t get his men trained, so that they could actually defend themselves of getting killed, this maybe because of money, but otherwise it shows that Haig would sacrifice the lives for no good reason. Source C is an interview, years after the battle, with Private George Coppard. “Hundreds of dead were strung out on the barbed wire like wreckage washed up on a high water mark. Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground.” This shows that the Germans were prepared and the British men got slaughtered whether or not it is because of Haig it doesn’t tell. “It was clear that there were no gaps in the wire at the time of the attack. The Germans must have been reinforcing the wire for months. It was so thick that daylight could barely be seen through it. How did the planners imagine that Tommies would get through the wire?” this shows that the Germans had made loads of planning but the British mustn’t have as the planners would have thought of a ‘what if the wire is to thick? Plan’. “any Tommie could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it down, often in a worse tangle than before.” This shows that our men haven’t been trained properly or else we wouldn’t be using shell fire. This in my eyes shows that Haig sacrificed the lives of his men for no good reason or else he would have given them good training and hired someone to think up of a good plan instead of just sending his men out to kill as many Germans as they can without a plan. Source J is Lloyd George in his memoirs, written in the 1930’s. “when the Battle of the Somme was being fought, I travelled the front of Verdun to Ypres. I drove through squadrons of cavalry. 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.” This shows that Britain haven’t bee doing very well in the war for a while as Lloyd George is already expressing his doubts, he doesn’t think that the cavalry can do a very good job of the barbed wire this could also show that the men haven’t been trained properly. “It was not responsible for the failure of the German effort to captue Verdun. This offensive was already a failure.” The bBitish didn’t make the Germans fail to capture Verdun they failed there selves so we didn’t do anything to be proud of whereas Haig was telling the German people that we had made the Germans fail. “It claimed that the Somme destroyed the old German army by killing its best officers and men.” This shows that we didn’t kill any of the German officers and men there failure to capture Verdun did as they hadn’t got a very good plan. Haig also told people that we killed off some of the German officers and men as he wanted to look good in the public eye. “it killed off far more of our best. Had it not been for the stupidity of the Germans in provoking a quarrel with America, the Somme would not have saved us from a stalemate.” This shows that if it wasn’t for German stupidity then we would have lost the battle, it was only because the Germans and the Americans were fighting that we even got a stalemate. This source shows a bit of Haig sacrificing the lives of his own men for no good reason as it shows that Haig hadn’t really got a clue what he was doing, and by the sounds of things didn’t even try learning what to do. All of these sources put together do paint a very strong picture of how Haig sacrificed the lives of his men for no good reason, but I think that sources B, H and I say of how Haig was a good General and didn’t sacrifice the lives of his men for no good reason. The first part of source B was written by Haig the day before the battle. “The men are in splendid spirits. Several have said that they have never before been so instructed and informed of the nature of the operation before them.” When he writes several have said that they have never before been so instructed ………., it is several out of about 100,000 men so it doesn’t really mean much. “The barbed wire has never been so well cut, nor the artillery preparation so thorough. All the commanders are full  of confidence.” If everything was going to plan in the battle and the commanders were full of confidence in the men then why did 57,000 men die on the first day. So the extract was probably going to be published in some newspaper. I think that he would make things up to make the British look good, or should I say make him look good. The second part of source B was written the day after the attack. “Very successful attack this morning. All went like clockwork. The battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are surrendering freely. The enemy is short of men that he is collecting them from all parts of the line. Our troops are in wonderful spirits and full of confidence.” I know that Haig was just making this up as well to make him look good as the British lost 57,000 men on the first day so this statement that he used couldn’t be true. I think that you cant trust this source as I cant be true for the reasons that I have given above. Source H was written by a British General in 1973, he fought in both world wars. “Germanys spirit of resistance was broken, mainly by the courage and resolution of Haig’s armies, which had complete confidence in the leadership of the commander. They were inspired by his determination, for he never wavered from his purpose of breaking down the powers of resistance of the enemy, both morally and physically. Had Haig not had the moral courage to shoulder the main burden of the struggle in the Somme battles of 1916, French resistance would have crumbled. Haig was one of the main architects of the allied victory. This source is really for Haig, the person who wrote this was at the same rank as Haig so they would have been in it together so they would say good things about each other. It sounds like a source that you can trust in a way but with all the other sources saying the opposite you don’t really know what to think. Source I was Lloyd George writing to Haig on 21st of September, 1916, after visiting the battlefield. Lloyd George was secretary for war at the time of the Somme. “I can say that the heartening news of the last few days has confirmed our hopes that the tide has now definitely turned in our favour. I congratulate you most warmly on the skill with which your plans were laid.” This source also seems like a source that you can trust as it is written by Lloyd George himself. At the end of the source it says ‘I congratulate you most warmly……’ well in other sources it is showing that Haig didn’t make any good plans for the battle. The sources that I have picked that are for Haig show that Haig sacrificed the lives of his men for a good reason, but 1 of the 3 I think is just propaganda. I think that source E doesn’t really take a side as it just tells you that the General doesn’t attend a real attack, which is slightly more against Haig than for Haig. In my conclusion I think that Haig did sacrifice the live of his men for no good reason because there are more sources against Haig than for Haig and because of the points that I have stated above. Shannon Phillips