or not.
Source 1 is a photograph of Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, Its shows
him as a very proud man with all of his ribbons and his Kings cross. The
ribbons infer that he must have had a good relationship with his soldiers in
previous battles like the Boer war that he fought in South Africa. He also
must have been very brave at one point because he has a kings cross
which are awarded for bravery, They also show that he is a war veteran
with experience. In the Photograph his appearance is very smart he is very
clean and his moustache is well groomed, so is his hair his uniform is also
very formal and smart. This infers that he is good with rules regulations
and discipline and he has also previously been a soldier. The way that he
is dressed looking very smart and important portrays him as hero that
other people would look up to. Overall I think that this source doesn’t go
any distance to prove if he cared or not about his soldiers.
Source 2 Is a extract written by Haig on 30th June 1916 the day before the
attack of the Somme it is primary evidence but it shows Haig as having a
very callous and uncaring attitude. “heavy casualties” He is saying that he
knows that a lot of people are going to die but he still doesn’t say anything
about stopping it. But on the other hand he is trying to get the public to
face the fact that yes many men are going to die but at least they will be
giving up their lives for their country. He is simply stating the obvious
because he knows that this is going to be a full scale war from his
experience and that their was going to be massive consequences and that
it would be really bloody. My opinion is that this source doesn’t suggest
any thing about the question he is just following orders from people who
are higher ranked than him.
Source 3 is another extract written by Haig from his report of the first day
of the attack. “The men are in splendid spirits” This infers that he knows
about how the soldiers are doing but in reality he doesn’t really he just
saying what the public want to hear. It is a form of propaganda to raise
morale at home which is very unlikely to be 100% true. Also how would
he know how the soldiers were doing he never visited the trenches not
even once so his point of view is not very good it is biased he is only
hearing what he wants to here from the soldiers who are telling him what is
happening. It says “the barbed wire has never been cut so well” this infers
that there must have been a major communications problem because in
source 4 it states that “It was clear that their was no gaps in the wire at the
time of the attack” This suggests that Haig was very wrong because of
what he said previously. “any Tommy...often in a worse tangle than
before” this only proves that their was a bad communication problem.
Source 5 is a extract in a 1988 biography of Haig “While Haig slept in a
cosy bed in a quiet country chateau...was so much more comfortable than
that of the men he commanded” this is a secondary piece of evidence.
This infers that he didn’t care at all for his soldiers because if he did then
he would be worried about his soldiers and he would be out their in the
trenches fighting along side them. However the extract could be biased
because it does seem that the author has exaggerated about some of the
things “dining on the best food available.” I think that this source does
prove that he didn’t care about his soldiers but not completely it shows
that he wasn’t even really bothered about them as he was just wining and
dinning while his men where out fighting for his country.
Source 6 and 7 are just Mickey taking out of Haig From source 6 “Clearly
Field Marshall Haig is about...six inches closer to Berlin” This infers that
the soldiers know that they are going to fight but they know that it isn’t
going to get them anywhere. Source 7 is a cartoon taken from a punch
magazine and it Shows in a funny way how they know that Haig even
though he is their leader and tells them what to do he is never actually their
to help them fight along side with them.
Overall all of these sources together I don’t think that their is enough
evidence to say that Haig didn’t care about his men, I think that yes he
may have done a few things wrong but not so much as to inherit a name
like Butcher.
