How useful are sources A, B and C to an historian studying the attitudes of British soldiers to their commanders during the First World War?

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Question one: - How useful are sources A, B and C to an historian studying the attitudes of British soldiers to their commanders during the First World War?

Sources A, B and C are all about General Haig and the tactics he used during the Battle of the Somme. They are all very different sources.

Source A is a cartoon from the British magazine Punch, without looking at the source we already know what it is likely to be made up of due to its origin. Firstly, it is British and so is obviously going to bias. Secondly, the cartoon is from the magazine Punch, Punch is a very controversial, sarcastic and ironic magazine and is made to entertain and humour the public. Because of these reasons it is quite unreliable and unhelpful. The source is set out to play on public perception and does so by ridiculing the generals. The source is about the generals telling a soldier the difference between the real battle and the practice battle he is currently participating in. The general tells the soldier that the differences are

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“First the absence of the enemy….the absence of the general.”

This suggests to us that General Haig is scared of what is going to take place in the battle and so we immediately doubt his leadership skills. Although this cartoon is comical and entertaining, it also has a serious undertone as it has truth to it. From research I have found out that Haig wasn’t present at the front line and that he was, in fact a few miles away, this shows that the source does have relevance and holds some truth. However this source would not be very useful ...

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