Is General Haig solely the on to blame for the failure of the Somme?

Many believe that Haig was to blame for the failure of the Somme for many reasons for example He had a plan and he was sticking to it. The men in the trenches were very tired and badly fed because of which they were too weak to win the Somme. However Haig was inexperienced in fighting a war involving trenches and new weapons. He did not know how best to use his soldiers and his army was made up of young volunteers who had never fought in a war before. Many feel because of his stubbornness he sent millions to die. Many men in the trenches contracted trench foot and other aliments (diseases) it was clear that the men were in no condition to fight and Haig refused to change his plan even when it was clear that it would not work and insisted on a ‘BIG PUSH’ were men ran towards the enemy with no tactics in mind (no plan in mind).

However there were reasons not to blame Haig for example The Calvary (horses) got stuck in the mud of the battle field. Many soldiers were then easy targets. The Calvary got caught in barbed wire, which injured the horses. These points could blame Haig because he should have prepared when and where the horse should be let out however by this it shows that he was not prepared but this could also be a point not to blame Haig because the horses might have got out of hand which may have resulted them to get caught in barbed wire.

Summing up I believe that Haig was to blame for the failure of the Somme because as I stated above he believed in the ‘BIG PUSH’, this was a disadvantage for the army because they did not know what to do which resulted in them doing anything with no plan in mind.