Source D is a poster from a book called ‘General Haig’s Private War’. The source is a sarcastic take on Kitchener’s recruitment poster. The message of this source is that if you fight for Haig you are most likely to die, Haig comes across as big headed as he is saying ‘your country needs me’. The limitations of the source are that we do not know who made it or when it was published. It is not reliable as it only gives one view of Haig. This source does not support Keegan’s view and is not sufficient evidence.
Haig himself wrote source E prior to the Battle of the Somme and on the day of the first attack. Source E is a collection of Diary entries. The message of the source is that all of the soldiers were happy and ready for the battle. This source is not reliable as it was probably changed before being shown to the public, it is also only Haig’s opinion. The limitations are that it is one sided, has no information about casualties and is largely inaccurate as Haig’s beliefs changed his views of what he saw. On the whole this source is not sufficient evidence as it is unreliable.
Source F was from a book called ‘Great Battles of World War One’ written by a modern Historian called Anthony Livesey and was published in 1989. The message is that it’s giving both sides, one pointing out his failures which weren’t done deliberately; he thought that he was doing the right thing. This source is reliable because it is not one-sided, it also wasn’t written at the time. The limitations of this source are that It is not a soldiers point of view, there is no evidence, it also doesn’t say where the research came from. This is a sufficient piece of evidence as it suggests Haig was responsible for defeat.
Source G was taken from a biography by David Lloyd George that was published after the war. David thought that Haig was wrong; it also suggests that he thought that Haig was too confident about himself. This source isn’t reliable even though it was written at the time because it is one-sided, he’s not a soldier and the source isn’t objective. No this source is not sufficient evidence as David talks about his mistakes not Haig’s.
Source H was taken from a biography written by Duff Cooper that published after the war, it was also written because Haig’s family asked it to be. This message from this source is that Haig took the only option available to him. This source is not reliable because Haig’s family asked it to be written. The limitations of this source are that it is very one-sided and it also doesn’t say anything about what he did wrong. This source does agree with Keegan but it is not sufficient evidence to support his ideas as it is too unreliable.
Source J an article written by the Germans that was republished on 10th May 1917. This article does not support Keegan’s view as the article is sarcastic. The article is not reliable as it is one-sided, written by the Germans, it would have been censored. It also could have been propaganda. The limitation is that it is one-sided. This source is not sufficient evidence.
Source K was from an article by S. Warburton, published ‘Hindsight: GCSE Modern History Review’ in April 1998. The source does support Keegan’s view on Haig ‘Too much burden of guilt on one man’. It suggests that Haig was the best at the time, he does acknowledge that Germany lost people too and that Haig did make mistakes. This source is reliable as it is written by an historian meaning that he has done research on the subject, it is also a balance view. There are no real limitations to this source. Yes that this source is sufficient evidence.
Out of these 8 sources, the sources that don’t agree with Keegan’s interpretation are C, D, E, G and J. Sources F, H and K do agree with Keegan’s interpretation but only sources F and K that fully support it. I do not think there is enough sufficient evidence to suggest that Haig was an ‘efficient and highly skilled solider who did much to lead Britain to the victory in the First World War’.
