John Keegan, a modern military historian, suggests that Haig was an 'efficient and highly skilled soldier who did much to lead Britain to victory in the First World War'.

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Prashant Patel 11s        Centre Number:16325

GCSE History Coursework                                  Candidate number:8076

John Keegan, a modern military historian, suggests that Haig was an ‘efficient and highly skilled soldier who did much to lead Britain to victory in the First World War’.

Is there sufficient evidence in sources C to L to support this interpretation? Use the sources and your knowledge to explain your answer.

Field Marshal Haig was the most important person during World War One. There are many different views on his competence, character and leadership qualities of both past and present leading up to his victory in 1918. Despite being victorious, there are many flaws and events of which Haig was at fault for during the war.  On one hand you have the incompetent, criminal, immoral ‘donkey’ view of Haig supported by historians such as John Laffin, and on the other you have a competent, man of his time, innovative resourceful supported by historians such as Garry Sheffield and John Keegan. Ultimately I will prove which view is most accurate; using the sources and my own knowledge I will provide sufficient evidence to support John Keegans suggestion that Haig was an efficient and highly skilled soldier.

        On the subject of Haig’s performance in the Battle of the Somme, Keegans views seem to be somewhat limited. Other historians such as John Laffin argue that Haig should be seen as an incompetent and inflexible. His initial bombardment tactics were flawed, in that the Germans were easily managed to attack the British troops. There was insufficient barrage, attacking on too wide and deep a front. He displayed obstinacy in adhering to fixed plans regardless of the facts, even at the price of destroying his own armies. This is shown in source D. Source D is a view of Haig in the form of a cartoon entitled ‘Your Country needs me’, from ‘General Haig’s Private War’; The cartoon suggests to us that Haig was arrogant, and this is almost certainly true in that he failed to adapt to changed conditions of attack, for example when the initial bombardment at the Somme failed he continued with the same tactics best epitomizing his inexperience and arrogance. However the usefulness of this source is unconvincing- it is only the view of one person, the cartoonist, and not of the general public.

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        There is however some powerful evidence to support the view of Keegan, in particular sources K and H. Source K an article by S.Warburton, published in ‘Hindsight:GCSE Modern History Review’ in April 1998 says that Haig was the best man for the job at the time. “Haig was the product of his time, of his upbringing, education, and training and previous military experience.” In perspective, the criticism Haig receives seems harsh and unjustified because the British casualties were the same as the Germans and French. Source H, shows us that Haig’s perseverance in continuing the battle of the Somme, despite ...

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