Source F agrees with keegan but addresses the faults of Haig’s commanding. He admits that with out the battle of the Somme the Battle of Verdun would have failed which meant the breakdown of co-operation with the French, it seems the author thinks that there may have been a better way but doesn’t give his ideas, were there any others? There one problem, the passage was written because Haigs family asked for it to be done, sop it may not be entirely true.
The next source doesn’t give a straight answer on whether Haig was a highly skilled soldier I explains what pressure Haig must have been under and asks the most important question that most people seem to forget, was there anyone else who could of supported that burden and have been as victorious in what certain battles had led to. . Although the author, S. Warburton admits that Haig made numerous mistakes that contributed to the deaths of thousands.
There are several sources that disagree with Kegans statement. The first of these is source B. At first glance, I thought that it was for Haig as it says ‘Your Country Needs ME’ with a picture of Haig in his army uniform, he seems how I would expect a good leader to look. This is until I saw the almost sly sentence underneath which says ‘like a hole in the head- which most of u is going to get’. It shows that this person defiantly did not think of Haig as highly skilled or efficient! The author did not show who he was so this source is likely to be unfair and biased.
Sources D and E are both completely against Haig. Source is written by a modern historian and so is unlikely to be biased. Unlike Keegan Anthony Livesey describes Haig as being silent, humourless and reserved, he says that Haig had misplaced optimism and believed that he was chosen by God. If this is true then Haig may appear to be aragant. He suggests that Haig used the same military tactics over again, even when there was little prove they actually worked, this in part is true. Source E is most likely to be biased because of the fact that it is written by Lloyd George, who at first supported Haig through everything until some decided they didn’t like what he was doing. He might if believed this, but not once did he even try out another general. Maybe this is because there was no one better for the job? The answer to this question maybe that the simply wasn’t anyone who could control The English army, make the decisive decisions and come up with ingenious ideas as Haig did?
Other passages that disagree with Keegan are the statement ‘Lions led by Donkeys’. This shows that some people thought that Haig sat in his chateau, without a clue about what was going on the front line, drinking in safety while his troops were being as brave as lions at the front line. It suggests that these ‘lions’ were so brave and determined to fight for king and country they were prepared to die in squalor. The BBC’s program Blackadder goes Forth, by Stephen Fry, reinforces this idea that these courageous men were being led to their deaths by ‘Asses’.
There are other passages that I have found on the Internet agree with Keegans impression of Haig. Although the authors name and status is not reviled, it is a report by the BBC. Its states that many British and Dominion offices and above died on active service. This proves that the officers and generals did (on occasion) fight with their men. It also talks of the huge successes Haig had between 8 August and 11 November 1918 that has been largely forgotten. In this process Haig’s armies took 188,700 prisoners, important facts lost to stain the reputation of Haig.
After carefully reading and studying the various facts presented to me while doing my coursework, in my opinion, too much blame was piled on Haig. People seen to forget that without the, some times unorthodox and repetitive tactics of attrition, Britain may have lost the war. If the prime minister and others were so concerned about the way Haig controlled battles, surely they had the power to put someone else in, unless the was no one else who could even match up? Even though there were fatal mistakes made Britain still won the war. I believe that there is sufficient evidence to agree with my theory and I think that Keegans statement is true Haig was an efficient and highly skilled soldier.