The First World War - Field Marshall Haig: The Butcher of the Somme?

Authors Avatar

Assignment 2

The First World War

Field Marshall Haig: ‘The Butcher of the Somme?’

f) Study all the sources

‘Haig was an uncaring general who sacrificed the lives of his soldiers for no good reason.’

How far do these sources support this view?

Sources B, C, D, E, F and J seem to support the view that Haig was uncaring as a general. Sources G, H and I disagree with the statement. Whereas source A can be either of the two.

Source B shows that Haig was uncaring when it came to his men as he talks about how successful the battle was. He says that it all went like clockwork, which shows that he was uncaring about his men, because we know that there were 57,000 casualties in the first day.  So Haig believed that the first day of battle was a success even though there were so many casualties.

Source C supports this view, because Coppard says ‘How did the planners imagine that Tommies could get through the wire?’  This suggests that it was obvious that the soldiers were not going to be able to get through the trenches, meaning that he wasn’t too concerned about sacrificing lots of his men if some of them managed to get through the wire. This is a reliable source as George Coppard was present at the battle, so he saw the consequences of Haig’s bad planning.

Source D is suggesting that Haig did not sacrifice his men for any better reason than to move just slightly closer to Berlin. Meaning that Haig didn’t really care about his men, the battle was more for personal gain than for anything else. However, this source was taken from a modern day comedy show and is an exaggeration. Therefore, it is not a particularly reliable source for supporting the statement, although there is some truth behind it.

Join now!

Source E is another source written for entertainment purposes and not to inform. However, the comment ‘The absence of General, Sir,’ in answer to the question ‘What is the second difference (between a rehearsal and a real battle)?’ does support the view that Haig was uncaring. Even though it doesn’t refer directly to Haig, it does mention ‘The General’ and this cartoon was published in early 1917, it’s more than likely that it is making some direct reference to Haig.  This source was published in the British magazine, which suggests that many Britons agreed.

Source F is very anti-Haig. The writer, Laffin, describes ...

This is a preview of the whole essay