Was Haig 'A Butcher'?

Was Haig ‘A Butcher’?

The Battle of the Somme was planned as a joint French and British operation. The idea originally came from the French Commander-in-Chief, and was accepted by General , the (BEF) commander, despite his preference for a large attack in Flanders. Haig also wanted to make a breakthrough and show that he would help takeover Germany with France. At first Joffre intended for to use mainly French soldiers but the German attack on in February 1916 turned the Somme offensive into a large-scale British diversionary attack. General now took over responsibility for the operation and with the help of General Sir , came up with his own plan of attack. Haig's strategy was for an eight-day that he believed would completely destroy the German forward defences.

Since 1918 there has been furious arguments over the leadership of General Haig, an army general in the First World War. After the war the British Government praised and showered Haig with honours. They also awarded him with £100,000. However not long after the war ended, Haig started to be criticized on his tactics, his willingness to sustain a great number of casualties and a number of other reasons.

In my report I have been investigating the acts of General Douglas Haig in World War one, using reports from primary sources, for example soldiers from the front line under Haig’s command and secondary sources from various historians who have written information on this important topic. These researches will aid in reaching to an overall conclusion of what I think to the question whether Haig was a butcher or not.

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Haig completed his training in the Royal Military College and was commissioned into the 7th Hussars. In 1886 he and his regiment were sent to India where he worked his way through the ranks. Not long after Haig stepped up to the rank of Colonel and then he became a Major General. This made him the youngest officer of that rank in the British Army. With all these experiences at such a young age it seemed that Haig was an excellent soldier and general. In 1906, Haig took up the most important post at the War Office as Director of Military Training to organize a British expeditionary Force (BEF) to be deployed in time of war. When Haig obtained the rank of Lieutenant General in 1914, he was given the command over the first Army Corps of the BEF in France and Belgium. Also that year, Haig was promoted to full general at the age of 53 and was given command of the recently enlarged BEF.

There have been many arguments over many years over the reputation of General Douglas Haig. Some believed Haig was an incompetent general and the loss of many lives in the First World War was his fault, whereas others believed he was a competent general.

Is it right to call Haig a butcher? For many reasons this seemed to be the right description for him because during the First World War because thousands died under his command. Even though Haig had experience of battle on the front line, most of these experiences were hand to hand combat, fighting small skirmishes in India and fighting against guerrilla warfare in South Africa. He had no experiences of large military confrontation in traditional battle formation or with the new machines or techniques of the twentieth century war methods. So to call up a general who had no experience of these things was a very risky idea. Haig thought that killing more Germans even at the cost of a large potion of the British Empire soldiers would win the war. Haig lived in luxury, forty miles away from the front line and never visited soldiers at the front. Hence he did not know the conditions they were subjected to. Haig should have ensured efficient communication in planning the strategies for the battle. Another weakness he had was, when confronted with problems Haig would step back and let other people handle it. Haig and his generals used the same strategy continually. They also used all their artillery to destroy the barbed wire while killing Germans at the same time. But this was not successful. In fact, it made it worst. The barbed wire was uplifted from the ground and entangled making it more difficult for the British soldiers to get through. The idea was that after all the artillery was fired, they would send the British infantry through to destroy and take over the Germans. People said that Haig was living in the past and always willing to use the cavalry but was just waiting for the right moment. Other’s criticised Haig’s religious convictions, as he relied on God instead of military knowledge.

There maybe many reasons to why Haig was classified as a butcher but there are also many reasons to why he couldn’t be classified as the “butcher of the Somme.” One reason is that he didn’t always get the right information from other generals, for example he had been told that the barbed wire had not been cut down but when the soldiers ran out onto no man’s land they got caught up in the barbed wire and gunned down by the enemy. Haig was given a difficult job to do and was faced with an impossible dilemma. Haig was under constant pressure by the British government. He did his best of ability and what he considered the right action at the time. The soldiers believed in Haig’s military tactics and earned their respect. They also thought he was a good commander although he stepped back sometimes when things went wrong. Haig accepted and took responsibility for the high number of casualties and death rates for his soldiers. When people say that he was living in the past, this was not always true as he welcomed the new technology and loved to use the tank. Also if Haig was such an insufficient General, the British Government should have relieved him from his duties.

Overall I think Douglas Haig was not a butcher. The Somme was a diversion wanted by the French and if the battle was not fought then the Germans could have broken through. Haig was not used to modern warfare as his experiences of wars in other countries were completely different from the traditional formation in Europe. We should also take in consideration that in the Battle of the Somme Britain suffered heavy losses but Germany had the most casualties. Also people who classify Haig as a butcher often say that Haig didn’t care for anyone and he said, “the nation must be taught to bear losses” but I think that at the time of the war this is a true considerable statement to say although it is hard to face facts, because if you want to win a war there is going to be losses unfortunately. Although I am making it seem that I am on Haig’s side completely I still think Haig should have got more involved in the battle but I think that his battle tactics were okay, maybe only a little improving needed due to the fact that Germany had more casualties at the end of the Somme. Haig was a considerable general for example he said,” success in battle depends mainly on morale and determination.” Overall I think that Sir Douglas Haig was not a butcher and should not be classified as a butcher. I think this is a very important issue and I found the information very interesting while I was researching the answers to this question.