An extract from historian John Terrain book “The Smoke and the Fire” in a school textbook in tiled “Twentieth Century” written by John D Clare. The textbook was published in 1995 and was produce to inform the younger generations about the past and to make money. John D Clare produces textbooks for schools and would aim to produce a balanced argument. I believe that the source would not be bias as it is focus on facts. The author also has the benefit of hindsight and is able to produce an accurate and reliable source. The extract tells us that there was many myths over the First World War, such as the war was reasonable for Britain’s position as a great power to be lose. Another myth that Terraine proved wrong is the one by Lloyd George who thought the Battle of the Somme was the futile and bloodiest war ever fought in war history. However, Terraine reminds us that Russia lost 4.5 million, soldiers during the German invasion of 1941 compared to British who only lost 415,000 at the Battle of the Somme, Terraine also said that the Battle of the Somme was not futile, in actually fact the turning point of the war, as the German army had been utterly worn out. The majority of the public believed that the British soldiers were lions, but donkeys led them and that the Generals were stupid who could not think of ideas to win the war apart from the slaughtering men until one side was ground into submission. They also believed the generals were cowards staying behinds the frontline. Terraine reply to this myth was that the British Generals were hard working, working 14 hours a day and that Generals had never went in to battle with their soldiers as their job was to produce strategies to win the war not to fight in it. Terraine claims the Generals did, by introduce new technology into their strategies in hope to win the war. This source does not tell us that Lloyd George was responsible for giving the weapons and men to fight. His aim was to make the generals the scapegoats meaning the blame for the amount of soldier who died in the battle was shifted away from himself.
A primary source, which was in the form of report on the aftermath of the Battle of the Somme. Tells us that the German casualties were greater then the British casualties. It also tells us that the constant attacking by the British army wore the German army out and they become dishearten. The source does not tell us the number of casualties of both European powers. This could be because the information was censored so that the public would not be come rebellious against the government. The source claims that the German army became tiered and dishearten this view is supported by references made by General Ludendorff in his War Memoirs that were written in 1920 which says, “The German army had been fought to a standstill and was utterly worn out.” The Generals continuous attack on the German army turned the war, thus may had been the plan all along, the soldiers that dies were martyred as their efforts changed the war in the British favour.
AJP Taylor was an historian who loves the First and Second World War and the time in-between. The source tells us that Haig believed that victory was certain as they had god on their side. The source also tell us that not only did Haig had the pressures of the battle, but also the French made it difficult for him, by not allowing Haig to wait for the tanks to arrive. This shows that he wasn’t given much help, so to blame the high death toll of the battle on the generals would not of been fair as there was not much mote, they could of have done without the help from the French. In addition, the source claims Haig was the best man for the job, as without his confidence in their tactic of persistent attacking ay not have occurred, and Germany may of won the battle. This shows us that Haig was a confident general and was resilient to the pressure.
The next source I am going to look at is an official figure, which, was issued in 1920. The total death toll of the war for Britain was 722,159 of these 648,376 deaths occurred in the battles on Western Front this mean that ninety percent of the deaths occurred at the Western Front. The source however does not tell us how many soldiers were fighting at the front, as the Western Front was the main battle and where the majority of soldiers were fighting which would of made it inevitable that the majority of the deaths would arise at the Western Front. This source is not very reliable even though it is an official document. It not reliable for one it is very inaccurate as the figures does not include the many soldiers which were missing also as it was issued at the time when the government were trying to shift the blame of the high death toll onto the generals. I believed the source does not tell us the number of soldiers that were fighting in the war for that reason alone.
The next source I am going to look at is a quote from a veteran of the Great War recalling his memories of General Haig. The veteran said, “I think General Haig wanted shooting. He was a man who never cared for a men’s lives. About 1917 we called him the ‘butcher’ I do not know anything about generals- I never had any contact with them. We have no information on the veteran we do not know his name where in the Western Front he fought or what rank he was. This information is reliable to an extant but I find it a bit contradicting in what he says. He says he thinks General Haig wanted shooting and that Haig didn’t care for men’s lives I don’t see how he would know that with no contact with Haig. However on the other hand if what he had said is true that he had no contact what so ever that was poor leadership skill by Haig as how were the soldiers meant to know what to do. These source doses not help me much as I do not feel that it is very reliable.
The next source I am going to look is the one of Lloyd George. The source is Lloyd George’s War Memoirs, which was published in 1928, ten years after the war. The source tells us that Haig was inadequate to do the job, as he was unable to possess the necessary breadth of vision or imagination to plan a great campaign. However, the source does not tell us that he (Lloyd George) was the man who was giving Haig the weapons and men during the Great War. This is because he was trying to shift all the blame on to Haig. This source is not reliable as it is bias against Haig.
The source I am going to evaluate is the one of Winston Churchill; the source is a book, which was produce after the battle of Western Front in 1916. The source was produce to inform people of the going on in Germany. The source is telling us that that the British casualties were never less then 3 to 2 against the Germans casualties, this was written as criticism of the way the battle was fought and conducted. This became clearer when Churchill went on to say “a welter of slaughter” he is saying that he is shocked and appalled by the amount of death, which occurred. Which make me believe he his a bit of a hypocrite as what the source does not tell us is that his role of First Lord of the Admiralty which meant he was the one who was responsible for giving Haig and the other general weapons and men to fight the war.
In conclusion, the title, which was given to Haig and the other General claiming that they were “donkeys” which led brave soldiers to their death, could be said to be fair. The death toll was very high, however I feel that this was inevitable for the type of war that was seen, also the French allies did not help the general’s situation. So to complely scapegoat the generals of the war would be wrong, thought they may have made some mistakes but they were doing their job to the best of their ability. The General successfully did their job, which was to win the war.