Does General Haig deserve the title Butcher of the Somme?
Does General Haig deserve the title 'Butcher of the Somme'? In this essay I will discus whether General Haig deserves to be remembered as 'the butcher of the Somme'. General Haig's title of 'the butcher of the Somme' originated after the First World War, when, due to large number of casualties Britain suffered from the war and mostly the Somme. The people of Britain wanted someone to blame. This was a coping mechanism in which people could deal with the loss of the 'lost generation'. Arguably Haig does deserve his nickname. This is because Haig sent thousands of men to their deaths continuously after his war efforts seemed not to be working. For instance 60,000 soldiers died in the first day alone in the battle of the Somme. The reason that so many people died was that Haig ordered his men to walk across no-mans land. They were easy targets for the German machine guns. However Haig assisted Britain in winning the war and although he did so with tremendous loss of life, these men did not die pointlessly. They died to protect their families and everyone else on the home front, and they died to prevent Britain from becoming a German Nation. Haig was also faced with an almost impossible task of winning the war in the quickest means possible. Haig was under constant pressure from the government to have a large victory to boost morale. This factor as well as the fact that
To what extend do you agree with Rhodes view that the British Empire was beneficial to both Britain and the colonies?
This term in history we have been learning about the British Empire and what impacts the British Empire had on the countries they conquered and on the world itself. The British Empire was the largest Empire in history and for a period of time it was the world's globally strongest countries. By 1921 the British Empire was in command of a population of about 458 million people roughly one quarter of the world's population. The land that Britain had conquered covered about a quarter of the earth's surface area (14.2 million squares miles. The legacy that is the British Empire is well known throughout the world; at the peak of its power, people often said" The sun never sets on the British Empire, "As the sun will always be shining on one of Britain's colonies all over the world." However people had many different interpretations on the empire some say they were positive some say negative. There is evidence to support Cecil's Rhodes view the empire was beneficial for both sides. However there is more persuasive evidence that the empire had negative effects. Furthermore if considering why each gave the interpretations that they did , it is obvious that Cecil's Rhodes interpretation is particularly unreliable .In this essay I will be examine different interpretations on the British Empire to answer the following question "To what extend do you agree with Rhode's view that the
''Without the First World War British women would not have gained the right to vote in 1918.'' Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation?
''Without the First World War British women would not have gained the right to vote in 1918.'' Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation? British women over 30 got the vote with the 1918 Representation of the People Act. The law was being changed, to ensure that soldiers coming home from the trenches were able to vote, if they hadn't been changing the law anyway, women were unlikely to have got the vote in 1918. There are many reasons why women got the vote, including: their work during WW1, Lloyd George being a supporter of women's suffrage, the suffragists' campaign of propaganda, the suffragettes' terrorism, the desire of MPs to not alienate potential voters, society's gradually changing attitudes and the fact that Britain did not want to be seen as old-fashioned. During WW1, women undertook jobs that needed doing while men who previously did the jobs were away fighting. They worked in factories making things for the war, like uniforms and shells and took over jobs men had done before the war, like working on farms, driving lorries and delivering coal. This work in factories and other jobs gave women more money and confidence. This confidence meant that women were seen differently, and more able, by many men. This confidence and respect from men helped to gain women the vote in 1918, and was an important contributing factor. The work of women during the war and
What does the social welfare legislation pass between 1906 and 1911 reveal about the intentions of Lloyd George and the Liberal government?
What does the social welfare legislation pass between 1906 and 1911 reveal about the intentions of Lloyd George and the Liberal government? The social welfare legislation passed by Lloyd George between 1906 and 1911 reveals a lot of his intentions but also asks questions of what he was really intending. It could be argued that the party had good intentions, to help people who needed it the most. However it could be argued that it was only for personal and political gain for both Lloyd George and the Liberals. Firstly it can be argued that the Liberal government introduced reforms because they felt the need to help people who needed it the most. There was widespread poverty in Britain at the time and little help from government to change this. It was highlighted by the findings of Boothe and Rowntree which cause great humanitarian concern. The reforms were aimed to help all of the population. The Education act and Children's act aimed to keep children health and safe therefore improving their lives and helping their education. There was the National Insurance act aimed to help the sick and unemployed workers therefore hopefully helping the economy and reducing poverty because of workers who were unable to work. There was also the Old Age Pensions act which aimed to help the older population by introducing pensions. It has been said that the Liberals believed a healthy and
How significant a role did Britain play in the war against Germany, 1939-45?
How significant a role did Britain play in the war against Germany, 1939-45? On the 3rd September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany after they invaded Poland because Britain and France had made an agreement to defend Poland from a German attack. Despite this declaration of war, Britain and France did very little to defend Poland and no combat by the French or British took place for nine months to follow. This period of time was nicknamed the 'Phoney War'. In April 1940, the Germans invaded Norway; Britain attempted to defend Norway but after their defeat, Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister was forced to resign; Winston Spencer Churchill was appointed Prime Minister and formed a National Government. On the 10th June 1940, France was invaded and defeated by Italian-German forces; this resulted in Britain being alone against GermanY. Germany came up with a plan to invade Britain called 'Operation Sealion' because Churchill refused to negotiate with the Germans. For this plan to work the German Luftwaffe would have to have air superiority. The Luftwaffe had an advantage over the RAF of 2300 more aircraft overall, but they had an equal number of fighter planes. Also, the fighter planes from Germany could only spend 30 minutes over South-East England before having to return to refuel, this sometimes resulted in Bombers being left behind and then destroyed by
