Haig butcher somme coursework

The Somme was a major battle and a major disaster. On the first day alone, the British and French armies suffered 67, casualties, the highest in its history.

Why was Haig not a butcher? This is my history essay I did ages ago, so bear with me if there are a few mistakes!: Butcher Of The Somme? Inthe British beg…an to worry that Germany had the upper hand of the war, and also at the time were anxious for the French, as many casualties were returning from Verdun.

The Battle of the Somme. Along with a few other higher rank generals, Douglas Haig planed the detailed attack on the German front line, with the aim of relieving the pressure on the French at Verdun. This was through flying planes over enemy lines to identify what the Germans were plotting, by dropping bombs on the German fortressed villages, ammunition depots and front-line bunkers, and by finally sending the British troops walking across No-Man's land to the German trenches, where the soldiers would attack the survivors and therefore gain control over the German front-line.

However, though sounding like a very well thought out plan, it was a disaster-in many ways, such as low cloud proved difficult for the British spotter planes to see through, the barbed-wire lining the German trenches was not cut, and secret dug-outs made by the Germans housed many rescued soldiers from the bombing, so the British were unknowingly outnumbered.

Due to this, Douglas Haig earned the reputation as 'Butcher of the Somme'. But was this a fair title given to a man who was judged by the 21 st century? He wasn't stupid, and therefore must have known what he was doing when he planned the battle.

He was a loving family man, adored his wife and children, and even visited the sick and wounded men behind the front lines.

Haig butcher somme coursework-Haig – Butcher of the Somme? Essay Sample

This proved that he wasn't a heartless man at all, and that he couldn't have sent all those soldiers to their deaths without good reason.

He was also noble and straight-forward, a man who wasn't afraid to speak the truth, for in his diary, he wrote: Arguably, this is a reliable source, as it is claimed to come directly from Haig's war-time diary.

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Haig was always confident that his weapons were 'up-to-date' and 'deadly' and regularly checked the construction of the artillery. Some allege he was a 'technophobe', afraid almost to use modern technology, and afraid of change to the kind of arms he was used to. But this would be wrong, for also in his diary, he wrote about his assessment of some of the trench mortars: He was proud of the design and confident that it would strive amongst the latest technologies involved in the war.

Many people believe that Haig was the only man responsible for the battle's bloody outcome. This was not the case however, as right from the early preparation for battle, he was closely assisted by General Rawlinson, who was the same rank as Haig, and who therefore should have bore some of the blame for the death of so many British soldiers figures stood at 60, casualties and 30, deaths on the first day.

The day before the battle, Haig wrote in his diary that 'the men were in splendid spirits', for he had told them that the barbed-wire had been cut successfully, and that the German trenches had been reduced to nothing more than rubble and mud.

This information later proved to be massively important, and unfortunately for Haig inaccurate, as the barbed-wire had not been cut, nor the trenches greatly destroyed. This means that Haig was given false information, the night before the battle and conclusively means that whoever told him it was 'all clear' should accept as much of the responsibility as Haig did.

From 'Dropping the donkey epithet', it tells us that: This quote is saying that Haig didn't get rid of his original diary, which proves he had nothing to hide.Haig was born in a house on Courseork SquareEdinburgh but technically it was addressed as 19 Hope Street, the haig butcher somme coursework street to the south-west a plaque exists.

He was not an aristocrat by birth, or landed gentry. Many people have regarded General Haig as the Butcher of the Somme. Does he really reserve this name? To decide this it is necessary to consider what happened at the battle of the Somme and to what extent it can be blamed on Haig.

1. Was General Haig the Butcher of the Somme? Miss Boughey – ashio-midori.com 2. July 1st The Battle of the Somme started on July 1st It lasted.

The Essay on Barbed Wire Haig Battle Somme , and that gave Haig the nickname "the butcher of the Somme." The battle went on through the summer and the British did capture most of , the troops walked across no-mans land and were easily killed by the Germans.

From this Battle, the nickname 'Butcher of the Somme' was given to Haig and in my project I wanted to investigate whether this title was fair. British Expeditionary Force The British Expeditionary Force were the small army sent to the Western Front in The Somme was an imperative offensive to the British war effort to prevent a French collapse at Verdun and break the deadlock in Europe.

It totaled a devastating ,[1] casualties to , casualties which was a total of 21%% of the total British casualties in the Great War in a relatively short period of time (less than 5 months)[2].