'Did General Haig deserve to be the Butcher of the Somme?\r'

'1 July 1916, Battle of Somme started, fought by the armies of the British and French empires a turn inst the German Empire. It took countersink on either side of the River Somme in France, and it ended on 18 November 1916. The deviation of opinion caused millions of deaths and injuries between twain sides. The warfare channeld volumes’ hypothecateing towards war. From a spectacular adventure, to a b al wholenessy(a) counterbalancet. externalizeetary Douglas Haig was cardinal of the commanders from the British phalanx in the Battle of Somme, the meshing with wholeness of the senior highest casualties in British military score.Some slew called him â€Å"Butcher Haig” or â€Å"Butcher of the Somme” later his death in 1928, because he displace thousands of British passs to their death. But does he deserve the title? Or was he effective doing his caper and was in that location whatever misinterpret in the contest? I ordain talk ab off t he evidences and explain why many another(prenominal) spate view both sides and if he deserves the title or non. The offensive activity (Britain & France) conceived the idea as a battle of attrition, fervouring the Germans, the aim be to drain the German forces of reserves, although territorial gain was a secondary aim.On the first day of the battle of the Somme, air force incumbent Haig’s host (The fourth troops of Britain) help slight 57,470 casualties, of which 19,240 men were killed, for notwithstanding ane day. The French had a â€Å"complete success” which collapsed the German Defenders in s come onh of the Albertâ€Bapaume road. South confide of the German defense was make unequal to(p) of resisting some other attack. They pull away to the north bank which desertion of Fricourt was ordered. The German army went to the north bank and inflicted a huge land on the British infantry, which killed so many Britain soldiers.A get by of batch c alled Douglas Haig the Butcher of the Somme. Here ar some pieces of evidence to support this stop of view. â€Å"The biggest murderer of the visual modality was Haig. I’m precise bitter; always spend a penny been and always will be and everybody else that knew him. He lived almost 50 kilometers behind the problem and that’s about as around as he got. I tire out’t think he knew what a trench was manage. And they do him an Earl and gave him £100,000. I receipt what I’d have pr iodine him” (Fred Pearson, commenting on Haig in a local newspaper in 1966) Pearson was a nonpublic on the Western count.This suggests where Haig’s incline was and the opinion of the soldier in the Front line. It also states us that widely distributed Haig time-tested a large amount of coin and an Earl given by the loyal subsequentlywardsward. And although thither were a cud of murderer (Commanders in charge) during the war time, plainly Haig led a large amount of the British army to death as they called him the BIGGEST murderer. This man-made lake was write years later on the war in a local newspaper called pro Venanic.It good deal be trusted because it was scripted by a psyche who was in the battle who experienced what the war was like and what Haig was doing. â€Å"We were completely exhausted. ” Haig wrote, â€Å"If the war lasted, our army defeat disclosemed certain. ” He really believed that he had win the battle. Although the Germans had lost 680,000 men during the war and had retreated 10 kilometers guts from their trenches. They human appeal of the Britain and French were also very high. especially on the first day of the battle, which lost a massive number of casualties in the war history?Which made the citizenry bitter and angry especially the offense from the men in the Front line, seeing Haig standing kilometers behind them, thinking that he was being a coward, and the ones who los t their family and relatives on the 1st of July? P. smith was also a private in the 1st elude regiment fighting on the Somme. He was one of them who called Haig a Butcher. He wrote this in his diary, â€Å"It was pure bloody murder. Douglas Haig should have been hung, pull and quartered for what he did on the Somme. The cream of the British manhood was shattered in less than six hours.”From this quote, we faeces see that this person who is angry at what Haig did in the war. He wrote this on July 1916, which was the first month of the battle of the Somme. Given that everyplace 50 thousands soldiers died on the first day, Haig as the attraction of the team up, P. Smith wrote, â€Å"…Haig should have been hung, drawn and quarried for what he did on the Somme…” in his have got diary, since the diary was only indite for himself to read, he wrote d give birth all his feelings towards the war as a soldier and this outset is reliable, because no one would tell a lie in their own private diary, and he was rattling on that point at the battle of the Somme and he dictum thousands of friends and family killed.The source supports the point that Douglas Haig is the Butcher of the battle of the Somme. â€Å"Haig was a second â€rate Commander in unparalleled and unforeseen circumstances. He was not endowed with any of the elements of vision and vision… And he certainly had none of that personal magnetism which has enabled majuscule leadership of men to inspire multitudes with courage, faith and a spirit of sacrifice… He was incapable of planning vast campaigns on the cuticle demanded on so immense a battlefield.”This was scripted by David Lloyd George, British height Minster during the First World War, writing in his War Memoirs (1935). It gives us an idea of General Haig’s planning of war and he was incapable to be a big leader as immense a battlefield. He also describes Haig as a â€Å"second rat e commander” because of the high death count at the Somme. This source is reliable because given the fact that it was create verbally by a Prime see of Britain during WW1. â€Å"I want you to understand that there is a difference between a rehearsal and the real thing.There are 3 essential differences: first, the absence of the enemy. Now go to the Regimental Sergeant- Major what is the second difference? ” Sergeant Major. ” The absence of the General, Sir. ” This source was written in a cartoon from the British satirical magazine Punch (February 1917) the aim was to make fun of the publics as we can see in the cartoon. This source is very useful for us knowing to a greater extent about General Haig at the time, in the cartoon, the major general is addressing the men forrader an attack behind the lines.This is also reliable, because it was written in 1917, which was after the battle of the Somme. And it gives out information about Haig and his team. John Laffin, an agent in raw days, wrote in his history book, British Butchers and Bunglers of World War superstar (2003), â€Å"Haig and other British generals must be blamed… for willful blunders and wicked trippery. merely stupid they aptitude have been, hitherto much they were the product of a administration which obstructed enterprise, they knew what they were doing.There can never be forgiven. ” Although Laffin earned his living taking peck on battlefield tours and researched the war just from the soldiers’ standpoint, however he wasn’t in the battle, as he didn’t see what really happened and what Haig was doing at the time, he knew and comprehend all the things in the history by others. So this source can be either reliable or not and it might not be so fair to Haig saying that he is a fumbler. On the other hand, the second recitation is that Haig was just doing his job as a general.Different people have their different evidences for that. â€Å"The accuracy is that those ruddy-cheeked, bristling-mustached, heavy- jawed, much inarticulate generals rose to challenge after challenge, absorbed weapon after weapon into their battle-systems, and adapted themselves to constant change with astonishing success. But no one cared to make a fiction out of that. ” This was written by a historiographer named John Terraine in his Study of the Somme. â€Å"The stinkpot and the Fire” in 1980.â€Å"The truth is that those ruddy-cheeked, bristling-mustached, heavy- jawed, frequently inarticulate generals rose to challenge after challenge…” Terraine was talking about Haig, although Haig made a lot of success during the war, no one realized it and no one cares about it to make a legend out of that. This might be living the point that he was just doing his job and he made a great success in the war. A deputy sheriff in the Yorkshire Light Infantry who was gassed on the Somme and invalided back to Britain, writing in a letter to the Daily Express (21st celestial latitude 1916, â€Å"During the first half of the war, our leadership was perfect †perfect.There was an obvious genius for pure generalship which has made Sir Douglas Haig fit to rank with any general of past or modern multiplication. ” This source says that Haig was a flawless leader and a genius. The writer says that Haig led his team and Britain to achievement and he is the sub of us. â€Å"Which has made Sir Douglas Haig fit to rank with any general of past or modern times? ” This quote tells us that Haig was one of the outflank Britain leaders who had quite a lot of support from the locals. This source is also reliable because it was written in December 1916, mighty after the war ended.The author knew what happened, although he didn’t really saw what happened in the trench. Here is a picgraph show crowds welcoming Sir Haig home from France. It was taken on 12th April 1919, a few months after the war ended. This gives us an idea that a lot of people welcoming him back and they didn’t blame him of such(prenominal) a massive number of death in total. They treated him as a hero of Britain who led his army to victory and deliver Britain. However, this might not be such reliable as the other evidences. A motion-picture showgraph cannot represent the whole thing.And the photo might not be real, or it was just created by the government to suffer the support to Haig. A video is more reliable then a photo because we can see the start to the end. A photo is just a dumbfound of one single moment. There might be some other things happened in the past or later. â€Å"Blaming Haig the individual for the failings of the British war swither is putting too much of a burden of wrong-doing on one man. Haig was the product of his time, of his upbringing, education, and instruction and previous military experience. angiotensin converting enzyme argument goes that he was, ultimately, victorious and, even if he had been replaced would there have been anyone get around for the job? scour on the Somme a German officer called the battlefield ‘the muddy grave of the German army. ” This source was written by S. Warburton, in an article in the history magazine, â€Å"Hindsight”, which takes a fresh look at historical issues. The magazine was published in 1998, many years after the Battle of Somme. This source suggests reasons Haig are not a butcher and we shouldn’t blame him too much.â€Å"One argument goes that he was, ultimately, victorious and, even if he had been replaced would there have been anyone better for the job? ” He says that Haig is a great commander at the war that no other can replace him for doing a better job. He tried his crush and put a lot of effort on the planning and war, so that Britain had its victory at last. This source was written in 1998. Although the author might not be seeing the war time, it is reliable and it can be trusted that Haig was doing a great job during the war.There are more and more evidences to support both sides of opinion. They have their own point of view that we can’t say that they are right or wrong. In my own opinion, I think that General Haig deserves the title the Butcher of the Somme. He sent 50,000 Britain to death just for one day. He didn’t know what a war is like. His plan failed. Although it was the experts’ idea, but he should consider it was a good plan or not before actually doing it. He really believed that he won the battle, but in fact he did not.The Germans lost 680,000 men in the war, but at the same time, the deaths of Britain and French in total had the same amount of people died of the German empire. Haig refused requests for extra hospital trains to be made available before the attack beg. His outdated tactics led to the war being even more elongate and unintentionally prevented a victory over the Germans. He had no idea what a real war is. He aspect he was successful, but he was not. He wasn’t prepared for war, used people who were inexperienced soldiers at all.July 1 was one of the most deaths in war in the war history. He repeated the mistakes antonym of what was said organized. He is the Butcher of the Somme, I think. Overall, there is save a overturn between he is a butcher or he was just doing his job. No matter which side wins, there were still a large number of people died in the Battle of the Somme. A lot of people lost their homes, and lost their family. Although it was General Douglas Haig, who sent them to their death, there might be some misunderstanding in between.\r\n'