“HAIG WAS A BUTCHER WHO THOUGHT NOTHING OF SENDING MEN TO THEIR DEATHS.” DO YOU AGREE? Field Marshal Douglas Haig was a British senior officer during World War 1. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the War. This meant that he was in charge of the Battle of the Somme. His part in this battle has led to split views on him as an army officer. Some believe that his tactic was poor and he was mindlessly sending men to their deaths. However‚ some believe that the Somme
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Does General Haig deserve the nickname ‘Butcher of the Somme’? Assessments of the Battle Events leading to the battle | Back to top | The main job of the British forces in 1914 and 1915 was to support the French. This is because the British Army was very small. In 1914‚ it had about 250‚000 men scattered around the British Empire. In that year‚ the British sent 5 divisions (a division was usually about 15‚000 men) to the front in France. The French army had 72 divisions and the Germans had
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Douglas Haig was appointed commander of the army on tenth of December 1915 - he was fifty-four at the time and he had had a very successful military career. Haig decided to attack the Germans at the river Somme in 1916 to attract German soldiers from the town of Verdun where they were fighting the French and had almost broken through. But even though he was victorious there was a very high casualty figure. I will explore whether Haig deserves the title ‘Butcher of the Somme‚’ with reference to multiple
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’Was general haig the butcher of the Somme?’ Introduction General Haig’s title of ’butcher of the Somme’ originated after the First World War‚ when‚ due to a 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’. Feild Marshall Haig has often been called the butcher of the Somme because 20000 soldiers died on the first day of the battle
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Does field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig deserve the name ‘The Butcher of the Somme’? The battle of the Somme took place in 1916 and was Haig’s idea. He wanted to draw enemy troops away from the battle at Verdun to give the allies a better chance of victory. Haig’s tactic was to send troops over the top to attack the German trenches and end the stalemate. Before the troops were sent over the top there would be severe artillery bombardment of the enemy trenches. This was designed to damage or destroy
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Did General Haig deserve to be the Butcher of the Somme? 1 July 1916‚ Battle of Somme started‚ fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place on either side of the River Somme in France‚ and it ended on 18 November 1916. The battle caused millions of deaths and injuries between both sides. The war changed peoples’ thinking towards war. From a great adventure‚ to a bloody event. General Douglas Haig was one of the commanders from the British
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To what extent does Haig deserve the title “Butcher of the Somme”? On 27th June 1916 the Battle of Somme began. This battle is also known as the battle of the most dead soldiers in all the wars. Most of the historians blamed Haig for all the deaths and casualties who are known as the orthodox but there were many contradictions on this point by many historians who are known as revisionist. This essay is going to be looking at both the perspective and then will conclude by evaluating on which side
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Field Marshal Haig: “Hero or Butcher of the Somme” I consider the field marshal as a butcher and a hero for numerous reasons. While the insinuation of Haig as a butcher ignores many positives that he possessed‚ the implication of him being a hero also neglects negatives that the field marshal obtains. Although the winning of the war had come at the sacrifice of a vast number of soldiers‚ we must not forget that the general had achieved his primary objective even if it had been accomplished in
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Does General Haig deserve to be remembered as ‘the butcher of the Somme’? General Haig was a famous general who won the last war in the First World War‚ he should be remembered as a hero‚ but why do people reckon him to be the opposite‚ as a butcher? As the ‘Butcher of the Somme ’? In my point of view‚ I think of general as a butcher rather than a hero‚ for he‚ in the first battle in the First World War‚ the battle of Somme‚ he used 420000 soldiers to defeat 500000 Germans soldiers and gain 10
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far does General Haig deserve to be known as ‘The Butcher Of The Somme’? By the battle of the Somme in 1916 the war had been in a huge stalemate for 18 months that didn’t look like it was going to be broken any time soon. Trenches had been dug on the Western front all they way from the coast at Ostend to the Alps. Just before the offensive at the Somme‚ Verdun was under a heavy attack from German forces forcing the French to pull all their troops back to Verdun. General Haig was asked to relieve
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