Why Was Haig Important

Haig was a significant character for various reasons during World War One, most of which were negative. In his earlier days, Haig was significant because it was ultimately his leadership that resulted in a number of disasterous losses for the British Army, for example the Battle of the Somme (1916) which is still seen as one of the British Army’s biggest failures to this day. His intial failures stem from his backward leadership and poor connection with the British troops. Having said this, in the later part of his career as Commander, Haig is remembered for reasons such as: his ability to recognise the changing nature of warfare during World War One and capacity to adapt his tactics and learn from his mistakes. Overall the main reasons Haig
Whilst Haig was living in places like local chateaux and comfortable accommodation, his troops were living in the muddy, abysmal trenches. Gerard De Groot’s biography of Haig perfectly illustrates what is meant by this: “While Haig slept in a cosy bed in a quiet country chateau and dined on the best food available, his men lived in muddy, noisy trenches sharing their bully beef and biscuits with big, bloated rats. It apparently did not bother Haig that his war was so much more comfortable than that of the men he commanded.” [ Biography of Haig – Gerald De Groot (SORT OUT FOOTNOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) ] This shows that Haig was unaware about the realities of the war his troops were fighting, whether that be because he was unconcerned or complacent, the point remains, he lives in luxury whilst his men suffered. In his own reports from the time, we can see how he did not have the knowledge or communication needed to successfully order the troops on the front line, this extract comes from his report on the first day at the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916: “Very successful attack this morning… All went like clockwork… The battle is going very well for us and already the Germans are surrendering freely. The enemy is so short of men that he is collecting them from all parts of the line. Our troops are in wonderful spirits and full of confidence.” [ Report by Haig on the
Haig was significant at the beginning of World War One because of these military failures however there are a number of other factors that contributed to these failures. Haig was under a lot of pressure from groups like The French Army and even by his Head of Intelligence, John Charteris, who was also known to misinform Haig giving him information that would please him rather than the truth. This of course was only detrimental to Haig when devising his tactics. A man who worked under Charteris, Lieutenant James Marshall-Cornwall is quoted to have said: Charteris’ information “Seemed intended to bolster up our own morale rather than to paint a true picture of the enemy's strength and fighting qualities.” [ Lieutenant James Marshall-Cornwall] It can be argued that although Haig has bared the majority of the blame for the massive casualties and deaths in the first part of World War One, he was often misinformed. In light of this evidence Charteris was also to blame for many of the misguided decisions Haig made during the battles that cost the lives of tens of thousands of British