When war broke out in August 1914, Haig led the 1st Corps to northern France. In early 1915 he became commander of the 1st Army before succeeding Sir John French as commander in chief of the British Expeditionary Force in December. In 1916 Haig was responsible for the Battle of the Somme, which cost 420,000 British casualties over four months for minimal gain. The next year saw further stalemate: the US entered the war in April but the French command wanted to stay on the defensive until the first of the Americans arrived. This frustrated Haig, who was subordinate to the French general Robert Nivelle.
The French lost 195 000. The Germans were forced to send troops form Verdun and so pressure on the French was eased. The German army had also suffered heavily, losing many of its best junior officers (captains and lieutenants) among its 650 000 casualties. They could not be replaced. Haig wasted Britain's secret weapon, the tank, by using them in such few numbers.
For many years The Battle of the Somme received much criticism for the way the battle was fought based on the number of casualties. Joseph Joffre, The French Commander in Chief, wrote a letter to Douglas Haig on December 15, 1915, stating a great battle would need to take place in order to save the French Army from the massive killing taking place in the Battle of Verdun. Initially, Haig opposed a battle on the Somme front, but in the end agreed that the Somme would lead to a final victory because of the great trenches. On December 19, 1915, Douglas Haig became the new commander of the BEF’s “British Expedition Force” First Army. He was a hard person to get to know and seemed to have no concern for the human suffering caused by the war.
“The men are in splendid spirits” This sentence tells us t... ... middle of paper ... ...voking a quarrel with America, the Somme would not have saved us from a stalemate.” This tells us that Lloyd George thought that the Somme was a failure an that the battle killed off more of Britain’s best men than it did the German’s best. He also says that Germany only lost the war because they provoked a quarrel with America. This source tells us that Haig made a massive military blunder in the Somme. I believe that even though most of the sources tell us that Haig was a butcher, I believe that the three most reliable ones are sources B, G and H, and these all portray Haig as being a great general. Therefore, my judgement on Haig’s decisions are greatly influenced by these sources, meaning that I also believe that Haig cared about his men and that he made the right decision in attacking the Germans at the Somme.
By attacking France, it could benefit his army by possibly moving up in status. He intended to continuously attack the men on the opposite side to wear them down. This plan was used because Falkenhayn wanted the French to give up. Though Erich believed this would work, the rank of the French still remained higher than the r... ... middle of paper ... ... defeat the German Army, the French had to create strategies on how they were going to accomplish a victory over the German Army. World War I also brought new technology that would assist the men involved in the battle.
The allies at this time was slowly pushing its way through the Ardennes Forest and into Germany they also were pushing into the Belgium Boarder. But they were having a tough time getting past the maginot line in France. The allies had a force of 600,000 American solders And 55,000 British solders. Hitler hoped to surprise the Allies off gua... ... middle of paper ... ...anks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft. The Malmedy Massacre, where 86 American soldiers were murdered, was the worst atrocity committed against American troops during the course of the war in Europe.
In the first day alone 58.000 men were either killed or injured because of the plan that Haig chose. Sir Douglas Haig and the French military used a plan that would make them defenceless because of all the casualties caused. The British government was apauled when they found out what had happened and what the outcome was. A large amount of deaths were on the British side even though Joffre intended to use the French soldiers at first, but the German attack on Verdunin 1916 turned the Sommeinto a large scale British diversionary attack. After all the deaths Haig took the responsibility of the operation and designed a new plan.
France had suffered greatly at the hands of the Germans. The north of their country Had been left in pieces, and 1,400,000 soldiers had been killed. As a result, they wanted a harsh treaty. France wanted to ensure that no third attack would ever take place, and wanted Germany to be reduced to... ... middle of paper ... ...st Prussia. The League of Nations controlled the Saaraland and other important areas for 15 years until the country decided what they were going to do with themselves.
Cause of the End of World War One World War One began in late 1914 and finished in late 1918. It had caused the deaths of millions in the leaders "war of attrition," exacting a high price on a generation of Europeans. In this essay I will put together the reasons behind Germany's collapse for an Allied victory. By the end of 1917 Russia had surrendered to Germany, signing the Treaty of Brest Litovsk. This closed down the Eastern Front making a further million German troops ready to attack the Allies on the Western Front, giving a boost to morale for the war weary Germans.
The expectation being that all forward German defences would be destroyed leaving the at... ... middle of paper ... ...Battle of the Ancre where the field fortress of Beaumont Hamel was captured. The British were finally progressing, but even this was bought to a halt when extremely bad weather caused the Somme offensive to end. The result had been an estimated 420,000 British casualties, a further 200,000 for the French and around 500,000 for the Germans and all for only 12 kilometres of land in Britain and Frances favour. Over 1 million lives were lost in this battle alone and all the Somme offensive was designed for was to divert German attention from the French at Verdun. Some believe this battle acted as a learning curve in the employment of artillery, which contributed to the victory in 1918.