General Haig's Role in the Battle of the Somme

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The Battle of the Somme was one of the most famous battles that took place during World War One. Germany had believed that a war with Russia was likely to occur and if that happened then they would also come into attack from France. In order to avoid attack from both sides Germany planned to attack France first and then Russia, believing that Russia would need 6 weeks to attack them and they could defeat France in that time. This was the basis of the Schlieffen Plan. Germany attacked France through neutral Belgium as they thought that Belgium would not fight them. Germany launched a massive attack in the French city of Verdun in early 1916.This gave a real shock to France as they did not see it coming but, to lessen the pressure on France, the British planned an attack at Somme. The British wanted to break the German lines so that all the allies could continue the war into Germany.

The Anglo-French alliance intended to wear down the German army at Verdun before engaging in the Battle of Somme however, due to the large French losses at Verdun, the date for the Battle of Somme was brought forward to the 1st of July. The battle of the Somme lasted for just 4 months from July 1916 to November 1916 but was easily known as one of the worst battles ever fought.

The Somme offensive was planned late in 1915 with the aim of draining the German forces of their reserves. The plan was agreed upon by the new British Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig, although Haig would have preferred an offensive among the open ground of Flanders where they could execute their strategies more tactically. Haig intention was to carry out the attack using the ideas of both himself and General Rawlinson.

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In conclusion I think that Haig should not be seen as the Butcher of Somme despite the large number of people that died because according to the sources the battle was well planned and his perfect plan to break the German lines was a success. Although people disagree with him being a good general others supported him when he returned. Other says that not only was he a butcher of the Somme he also lost the trust that people had in him during the frightful war.

Due to Haig's lack of having a more original or effective strategy, he was constantly bombarded with accusations of being incompetent to be a general, but in all fairness if another officer had concocted a more successful strategy, then they would have taken over command. The Germans also used the same strategy, nevertheless, when the troops were dying in thousands, it's easy to blame the man in charge.

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