Field Marshall Haig: the Butcher of the Somme In order to answer the main essay question on whether or not Field Marshall Haig was the Butcher of the Somme I will include points for and against and also quotes to sum up and give a complete answer on my opinion of Field Marshall Haig. When field Marshall Haig was appointed commander of the British forces, he was 54 years old. Before this time Haig had had a long and successful career in the military and 15 years previous he had been a celebrated Calvary commander in the Boer war. Haig believed that the only way you could win a battle was through “…grit, determination…morale…” Even though hundreds and thousands of men had been killed, in December 1915, the western front was still stalemate. It was debated as to how well the British army was being led and in the same month, a new commander was appointed, General Haig. However experienced Haig was, he now encountered an even worse and more complex problem – trench warfare. Since generals had no idea of how to fight against trench warfare they simply used methods of fighting and tactics that they had used in past wars. General Haig used the same plans for this war that he had devised for the battle of Nueve Chapelle. Haig’s plans were very thorough and used as much intelligence that was available at the time. He used aerial observation, photography, ground patrols and interrogation of prisoners. Haig’s plan was to- 1. Begin with an artillery bombardment to destroy the German barbed wire in front of their trenches. 2. Then there would be a mass infantry attack over No Man’s land on the German tren... ... middle of paper ... ...ajority of the soldiers were new and had absolutely no idea about the state of affairs they were going to go through, nor were they trained for an event this intense. After Haig had been in many wars and fought for most of his life I believe that the amount of training he gave the troops was poor and inadequate for a man of his experience. The men were simply led on false pretences and made to believe that the war wasn’t going to be that bad, whereas if Haig had made it worse than he knew it was going to be then they would have displayed better fighting qualities and would have been fully prepared. Another focal point that suggests against Haig; is that even when it was clear that his plan wasn’t working he stuck to it and didn’t think about trying to change his ideas to suit the new type of trench warfare.
I believe that even though most of the sources tell us that Haig was a
Operational leaders see how the individual components of an organization fit together and use those individuals work to make a larger outcome. When they focus on a problem, they think of what works best within the process and systems to make an impact on the situation. These types of leaders play a big part in making sure that things get done in an effective and functioning manner. According to the Army Doctrine ADP 6-0, the Army over time has strayed away from operational leaders and adapted Mission Command, which gives leaders the ability at the lowest level the capability to exercise disciplined initiative in an act of carrying out the larger mission . Mission Command is made up of the following six steps: Understanding, Visualize, Describe, Direct, Lead and Assess, in which a commander is responsible for. General Patton understood the intent of the Battle of the Bulge on different levels, he was able to form a mental image for the course of actions for the allies, enemies and lead his Army into combat while guiding his officers and soldiers to succeed in meeting his intent. The Battle of the Bulge is where General Patton gained one of his greatest military achievements by using his tactical leadership and logistical genius, which in return helped him turn around the main forces and forced the Germans to drive back in their final counter-offensive. General Patton strongly exercised Mission Command by understanding, visualizing, leading, and commanding what was known as the largest and bloodiest battle during World War II.
All Quiet On The Western Front and Gallipoli are two stories independent of each other that chronicle the experiences of two separate young men in the same war. Paul Baumer, a nineteen-year old German soldier, narrates the story of All Quiet On The Western Front. This tragic story begins with Baumer in training camp and concludes with his untimely death. Archy, an eighteen-year old Australian athlete, is the main character in Gallipoli. Gallipoli, a peninsula in Turkey, becomes the background for another account of a young life wasted. Although these two young men are from opposing forces of the war and lived on opposite sides of the equator, they are alike in every way else.
All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Remarque, is a classic anti-war novel about the personal struggles and experiences encountered by a group of young German soldiers as they fight to survive the horrors of World War One. Remarque demonstrates, through the eyes of Paul Baumer, a young German soldier, how the war destroyed an entire generation of men by making them incapable of reintegrating into society because they could no longer relate to older generations, only to fellow soldiers.
as facts go - Haig was that far away. The rest of the source is
The purpose of this speech for the class is to gain better knowledge of one of the most tragic and devastating battles of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge.
His heart may have been in the right place, but he did not have the
"A general who wears down 180,000 of the enemy by expending 400,000 men...has something to answer for." This idea from military historian C.E.W Bean is the main line of argument from traditionalist historians. They represent General Douglas Haig, British Commander-in-Chief of the BEF from 1915 to the end of the war in 1918, in a critical, damning light: a hopelessly incompetent general with a willingness to sacrifice the men of Britain for a few metres of muddy ground. On the converse of this interpretation is a revisionist perspective of Haig as a caring ‘architect of victory’, bringing long-term achievements with his perceptive strategies. With an examination of these two seemingly polemic perspectives and primary evidence, judgement, albeit a complex and multifaceted one, can be reached on both these smaller debates and of Douglas Haig’s role in World War One: villain or vanquisher?
Brutality and carnage of all quiet on the western front Throughout the novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” brutality and carnage is shown as a major theme. Throughout WWI, many soldiers died and the main characters closest friends. Brutality and carnage is seen throughout the novel through characters death,traumatizing events and the post traumatic stress that the soldiers suffered with themselves. Throughout the novel characters deaths happened frequently. Most of the characters that died in the novel were very close to paul.
The Battle: The Story of the Bulge is not a book about how the American’s used sheer numbers and force to overcome the Germans. It is a story of how the GI, who was independent, cocky, and had poor garrison etiquette, overcame the odds and became an unlikely strong adversary thus winning the battle. I can relate to the GI because I find myself at times to be cocky and not always wanting to take orders I don’t agree with. I think this relation helped me to understand some of the emotions the soldiers expressed throughout the
Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Baltimore County Public Library. Web. 11 Nov 2009
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
Haig As a Leader I think Haig was a bad leader who made many critical mistakes
*(Use complete sentences for each main point, supporting point, and sub-point. Add additional points as needed. Cite all evidence with parentheti...
"...no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both."