Field Marshall Douglas Haig was commander-in-chief in The Battle of the Somme. The bloody battle took place along a 30-kilometre front between the 1st July and the 18th November 1916 by the River Somme, in France. On the first day alone around 19,240 British and empire force soldiers were killed, with casualties reaching almost 35,493. The large mass of men that had been killed resulted in almost 20% of the entire British fighting force having been killed in one day of the battle. The loss of so many soldiers led to Haig developing the title of ‘the butcher of the Somme’.
However, I disagree with the label of ‘butcher’ that Haig received. A butcher is a person who kills animals. But, in Haig’s case he was seen as a butcher of other humans, not animals. This meant he was someone who slaughtered or murdered other humans brutally. This was the general opinion on Haig when the battle was over. The outrage was due to the many losses of lives. Another factor which enraged the people at home was that the newspapers portrayed the situation much better than it actually was throughout the battle, misleading family and friends back at home.
I believe that although Haig’s poor leadership and failure of plan contributed to the deaths of many, I think that the majority of people could not have been saved as no one is safe in a battle. Additionally, some may say Haig’s intentions were simply focused on winning the war. Haig took command at a time when the British Army was locked in stalemate with the Germans along the Western Front; either way the stalemate would have had to be broken and people would have been killed to reach the ultimate goal of victory.
The Essay on Does Field Marshal Haig Was “The Butcher of the Somme”?
Field Marshal Douglas Haig was a British senior officer in World War One and commanded in the Battle of the Somme, which was arguably one of the bloodiest battles in British military history. Haig gained the title of the butcher of the Somme after the end of World War One, due to the indescribable amount of casualties and deaths that took place. One could say that Haig deserves the title because ...
However, I think that Haig should have allowed more control to the men in the front and had been less persistent to pursue his idea as tactics were old and technology needed to be altered to be completely efficient. Overall, the forces involved suffered over one million deaths, making it the bloodiest military operation in history. Haig led so many men to their deaths without a large result at first, but the final outcome was success. Although I agree that it was mainly Haig’s fault that so many men were killed, I think he did assist the British to ultimately win and he does not deserve the name of ‘butcher of the Somme’.
