Battle Of The Somme Essay

The battle of the Somme was a joint operation between the British and French forces against the German empire, with the intention to be the battle that won the war. The battle plan included the British bombarding German trenches for seven days and seven nights, then the British attacking on a 15 mile front north to the Somme, with the French supporting from the south and the cavalry on standby. It lasted between the 1st of July to the 18th November 1916; within that time the British lost 420,000 men - It went down in history as the worst battle in the history of the British army. The commander of this battle was General Haig, a commander of the British Expeditionary Force and a field marshal during the first world war. Ultimately, the battle

Interestingly, this source is taken from the official diary that Haig wrote himself. Haig says that ‘the commanders are full of confidence’ and ‘troops are in wonderful spirits’. This was written by Haig during the battle of the Somme, including the day before and the day of the battle. Though written by Haig himself, the validity of this source can be questioned. Not only would the men act differently around their general rather than their comrades, it also doesn’t match with the other sources and knowledge about the men’s confidence on the day of the Somme. It’s important to acknowledge that Haig was not present on the front lines - suggesting that he might have been misinformed. He could have had evidence that was outdated, or may not have heard yet of the catastrophic casualty counts, which could offer an explanation for his optimism and winning mentality despite the amount of deaths on the first day of battle. It's also important to note that in an official diary that was to be published and shown around, so it would be unlikely that he would expose his errors and negativity in this diary, when morale still needed to be high; the war was not done

Generally, I agree with the interpretation of Haig that he was not a good leader; However I do acknowledge that the effort on the battle of the Somme was ultimately successful. I believe that Haig was fairly compassionless and careless with his soldiers, when a true leader should not only strive to gain land and win battles, but most importantly to take care of his soldiers. Statistically, the casualty count compared to the land he gained is hardly proportional; though the soldiers were there to be a tool in gaining territory, it must be remembered that these were fathers, sons and brothers - not just privates. These men were integral to life in Britain, not only to the war; they were the ‘cream of British manhood’. Haig cannot be solely to blame for such a difficult time when technology was being revolutionised and the tedious war of attrition was corrupted by this new, deadly weaponry, but he should be held accountable for his role in the death of 420,000 men in the Somme, let alone the trauma that the survivors would have to endure for the rest if their lives. Haig may not have been entirely incompetent, after all, he reached that position of authority, but he was neither a good leader nor a caring