Haig – An Assessment

1. Haig – An Assessment

2. Career • Born on 19th June 1861, Edinburgh. Son of a whisky distiller. • Educated at Clifton School, Oxford and Sandhurst, Royal Military Academy. • Army career: Cavalry officer for nine years who fought in the Sudan and with distinction as a staff officer in the Boer War. • Well-connected, married to a maid of honour to Queen Alexandra. • Played a key role in the creation of the British Expeditionary Force.

3. Career At the beginning of the war, Haig commanded the 1st Army and served with distinction at The Battle of Mons and the First Battle of Ypres. Replaced Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief after the failure of the battle of Loos. Inherited a situation of stalemate on the Western Front and an army of new recruits.

4. Historian’s Opinions • Lloyd George attacked Haig in his memoirs (1936), causing huge damage to Haig’s reputation. Haig had a poor relationship with Lloyd George who was horrified at the high casualties. Perhaps Lloyd George’s criticisms were motivated by his own guilt that he could have done more as the war time Prime Minister • This attack coincided with first books from authors unhappy with the war. As a result, Haig’s name became shorthand for military incompetence. • 1958: Leon Wolff, In Flanders Fields. Severe criticism of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) • 1961: Alan Clark, The Donkeys. Characterised the British army as ‘lions led by donkeys’. They were brave soldiers sent to their deaths by incompetent and indifferent leaders like Haig.

5. Historian’s Opinions 1953: Major-General Sir John Davidson, Haig – Master of the Field. Defends ‘loyalty and imperturbability’. 1963: John Terraine, The Educated Soldier. Defence of Haig’s character and battle tactics; necessary to wear down the enemy and win the war. Haig’s Final Dispatch, 1919: ‘It is in the great battles of 1916 and 1917 that we have to seek for the secret of our victory in 1918’.

6. Positive Viewpoints A war of attrition was the only possible strategy given the situation that the armies were in. Haig won the war and broke the deadlock on the Western Front by turning new recruits into an effective fighting force. He encouraged new tactics – tanks, machine guns and aircraft. By 1918 the army had new technology which was not available in 1914. Haig was a mentally tough leader who had to order troops into battle in order to win the war. The British army was often under pressure from the French army and when Haig tried to argue for more time to prepare he was overuled.

7. Negative Viewpoints Haig was a a ‘cavalry man’ and the methods of fighting during the Great War were alien to him. He famously said ‘the machine gun is a much over rated weapon’. Attacks such as the Battle of the Somme went on for too long causing huge casualties for little gain. After his death, Haig was increasingly criticised for issuing orders that led to the deaths of thousands of troops. Haig became known as the ‘Butcher of the Somme’.

8. Haig’s Legacy Haig became an Earl and served as Commander in Chief of the British army until 1921. He played a central role in creating the British Legion and Earl Haig Fund – both organisations were set up care for the welfare of troops. Haig died of a heart attack on 28th January 1928. He was given a state funeral and was buried at Dryburgh Abbey in the Borders.