Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig KT GCB OM GCVO KCIE ADC (born in Edinburgh on 19 June 1861, died in London on 29 January 1928) was a British Army general during World War I.
He was the senior commander of the British forces in France from 1915 until the end of the war. Most notably, he led it during the Battle of the Somme, the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele), the Spring Offensive and the final Hundred Days Offensive.
Historians have often argued over whether Haig was a good general. In the years after the war, he was popular. After his death, some historians and politicians wrote books criticising Haig. They argued he made mistakes that led to a lot of casualties among British troops, especially at the Somme and Passchendaele. He has been nicknamed 'Butcher Haig' or 'the Butcher of the Somme'. David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister during the later years of the war, also did not agree with Haig.[1] One of the best known books criticising Haig was Alan Clark's book The Donkeys (1961). Thatis known as the 'lions led by donkeys' view: the idea that Britain had great soldiers but bad generals.[2]
However, some veterans, and academic historians have argued that Haig was a great general.[3] For example, John Bourne notes that Haig helped the army use new weapons and technology.[4] John Terraine argues that while the British Army lost many men, that is not surprising because of the size of the fighting, and other countries lost far more.[5] Likewise, Gordon Corrigan argues that as a percentage of the population, Britain lost half as many people in the war as France and Germany.[6]
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig Media
- Haig in uniform on joining the Hussars (4688529984).jpg
Age 23 in 1885, in his hussar's uniform - EARL HAIG PLAQUE, CHARLOTTE SQ, EDINBURGH.jpg
Plaque marking Earl Haig's birthplace, Charlotte Square, Edinburgh
- Photograph of the young Douglas Haig as an officer with the 7th Hussars. (4687893437).jpg
Photograph of the young Douglas Haig as an officer with the 7th Hussars.
- Race to the Sea 1914.png
Map of the Western Front in 1914.
- Haig Monro Gough Percival 1914 IWM Q 54992.jpg
Haig with Major-General C. C. Monro (commanding 2nd Division), Brigadier-General John Gough (Haig's chief of staff), and Brigadier-General E. M. Perceval (commanding 2nd Division's artillery) in a street in France, 1914.
- Haig Joffre and French at the Front Gws joffrefrhaig 01.png
French, Joffre and Haig (left to right) visit the front line during 1915. Henry Wilson is second from the right.
- The Battle of the Somme, July-november 1916 Q953.jpg
Haig, King George V and General Henry Rawlinson at Querrieu, 1916
- Haigstatue.jpg
The statue of Field Marshal Haig, standing outside the theatre in Montreuil-sur-Mer
- Memo from Haig to Macready about Somme attack date 1916.jpg
Memorandum from Haig to the Adjutant General, Lieutenant General Sir Nevil Macready, asking his opinion on possible dates for launching the Somme offensive, 22 May 1916
- Stretcher bearers Battle of Thiepval Ridge September 1916.jpg
Stretcher bearers recovering wounded during the Battle of Thiepval Ridge, September 1916. Photo by Ernest Brooks.