Scottish leadership - Haig Flashcards
Haig was deeply influenced by his Scottish background
He had a powerful sense of duty, a highly developed work ethic and a strange faith in self-sacrifice
It’s believed that his christian beliefs impacted this view of life.
At the Somme, Haig had full responsibility for the planning and direction of the battle
Haig exaggerated the amount of Germans that would die after his artillery attacks, and after this his own army had major losses because of German machine guns.
At the Somme, Haig knew he had miscalculated the amount of ammunition the Scots had
This meant that he wasn’t surprised when ⅓ of the British shells didn’t explode.
However he didn’t realise how unsuccessful the shelling of the Germans would be.
There are those who argue that the Battle of Somme shouldn’t have been fought
If Haig had refused to fight it would’ve been a betrayal of his people, betrayal of the French and abandonment of Verdun to be taken by the Germans
Haig was strong and mild-tempered, barely ever thrown off-guard by victories or disaster
He made very careful decisions and continued to stand by them
He acted on the belief that “the war would only be won on the Western front” which turned out to be right
Haig was claimed to be a very unlikable man
Dr Ferguson wrote in his revisionist account “The Pity of War” that Haig was “a character as hard as granite whose imperviousness to the suffering of soldiers was very hard to admire”
Haig was known by the nickname ‘Bloody butcher’.
Haig wasn’t a supportive general and often ridiculed his men.
He didn’t care how many soldiers died or got wounded in battle and would often send his men directly into enemy fire.
