Title Haig : the evolution of a commander / Andrew A. Wiest

Edition 1st ed Published Washington, D.C. : Potomac Books, ©2005

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Description 1 online resource (137 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations Series Military profiles Military profiles. Contents The Great Haig Debate -- The military education of Douglas Haig -- A corps commander rises to prominence -- Commander of the BEF -- The death of a generation? -- The Battle of the Somme -- Battles in the mud -- The Year of Passchendaele -- 1918 -- the year of victory -- Conclusion Summary "Historians consider Douglas Haig one of the most controversial military leader in British history. Today his career is at the center of a swirling debate concerning the nature of the First World War. The traditional school contends that, like the majority of generals from both sides, he was an overmatched, hidebound relic of a bygone military age who could not come to grips with modern war. Such men allegedly sent their soldiers "over the top" in pointless attacks, with a criminal disregard for the enormous cost in lives. A new revisionist school now contends that many Great War leaders, including Haig, stood at the center of a phenomenal period of military innovation, one that laid the foundations for modern warfare. This learning curve led from the killing fields of the Somme to the protoblitzkrieg tactics of the Hundred Days Battles." "Haig had achieved a measure of fame in Britain's colonial wars and began the First World War as a corps commander. He obtained command of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France in 1915. Under his leadership, the BEF fought its two signature battles of the war at the Somme and Passchendaele, earning him a reputation as a "butcher and bungler." The slaughter at the Somme and the muddy hell of Passchendaele forever tarnished his reputation; however, as Andrew Wiest points out, in 1918 Haig proved instrumental in winning one of the greatest victories in British military history. While the Hundred Days Battles often go unnoticed or unappreciated in the history of the First World War, obscured as they were by the failures of earlier campaigns, here modern war came of age. Haig's role in that transformation makes him the central figure of the war on the Western Front."--Jacket Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-130) and index Notes Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL English Print version record digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL Subject Haig, Douglas Haig, Earl, 1861-1928. SUBJECT Haig, Douglas Haig, Earl, 1861-1928 Haig, Douglas Haig, Earl, 1861-1928 fast Haig, Douglas Haig, Earl, 1861-1928. nli Haig, Douglas. swd Subject Generals -- Great Britain -- Biography World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Historical. HISTORY -- Military -- World War I. Generals Military campaigns Kriegführung Weltkrieg 1914-1918 Generals -- Great Britain -- Biography. World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns. Great Britain Genre/Form collective biographies. Biographies Biographies. Biographies. Form Electronic book LC no. 2005009810 ISBN 9781429486019 1429486015 1612342612 9781612342610

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