Sort the Following Into Reasons Why Haig Fought the Battle and Reasons Why It Was a Disaster

3: The Somme

Sort the following into reasons why Haig fought the battle and reasons why it was a disaster.

1. Haig was forced to fight the battle with only half of the forces that he believed he required. Because the battle of Verdun appeared to be going so badly and the French needed to be supported, Haig had to start the attack before he was really ready.

1. The British army did not seem to have prepared as thoroughly for the battle as the French had. French trenches were better built and much more effective.

1. Haig believed that the seven day bombardment of 4,000 guns would destroy the German positions. He was wrong. The German positions were heavily fortified and were often deep underground, many were untouched by the shelling. The chalk downland offered good protection from artillery fire.

1. Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army on the Western front from 1915 to 1918, believed in the 'Big Push'. He was convinced that the enemy could be overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers, and that final victory could only be achieved on the Western Front. The Somme was his first major battle.

1. The battle dragged on until December. The Germans captured some of the outlying forts, but could not break into Verdun, even though it was bombarded continuously.

1. Haig originally intended to fight his first major battle near Ypres in 1916, but he was forced to change his plans after the German attack on Verdun, which began in February 1916.
2. Haig ordered the British to advance at a steady walking pace in close order, as the army manuals prove. This meant that they made easy targets for the German machine-gunners.

1. In February 1916 the Germans attacked Verdun in eastern France. Their plan was to 'bleed France dry'. They knew that the French would defend Verdun and believed that they would send more and more reinforcements into the city and its forts.

1. The Somme was originally intended to be a battle in which the French played the major role, with the British in support. After the beginning of the battle of Verdun, the roles of the two armies were reversed.

1. Instead, on 1 July 1916, Haig launched his first great battle began along the banks of the Somme. This was an attempt to take pressure off the French at Verdun, but it was a disaster.

1. In Haig's defence. It is true that he had only about half the forces that he believed he needed, but on the other hand, he allowed the army to go on attacking long after it was clear that no real progress was being made. At the same time, the French on the British right made much more impressive advances.

1