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Was Haig the 'butcher of the Somme'?

Sir Douglas Haig commanded the British army on the Western Front from December 1915 until the end of the First World War. To some people he is the general who threw away his men's lives at the Somme. To others he is the commander who learned from terrible mistakes and won the war in 1918. This investigation helps you decide.

Work through the four pages in order. This page sets out what happened. The next three look at the evidence from three points of view: Haig himself, the soldiers who fought, and people back in Britain.

What happened at the Somme?

The Battle of the Somme was fought in northern France, on both sides of the River Somme, from 1 July to 18 November 1916. It was a joint British and French attack, and the British army did most of the fighting north of the river.

Dec 1915	Haig becomes Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force.
21 Feb 1916	Germany attacks the French at Verdun. The French ask the British to attack elsewhere to take the pressure off.
24 June	A week-long bombardment of about 1.5 million shells begins. Many shells fail to explode, the barbed wire is often left uncut, and German soldiers shelter in deep dugouts.
1 July	The infantry attack. The British army suffers 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead, the worst day in its history.
15 Sept	Tanks are used for the first time in history, at Flers-Courcelette.
18 Nov	The battle ends in snow and mud. The Allies have advanced about six miles at most.

In total, British and Empire forces suffered about 420,000 casualties and the French about 200,000. Estimates for German losses vary a lot, from about 450,000 to over 600,000.

Why did Haig attack?

To help the French. Since February the German army had been battering the French at Verdun. France was losing huge numbers of men, and the French commander, Joffre, pressed Britain to attack.
To break through. Haig hoped the infantry would smash a gap in the German lines so that the cavalry could ride through into open country.
To wear the Germans down. When no breakthrough came, Haig argued that constant attacks were grinding down the German army, which had fewer men to lose than the Allies. This is called attrition.

The big question

Calling Haig a "butcher" means more than saying the Somme went badly. It suggests he didn't care how many men died, or kept sending them to die when he should have stopped. As you look at the evidence, keep four possible answers in mind:

Haig was a poor commander who made avoidable mistakes.
Haig was too willing to accept huge losses.
Haig was out of touch with what was really happening at the front.
Haig had no real alternative: the battle had to be fought to save France and wear down Germany.

You may end up agreeing with more than one of them.

The evidence

Haig's viewWhat Haig expected before the attack, what he wrote after the first day, and how he explained the battle to the public.
Soldiers' viewsWhat the men who went over the top saw, and what they thought of the people who planned the attack.
The view from BritainWhat people at home were told in 1916, and how Haig's reputation rose and fell after the war.

Words to know

Attrition	Wearing the enemy down by killing or wounding more of their soldiers than they can replace.
Bombardment	A long period of heavy shelling before an attack.
Casualties	Soldiers killed, wounded, missing or taken prisoner. Casualties are not the same as deaths.
Censorship	Controlling what can be printed in newspapers or written in letters.
Dugout	A shelter dug deep underground. Some German dugouts on the Somme were 10 metres deep or more.
No man's land	The ground between the two front lines.
Over the top	Climbing out of the trench to attack.
Pals battalions	Units of friends, neighbours and workmates from the same town who joined up together in 1914-15.
Tommy	A nickname for an ordinary British soldier.

Reaching a judgement

Against Haig: he trusted the bombardment far too much, he kept attacking for months after the hope of a breakthrough had gone, his reports were often too optimistic, and he repeated similar methods at Passchendaele in 1917.

For Haig: the Somme took pressure off Verdun and kept France in the war, the German army lost experienced soldiers it could not replace, Britain's army of new volunteers had no easy alternative to attacking, and the army learned lessons that helped it win in 1918.

A fair judgement. "Butcher" suggests Haig didn't care about his men's lives. Most evidence suggests he cared, but believed that heavy losses were the price of victory and was too slow to change methods that weren't working. That's a criticism of his judgement, not proof that he was a butcher.

Updated 18 October 2026