The Incompetence of British Leaders

How far do your sources support or contradict the interpretation that British generals like Haig were incompetent leaders?

World War 1 began in the month of July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. During the war years, there were numerous battles that occurred in various countries in Europe. Some of the battles included the Battle of Ypres, The Battle of Somme and the Battle of Mons. General Douglas Haig was the Commander In Chief of the British army in the Western front. The Battle of the Somme took place between 1st July and 18th November 1916 on either side of the river Somme in France. The battle of the Somme was one of the largest battles of WW1 which saw the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army mount a joint offensive against the German Army. In the first day of the offensive, the British Army suffered its bloodiest military operation in its history: sustaining nearly 60,000 casualties for the end result of only 12 km worth of land. An interpretation is an action of explaining the meaning of something and is normally based upon one’s own opinion and viewpoint. In this assessment, I will consider and evaluate eight sources and whether they support or contradict the interpretation that British Generals were incompetent leaders before finally coming to a conclusion. The assessment will be focused on sources that include a range of multiple reasons as to why the leaders were perceived to be incompetent; such as their education, upbringing, and the entire British military system. The assessment will also include sources that contradict the negative interpretation of British Generals as they show that Haig and other Generals did in fact have previous military experience and were not to blame entirely.

Source B1 supports the interpretation that British Generals like Haig were incompetent leaders to an extent. The source tells us that Haig and other British Generals must be blamed for all that they did because they knew exactly what they were...