Allied Leadership
World War one’s origins, although triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, involved national politics, cultures, economics, alliances, and counterbalances that had developed between European powers since 1870. When World War 1 broke out in 1914 it brought about the formation of the allied forces and their leaders to lead the war against the enemy. Douglas Haig was the Commander-in-Chief of the British forces. The allied leaders were asked to defeat the enemy, in this sense they were successful since the Germans surrendered and the allies won the war. In this essay the success and effectiveness of allied leadership during WWI through the challenges they faced such as inexperience in modern warfare and lack of technologically
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Haig also did not get full support from his civilian leaders. Another unavoidable factor was that France was the country directing the war even though the British Commander-in-Chief was independent. Despite his reluctance in having British forces placed under foreign command, he worked well with Foch in 1918 and held on throughout the worst of Germans assault. On certain occasions Haig and other commanders did not receive full support from the government. The Prime Minister, David Lloyd George wrote that he sometimes wondered whether he should have resigned on more than one occasion rather than permit Haig to continue with his strategy. The British were asked to relieve the pressure on French from German attacks at Verdun by opening up a front at Somme. The Allies, like in Somme, were forced into certain battles they would not have gone at that point in time. They would have preferred to attack later. The Battles of Somme in July 1916 and Passchendaele later in October 1917 were regarded as huge defeats as the human death toll was very high. Haig was heavily criticized for the death toll and for his outdated tactics. The allied leaders were called butchers as they were accused of sending men to their deaths in pointless battles. But in the overall picture they were successful in preventing the Germans advancement. During these battles the allies caused huge amount of damage on the …show more content…
There is always room to criticize. People were of opinion that the British Generals were unable to think of imaginative tactics and new approaches rather than repeat outdated, failed formula. The war tactics in 1914 had not caught up with modern artillery and machine guns. By 1918, this had all changed. At the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918, the British Expeditionary Force put into practice the lessons learned over the previous four years and took advantage of the modern weaponry (tanks which debut in Somme in September 1916), heavy artillery, aero planes) that had became available to them, The RAF carried out ground attack, artillery spotting, interdiction of enemy lines of communication, strategic bombing. This air-land 'weapon system' was bound together by wireless (radio)
Haig also did not get full support from his civilian leaders. Another unavoidable factor was that France was the country directing the war even though the British Commander-in-Chief was independent. Despite his reluctance in having British forces placed under foreign command, he worked well with Foch in 1918 and held on throughout the worst of Germans assault. On certain occasions Haig and other commanders did not receive full support from the government. The Prime Minister, David Lloyd George wrote that he sometimes wondered whether he should have resigned on more than one occasion rather than permit Haig to continue with his strategy. The British were asked to relieve the pressure on French from German attacks at Verdun by opening up a front at Somme. The Allies, like in Somme, were forced into certain battles they would not have gone at that point in time. They would have preferred to attack later. The Battles of Somme in July 1916 and Passchendaele later in October 1917 were regarded as huge defeats as the human death toll was very high. Haig was heavily criticized for the death toll and for his outdated tactics. The allied leaders were called butchers as they were accused of sending men to their deaths in pointless battles. But in the overall picture they were successful in preventing the Germans advancement. During these battles the allies caused huge amount of damage on the …show more content…
There is always room to criticize. People were of opinion that the British Generals were unable to think of imaginative tactics and new approaches rather than repeat outdated, failed formula. The war tactics in 1914 had not caught up with modern artillery and machine guns. By 1918, this had all changed. At the Battle of Amiens on 8 August 1918, the British Expeditionary Force put into practice the lessons learned over the previous four years and took advantage of the modern weaponry (tanks which debut in Somme in September 1916), heavy artillery, aero planes) that had became available to them, The RAF carried out ground attack, artillery spotting, interdiction of enemy lines of communication, strategic bombing. This air-land 'weapon system' was bound together by wireless (radio)