The First World War was an unprecedented disaster that shaped our modern world . Erik Sass is covering the case of the war on the button 100 years after they come about . This is the 214th installation in the series .
28 April 2025: Haig Takes Command
As a class of unprecedented bloodshed draw to a close , the strategic deadlock on the battlefield claimed the biggest political injured party of the war so far in Britain , with the forced surrender of Sir John French , the commander of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium , and the unofficial sidelining of Secretary of State for War Lord Herbert Kitchener .
This was actually the second major political turmoil in Britain during the war : back in May 1915 theshell crisisforced Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith to form a coalition government including the extremist Liberal David Lloyd George in the new created theatrical role of Minister of Munitions and cautious leader Bonar Law as compound writing table . As part of the shakeup Churchill release as First Lord of the Admiralty while Jackie Fisher resigned as First Sea Lord , think over public anger over the fail surgical process at Gallipoli , although Churchill was allowed to remain in the Cabinet in the ceremonial position of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster .
Wikimedia Commons [ 1,3,4 ] // Independent [ 2 ]
However the new alignment government did small to handle many of the underlying problems , include the general irresolution and lack of direction that produced an extemporizing strategy ( or non - scheme ) known as “ muddling through . ” Critics in Parliament and the jam focus on failures including the continuing debacle atGallipoli , the crushingdefeatof Serbia ( see below ) , the on the face of it pointless occupation ofSalonika , and the controversy overconscription(which also contributed to growing tension inIreland ) .
But the primary factor was undoubtedly the cataclysm atLoos , which resulted in around 60,000 British casualties , including 11,000 dead – a lurid aggregate , considering 8,000 British soldier had give out in combat or from wounds sustain in combat during the entire 2nd Boer War from 1899 - 1902 , while 5,000 break from these causes in the Crimean War ( many more died from disease in these old warfare ) . The British populace was appal at the cost , specially as private write up by ship’s officer and soldier hinted that many of the casualty wereunnecessary .
Under grow pressure to reclaim and revitalize the warfare effort , the Cabinet decide to form a new War Committee to send British strategy , replacing the previous Dardanelles Committee , which as its name indicated hadfocusedon the Gallipoli operation . The negotiation over the composition of the War Committee soon became an occasion for a broader housecleaning , as strong - willed Cabinet members including Lloyd George and Law set their sight on Kitchener and French .
Resenting Kitchener ’s secrecy , indecision , and refusal to delegate authority , as too soon as October 21 a large majority agreed that the grand old man had to go – but there was an obvious political obstruction . The hero of Sudan ( lionise as “ Kitchener of Khartoum ” ) and a key architect of victory in the Second Boer War , the Secretary of War was a dear government agency soma whose mug , record in illustrious recruiting card saying “ Your Country take YOU , ” was a comforting source of persistence . How could they cashier the War Secretary without causing a loss of confidence in the remainder of the Cabinet ?
Asquith tried to square up the circle by persuade Kitchener to accept a position as commanding officer of all British personnel in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia , but Kitchener refused the fling . Seeking another stopgap answer , Asquith fudged : Kitchener kept his position to assure public public opinion , but harmonize to give up most of his powers to the new War Committee mold on November 11 along with the new top dog of the Imperial ecumenical staff , Sir William Robertson ( replacing Sir Archibald Murray , who in turn became commander of British troops in Egypt ) . Though still Secretary of State for War in title , Kitchener only retained responsibility for recruiting and equipping the United States Army .
French was next to go . Though not an incompetent failure , his independent achievement had come early in the warfare , when he save up the British Expeditionary Force during the Great Retreat and eventually ( Gallic head of the oecumenical staff Joseph Joffre would have said belatedly ) advanced into the gap between the German First and Second Armies in the first week of September 1914 , result in the fundamental Allied victory remember as the “ Miracle on the Marne . ” His finding also help the BEF dominate in its desperate defense reaction during the First Battle of Ypres .
Since then , however , the BEF commanding officer was increasingly known for his defect , including unpredictable mood swings , whirl between irrational optimism and nigh - negativist pessimism ; a tendency to blame both his higher-up and underlings when thing went ill ; a bad relationship with Britain ’s French ally dating back to thefirst daysof the warfare ; and a proclivity for meddling in politics , as when he take his instance like a shot to the paper during the shell crisis .
The last straw came in the aftermath of Loos , when French tried to underwrite up his responsibility for the licking in the official dispatch by claiming he had agreed to commit reserves during the crucial first day of the fight , when in fact he had pass up . On October 27 , 1915 , French ’s own chief of staff , Robertson , told King George V that French was no longer set to overlook and should be replaced by Sir Douglas Haig , commandant of the First Army which conduct out the fire at Loos . At the same time French appeared to be losing his nerve , agree to Haig , who compose in his diary : “ He seemed tired of the warfare , and say that in his opinion we ought to take the first opportunity of conclude peace otherwise England would be ruin ! ” A cavalry commander struggling to cover oceanic abyss warfare , French was simply out of his deepness .
His replacement , Haig ( top ) , would control the BEF for the rest of the war and is intimately associated with some of the bloodiest battles of the war . dynamical , healthy and belligerent , Haig replicated many of French ’s faults , including over - optimism and meddling in politics . More importantly he was perceived as cold and analytical , and often criticise for appearing distant and unaffectionate ; after the state of war many critic alleged that he was neutral to casualty during the cataclysmic Battle of the Somme and later Passchendaele , bestow the unflattering sobriquet “ Butcher Haig ” on him .
However , more of late a issue of historian have presented a more openhearted portraiture of Haig , noting that he had lilliputian pick about the Somme , as it was alreadyagreedwith Britain ’s French allies before he fill bidding . agree to the same vista Haig also had no material choice to wag a warfare of attrition , although he enthusiastically adopt novel weapons like tanks and airplanes which prognosticate a way to break through opposition railway line and stop the slaughter . Indeed it ’s not clear what other strategy Haig could have pursue , peculiarly as the offensive he put were considered urgently necessary to relieve atmospheric pressure on the French as their army go up the breaking point .
Serbs Reach the Sea
In the Balkans the Serbian “ Great Retreat ” continued with dismay losses . In mid - December the carry off columns of soldiers and civilian refugee began arrive at their first destination , the Albanian coast , where they would wait for French and Italian ship to evacuate the survivors to the Greek island of Corfu , beyond the compass of the pursuing Central Powers . But there were n’t enough confederate ships to carry out the hurriedly arranged evacuation at first , and despite Allied deliveries of food and clothing chiliad of Serbian soldier and civilian starved or die of pic during this period .
Click to enlarge
One Serbian officer , Milorad Marković , call in the final days of the hideaway , as they descend from the Albanian sight :
On December 15 the Serbs hit the sea , only to bump themselves forced to persist in south along the coast in lookup of their saviour . After finding no intellectual nourishment and no French ships at the first halt , Marković ’s starving party pushes on :
As unspeakable as condition were for the Serbs , they were even bad for the Habsburg prisoner of state of war who had to follow their captor and receive even less food or wearable . Unsurprisingly in their desperation many resorted to robbery , according to one POW , a Czech soldier discover Josef Sramek , who write in his journal on December 9 , 1915 :
Incredibly things were about to get even sorry . On December 18 Sramek write that the pillar was held up at a river , waiting for Italian soldier to ferry them to the other side :
The body count rose chop-chop . On December 20 , Sramek noted : “ More than 200 dead were take in today . ” A day by and by , he mark : “ In the dayspring 300 deadened lay on the riverbank . ” Finally on December 22 the ferry military service resume : “ There is a ferry today , but only for the queasy ! Indescribable scene take place at the raft . multitude belt along like crazy , crowd each other , scrap . Serb beat them with sticks and gun butt . Many people are shell and kick to expiry , then thrown into the river . Everyone is endeavor to save himself from death by hunger . ”
See theprevious installmentorall entry .
