HAIG, DOUGLAS HAIG, IST EARL (1861-1928), British soldier, was born in Edinburgh, June 19, 1861, son of John Haig, of Cameronbridge, Fife. He was educated at Clifton and Brase nose college, Oxford, and in 1885 joined the 7th Hussars. He was promoted captain in 1891, afterwards passed through the staff college and was employed with the Egyptian army in 1898 during the Nile campaign, for which he was given a brevet majority. On the outbreak of hostilities in South Africa in 1899, he went out to Natal on the staff, and was present during the opening engage ments near Ladysmith. He was afterwards chief staff officer of the cavalry division during Lord Roberts' victorious advance from Cape Colony through the Orange Free State into the Trans vaal, and was promoted brevet lieutenant-colonel for his services.
In the later phases of the struggle he was in command of a column and later was controlling groups of columns; at the close of the war he was appointed A.D.C. to the King, promoted brevet colonel, and given the C.B. Col. Haig subsequently commanded the 17th Lancers for a year, after which he went out to India as inspector-general of cavalry ; this appointment he held until 1906, having been promoted major-general in 19o5, in which year he married the Hon. Dorothy Vivian, daughter of the 3rd Lord Vivian. From 1906-09 he was a director in the War Office, and during this time he was intimately concerned in the development of the general staff and the improvements effected in the organi zation of the army, which were set on foot while Lord Haldane was secretary of State. In 1907 he published a volume of Cavalry Studies. His next appointment was that of chief of the general staff in India, which he held for three years, being promoted lieu tenant-general in 191 o. In 1912 he was brought home to take the command in Aldershot, and in 1913 he was made a K.C.B.
On the mobilization of the Expeditionary Force in 1914, Sir Douglas Haig took the field as commander of the I. Army Corps, which he led during the Mons, Marne and Aisne operations, and the first battle of Ypres; he was promoted full general in Novem ber for his services. On the division of the British Expeditionary Force into two armies at the beginning of 1915, he was placed at the head of the first. On the front of his army during 1915 there took place the battles of Neuve Chapelle, Festubert and Loos, and at the end of the year he succeeded Sir John French in the chief command. He had been made a G.C.B. in the autumn.
At this time the armies were passing through a period of tran sition. The regular army, with the exception of its cavalry, had almost ceased to exist and the first need was to weld its remnants, the new armies created by Lord Kitchener and the Territorial Army, into a whole capable of combined action both in attack and in defence. This involved the organization of an elaborate system of training for which it was necessary that a certain number of divisions should be placed sufficiently far behind the line to allow them the ground and the opportunities for gaining experience.
This policy of ten brought Sir Douglas Haig into discussion both with the French generals and with the French statesmen, who were continually pressing him to take over a large extent of front. Sir Douglas Haig pointed out that it was not possible to compare a national army created during the course of the war with one which had been long established in time of peace, and that the Germans throughout the war maintained a greater den sity of men opposite the British lines than they did elsewhere. In the event, his policy was justified by the fact that in the latter half of 1918 the British army was, as a whole, at least as efficient as any which was then fighting in the war.
The campaigns and battles of the British army in France and Belgium are dealt with elsewhere and it is here only necessary to refer to the principles which guided Sir Douglas Haig in certain of the crises of the war. The first of these during his command arose out of the German attack on Verdun during the first half of 1916. On that occasion he assisted the French by relieving their troops in the front and by preparing for the battle of the Somme. While that battle disclosed defects both of preparation and of execution, its results convinced Sir Douglas Haig that it had caused such exhaustion of the German armies as should be exploited at the earliest possible moment. He theref ore agreed with Joffre to renew the battle early in 1917.
But the battle of the Somme had caused grievous losses and the gains of ground as shown on the maps appeared trifling. Therefore, neither French nor British statesmen were prepared to agree to a policy which to their minds seemed likely to exhaust their resources before it caused the enemy to yield. The conse quence of this was the replacement of Joffre by Nivelle and the assembly of an Allied Conference at Calais at the end of Feb. 1917, at which it was decided to give Nivelle the general direc tion of the British army, while he was at the same time to be in active command of the French army. This arrangement, milita rily unsound, early produced friction. For Nivelle, who was ill informed of events on the British front, issued to Haig instruc tions which were inappropriate both as to form and substance. These differences were adjusted at a further conference in Lon don, but they created the impression that Haig was opposed to any form of unity of command, which was not true.
The direct result of the failure of Nivelle's campaign was a wave of depression which spread through the French armies and resulted in serious mutinies. Petain, who had succeeded Nivelle, appealed to Haig to keep the Germans occupied while he was restoring the morale of the French troops. To this appeal Haig responded by opening in the summer of 1917 a campaign in Flanders, which began with Plumer's victory at Messine and was followed by the battle of Passchendaele. It was only with diffi culty that Haig won the consent of the British Government to this campaign. By the middle of October of that year Petain was able to tell Haig that the French army was sufficiently restored to be able to look after itself ; and it might have been wiser to have stopped the battle of Passchendaele then, as no adequate return was gained for the exhaustion caused by the prolongation of the attack in execrable weather.
The crisis brought about by the success of the German-Austrian attack on the Italians at Caporetto following on the collapse of Russia, resulted in the creation in Nov. 1917 of the Supreme War Council, the first meeting of which was held at the end of the following January. This meeting had been preceded by a renewal of French demands for an extension of the British front, which Haig eventually met by agreeing to take over a portion of the line at and south of Peronne with his V. Army. At this meeting a difference of policy between Haig and his Government was disclosed. The commander-in-chief anticipated an early attack by the Germans and asked for reinforcements ; the Prime Min ister wished for an offensive campaign in Palestine, and won his way; and at this same conference, it was decided to create an Allied general reserve on the Western front under the control of the military representatives of the Supreme War Council with Foch as chairman. During Feb. 1918 Haig became more than ever convinced that a great German attack on his front was immi nent, in which he differed from the military representatives, who did not expect it bef ore May. When the military representa tives applied to him for divisions for the general reserve, he answered that in view of the lack of reinforcements, the extension of his front and the massing of German troops, he would be unable to furnish these divisions, and the formation of the general reserve broke down.
With what calm determination Haig met the great German offensive of the spring of 1918 is described elsewhere. In the most critical days of that offensive it was Haig's direct intervention with the British Government which brought Lord Milner to France, a visit which resulted eventually in giving Foch direct control of the Allied armies. With Foch Haig's relations were as harmonious as they had been with Joffre, and in the late sum mer of 1918 the British commander-in-chief reaped at last the reward of his patient policy. When in Aug. 1918 Rawlinson's IV. Army won the victory of Amiens, Foch desired that Rawlinson should follow up his success. Haig, convinced that this would result in another deadlock, and confident now in the superior morale and efficiency of his army, persuaded Foch to agree to an extension of the battle northwards, and so came about the breaking of the Hindenburg line which made it clear that victory could be won in 1918.
For his great services Sir Douglas Haig was raised to the peerage as Earl Haig and Baron Haig of Bemersyde and was given a grant of f ioo,000. The Order of Merit was also conferred upon him, and the ancestral home of the Haigs at Bemersyde was purchased by national subscription and presented to him. On returning home he was for a short time commander-in-chief in Great Britain, but when that position was abolished he refused other offers of employment and devoted himself wholly to the welfare of ex-service men. Before leaving France he had learned that many disabled and discharged soldiers were in distress, and he refused to accept any reward for himself until the Government had made better provision for the men who had served under him. Being satisfied that official provision must be supplemented by private benevolence he succeeded in uniting the various organizations of ex-service men into the British Legion (q.v.) of which he became president. By organizing the sale of poppies on November 11th, which became known as "Poppy Day," he created a large fund for the benefit of ex-service men. He also created and became president of the British Empire Services League, a union of the ex-service men's organizations of Great Britain and the dominions; he was also appointed chairman of the United Services fund, which, together with the British Le gion fund, forms one of the largest benevolent organizations in Great Britain. He died on Jan. 29, 1928, and was buried at Dry burgh Abbey, Scotland, of ter national tributes to his memory had been paid at Westminster Abbey and St. Giles's cathedral, Edinburgh.