道格拉斯·黑格，第一代黑格伯爵

Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the war.

Haig's military career included service in the War Office, where he was instrumental in the creation of the Territorial Force in 1908. In January 1917 he was promoted to the rank of field marshal, subsequently leading the BEF during the final Hundred Days Offensive. This campaign, in combination with the Kiel mutiny, the Wilhelmshaven mutiny, the proclamation of a republic on 9 November 1918 and revolution across Germany, led to the armistice of 11 November 1918. It is considered by some historians to be one of the greatest victories ever achieved by a British-led army.

Haig gained a favourable reputation during the immediate post-war years, with his funeral a day of national mourning. However he also had some prominent contemporary detractors and, beginning in the 1960s, has been widely criticised for his wartime leadership. He was nicknamed "Butcher Haig" for the two million British casualties under his command. The Canadian War Museum comments: "His epic but costly offensives at the Somme (1916) and Passchendaele (1917) have become nearly synonymous with the carnage and futility of First World War battles." Since the 1980s many historians have argued that the public hatred of Haig failed to recognise the adoption of new tactics and technologies by forces under his command, the important role played by British forces in the allied victory of 1918, and that high casualties were a consequence of the tactical and strategic realities of the time.

Early life

Haig was born in a house on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. His father, John Richard Haig, an alcoholic, was head of the family's successful Haig & Haig whisky distillery; he had an income of £10,000 per year (£1,647,200 in 2025), an enormous amount at the time.……

Career

Junior officer

Early in his military career, Haig played polo for England on a tour of the United States (August 1886).……

First World War

1914

Outbreak of war

During the Curragh Mutiny (March 1914) Haig urged caution on his BGGS John Gough, whose brother Hubert Gough was threatening to resign rather than coerce Ulstermen into a semi-independent Ireland. Haig stressed that the army's duty was to keep the peace.……

Later life

Lloyd George arranged a ceremonial reception for Marshal Foch on 1 December; Haig was asked to travel in the fifth carriage with Henry Wilson but not invited to the reception. Feeling that this was a snub and an attempt to win votes for the imminent election, Haig declined to attend at all.……

Death

Haig died in London from a heart attack on 29 January 1928, and was given an elaborate funeral on 3 February. "Great crowds lined the streets ...……

Reputation

Post-war opinion

After the war Haig was praised by the American General John J. Pershing, who remarked that Haig was "the man who won the war". His funeral in 1928 was a huge state occasion.……

Honorary degrees

Freedom of the City

• 26 January 1912: Bradford
• 15 May 1919: Dundee
• 16 June 1919: London
• 25 June 1919: Oxford
• 16 October 1919: Wolverhampton
• 23 January 1920: Leeds
• 14 October 1922: Stirling
• Unknown: Glasgow

Legacy

The Argentine football club Club Atlético Douglas Haig, founded 1918, is named after Haig.

In 1920, the Great Central Railway gave the name Earl Haig to one of their new express passenger locomotives. It carried the name until 1943.