Haig was born in a house in Charlotte Square, but was known as 19 Hope Street, the southwest side street. He was not an aristocrat by birth, nor a landed nobility. His father John Haig was middle class and, as head of the family's successful Haig and Haig whiskey distillery, had an income of £10,000 a year, a lot of money at the time. His mother Rachel came from a noble family that had fallen into poverty. Rachel's cousin, Violet Veitch, was the mother of playwright, composer and performer Noël Coward. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Haig's education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Bateson's School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews. Later, in 1869, he went to the Edinburg collegiate church and then in 1871 to the preparatory school. He then attended Clifton College. Both of Haig's parents died when he was eighteen. After a tour of the United States with his brother, Haig attended another school, studying Political Economy, Ancient History, and French Literature at another college, from 1880 to 1883. He devoted much of his time to socializing: he was a member of the Bullingdon Club – and equestrian sports. He was one of Oxford's best young riders and quickly found his way onto the university polo team, even though he failed his exams (a requirement for undergraduate candidates at Sandhurst). He was not eligible for a degree because he had missed a semester of residency due to illness, and if he had stayed longer he would have exceeded the age limit to begin officer training, which he entered in January 1884. Because he had been all at university, Haig was considerably older than most of his class at Sandhurst, and was a Senior Petty Officer, awarded the Anson Sword, and died first in the order of merit. He was commissioned lieutenant on 7 February 1885. Haig's previous battle experience in the mobile colonial wars of Sudan and South Africa did not prepare him well for the static nature of warfare on the Western Front. Nor did his education at the Staff College in the late 19th century. All of this combined to produce a fixed image of the war in Haig's mind. He conceived of the battle as a structured three-phase affair. Essentially, Haig did not change his mind about this structure during the First World War. He continued, therefore, to think of war as a relatively simple, man-centered war, dependent on morale, and requiring the determination of a commander to persist until victory. Moreover, Haig was a knight and always optimistically anticipated discoveries, followed by the exploitation of chivalry. Therefore, at the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, Haig forced his army commanders to deepen their objectives and also wanted a short hurricane bombardment, followed by an assault. The result was a mixed plan of long bombing and deep targeting that was unsuccessful. The same process occurred at Passchendaele on 31 July 1917, when Haig appointed an offensive-minded general to command and pushed him to plan a good breakthrough, rather than a gradual advance. Haig's offensive attacks led to the attrition of the German army. This was fundamental in this war. He exploited the enemy using heavy artillery attacks. He also led strong rushes to Calvary and struck down the enemies with force. These attacks would lead to many victories in which would go to his name. Haig's Battle in 1916 led to much controversy over his style due to numerous losses to the Germans. Casualties totaled around 60,000, which didn't sit well with Haig. Keep in mind: this is just an example. Get.