The tank mission may be led by Haig, the tanks shocked the germans and created a gap in the line, this gap was not exploited very well and the terrain won was largely lost soon.

Germany had quite good generals for their time, France had very bad leaders, worst example was Nivelle, he sent their men to their deaths and on top of it fired his artillery in the back of his own troops.

At the start of the war the Allies approached the war like the century before, a noble gentlemans engagement. The Germans relied on speed and effectiveness. Like at the Somme, the british took a "leasure walk", how that ended is something you all know.

There are reports that in the first days of the war even spear cavalry was used against the german machine gun batteries.

(Sorry for the OT)