Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Lloyd George at War
- 1 Setting the Stage
- Part I The Home Front
- Part II Strategy and the War
- 5 The First Attempt at a Unified Command
- 6 Facing the Submarine Menace
- 7 Prelude to Catastrophe
- 8 The Horror of Passchendaele
- 9 The Peripheral War
- 10 The Quest for a Negotiated Peace
- 11 The Creation of the Supreme War Council
- 12 The Plans for 1918
- 13 Before the Storm
- 14 Crisis on the Western Front
- 15 The Maurice Affair
- 16 The Origins of Intervention in Russia
- 17 The German Advance Halted
- 18 The Turn of the Tide
- 19 The Road to the Armistice
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Plate section
18 - The Turn of the Tide
from Part II - Strategy and the War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Maps
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Lloyd George at War
- 1 Setting the Stage
- Part I The Home Front
- Part II Strategy and the War
- 5 The First Attempt at a Unified Command
- 6 Facing the Submarine Menace
- 7 Prelude to Catastrophe
- 8 The Horror of Passchendaele
- 9 The Peripheral War
- 10 The Quest for a Negotiated Peace
- 11 The Creation of the Supreme War Council
- 12 The Plans for 1918
- 13 Before the Storm
- 14 Crisis on the Western Front
- 15 The Maurice Affair
- 16 The Origins of Intervention in Russia
- 17 The German Advance Halted
- 18 The Turn of the Tide
- 19 The Road to the Armistice
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Plate section
Summary
Despite the changes that had occurred in the upper military echelons in 1917 and 1918, the man commanding the BEF had somehow managed to survive. Lloyd George had plenty of cause to give Haig the boot, particularly after Cambrai, but as we have already noted, shrank from doing so for one reason or another. The issue emerged again in the second half of July, mainly because new leadership was desired in anticipation of the campaign for 1919. Lloyd George never had much use for Haig, was convinced that he was obstinate, used unimaginative tactics and showed little interest in avoiding heavy casualties. Other factors now came into play. The prime minister resented that Haig would not join him to induce Foch to place American divisions in his sector, thus freeing British troops to assist in his plan to protect and expand the empire in the east. This brought up a related point, namely, that Haig was certain to collaborate with Foch to prevent the removal of British troops from the western front.
The prime minister felt that the scorching indictment of Haig by Borden and the other Dominion prime ministers provided him with enough justification to sack Haig. He raised the matter at the meeting of the X Committee on July 16.
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- Lloyd George at War, 1916–1918 , pp. 311 - 324Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2009