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
12 - The Plans for 1918
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
When the Rapollo conference broke up, it only remained for the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel, to approve the decisions that his government had taken. Accordingly, the three delegations left by special train for Peschiera on Lake Garda, where the king had established his military headquarters. The British were surprised at his diminutive size, described as being not much taller than a dwarf (actually he was 4 feet 11 inches) and “rather a pathetic figure with his country tumbling about his ears.” But they liked him because he seemed sincere, resolute, plucky and good-hearted. He readily consented to the removal of Cadorna, but he was less accommodating over the choice of his successor. Foch and Robertson wanted the Duke of Aosta, Italy's most accomplished soldier, but the king, never very secure, was jealous of his charismatic and popular cousin and deemed him unacceptable. Instead, he appointed General Armando Diaz, a fifty-five-year-old officer who had been a corps commander for only three months. Very little was known about him and the fact that he had spent most of his career on staffs did not exactly inspire confidence among the British and French delegations. But while his résumé was not overly impressive, he proved to be an excellent choice. He was sensible, courageous, concerned about the welfare of his troops, possessed combat experience and was tactically astute.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Lloyd George at War, 1916–1918 , pp. 191 - 218Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2009