2 - The British War Cabinet
5 June 1917–10 November 1918
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2009
Summary
The documents in this section deal with the period of Smuts's membership of the British War Cabinet up to the Armistice. Urged by Lloyd George, encouraged by Botha, moved by his own inclination, he accepted membership although conscious of his ‘anomalous position’ (765–766). This Cabinet life was intense; he was faced with a series of important tasks into which he threw himself. The record of that life lies mainly in official papers. Even Smuts's letters to his wife and his close friends contain only discreet and brief allusions to it. Nevertheless they provide an outline of his war activities—of his visit to South Wales (789–791), his attendance at the Rapallo meeting, his talks with Mensdorff (804), his second visit to France, his visit to Egypt and Palestine (816). To some extent the outline can be rilled in from a few private letters to and from his colleagues, for example, L. S. Amery. At times his attitude to major questions of policy can be gathered from his public speeches (829, 830).
The general biographical picture that emerges from these documents is vivid and full. They show the deepening of his friendship with Arthur and Margaret Gillett and Alice Clark, whose company both in London and on walks and camps in the country gave him physical exercise and spiritual refreshment.
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- Selections from the Smuts Papers , pp. 529 - 688Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1966