ANGLO-FRENCH RELATIONS AND STRATEGY ON THE WESTERN FRONT,

Transcription

1 ANGLO-FRENCH RELATIONS AND STRATEGY ON THE WESTERN FRONT,

2 STUDIES IN MILITARY AND STRATEGIC HISTORY General Editor: Michael Dockrill, Reader in War Studies, King's College, London Publishedtitles include: G. H. Bennett BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY DURING THE CURZON PERIOD, David A. Charters THE BRITISH ARMY AND JEWISH INSURGENCY IN PALESTINE, Paul Cornish BRITISH MILITARY PLANNING FOR THE DEFENCE OF GERMANY, Robert Frazier ANGLO-AMERICAN RELATIONS WITH GREECE: The Coming of the Cold War Brian Holden Reid J. F. C. FULLER: Military Thinker Stewart Lone JAPAN'S FIRST MODERN WAR: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, Thomas R. Mockaitis BRITISH COUNTERINSURGENCY, Roger Woodhouse BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS FRANCE,

3 Anglo-French Relations and Strategy on the Western Front, William James Philpott Lecturer in European History London Guildhall University in association with Pal grave Macmillan

4 ~ First published in Great Britain 1996 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) ~ First published in the United States of America 1996 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.. Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y ISBN Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Philpott, William James. Anglo-French relations and strategy on the Western Front I William James Philpott. p. em.- (Studies in military and strategic history) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN World War, Campaigns-Westem Front. 2. Great Britain-Military relations-france. 3. France-Military relations -Great Britain. 4. Strategy. I. Title. II. Series. D544.P '0 12--<lc CIP William James Philpott 1996 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W 1 P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages I

5 To the memory of my grandfather William James Dartnell who was there

6 Contents List ofmaps Acknowledgements List ofabbreviations Deficiencies in Preparation : August Differences in the Field: Mons and the Marne, August-September The Failure of Coordination: The Siege of Antwerp and the First Battle of Ypres 31 4 Discordant Strategies: December 1914-January Politics and Grand Strategy 68 6 Relations in the Field 93 7 The Ascendancy of French Strategy: The Somme Offensive The Northern Flank Strategy The Coordination of Allied Strategy Conclusion VJlJ ix x 161 Notes and Referen ces Bibliography Index vii

7 List of Maps 1 Antwerp Operations, 29 September-15 October Situation in the Western Front, 30 June Haig's Plan for a Flanders Campaign viii

8 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following individuals and institutions for allowing me to cite and quote from material in their possession or for which they hold the copyright. Her Majesty the Queen and the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office; the archivist of the Archives Generales du Royaume, Brussels; the Chef du Service Historique de l'armee de Terre, Vincennes; the Clerk of the House of Lords Record Office and the Trustees of the Beaverbrook Foundation; the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King 's College, London; the Trustees of the Imperial War Museum; Lord Bonham Carter; Lord Esher; Lord Haig and the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland; Lord Mottistone; Lord Robertson; the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford; the Master and Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge; Lady Patricia Kingsbury ; Mr A. Murray; Mr M.A.F. Rawlinson. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of material cited in this volume, and I apologise here if any copyright has been inadvertently infringed. I would also like to thank the archivists and staff of the libraries and archives which I have used for their help during the preparation of this work. The following individuals have all read the manuscript in whole or in part during its preparation and offered invaluable advice and encouragement, which has improved the quality of the final work; Professor Ian Beckett; Professor Brian Bond; Michael Dockrill; David French; Professor John Gooch; Professor Sir Michael Howard; G.H. Le May; Professor Robert O'Neill; Roy Prete; Professor Paul Smith ; Rhodri Williams. Their professional support and friendship during the early stages of my academic career has also proved invaluable. I would also like to thank Stewart Davidson, cartographer at the University of Bradford, for giving his time and expertise to prepare the maps for this volume. Any errors of fact or interpretation remaining are my own. Finally, I would particularly like to thank the following individuals for their friendship and support during the lengthy gestation of this book : Samantha Ashenden; Paul Chilcott; Matthew Cragoe; Tim Moreman ; Kate Osborne; Jo Smith; Charles Robinson and Sarah Baxter. W.J. PHILPOIT ix

9 List of Abbreviations AAT BEF CMG CGS CIGS EWB GHQ GQG SWC Archives de I' Armee de Terre, Vincennes British Expeditionary Force, France Cabinet du Ministre de La Guerre, Archives de I' Armee de Terre, Vincennes Chief of the General Staff of the British anny in France Chiefof the Imperial General Staff Executive War Board of Supreme War Council, Versailles General Headquarters, British armies, France Grand Quartier General, French anny Supreme War Council, Versailles x