Table Of ContentANGLO-FRENCH RELATIONS AND STRATEGYON
THE WESTERN FRONT, 1914-18
STUDIES INMILITARY AND STRATEGICHISTORY
GeneralEditor:Michael Dockrill,ReaderinWarStudies,King's
College,London
Publishedtitlesinclude:
G.H. Bennett
BRITISHFOREIGNPOLICYDURINGTHECURZONPERIOD,
1919-24
David A.Charters
THE BRITISH ARMY AND JEWISH INSURGENCY INPALESTINE,
1945-47
Paul Cornish
BRITISH MILITARYPLANNINGFOR THEDEFENCEOF
GERMANY, 1945-50
Robert Frazier
ANGLO-AMERICANRELATIONS WITH GREECE:The Comingof
theColdWar. 1942-47
Brian HoldenReid
J.F.C.FULLER:MilitaryThinker
StewartLone
JAPAN'S FIRST MODERNWAR: Army and Societyinthe Conflict
withChina,1894-95
ThomasR.Mockaitis
BRITISH COUNTERINSURGENCY,1919-60
RogerWoodhouse
BRITISH POLICY TOWARDS FRANCE, 1945-51
Anglo-French Relations
and Strategy on the
Western Front, 1914-18
William James Philpott
LecturerinEuropeanHistory
LondonGuildhallUniversity
in association with
Palgrave Macmillan
~ 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 978-1-349-24513-0 ISBN 978-1-349-24511-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-24511-6
~ 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. 10010
ISBN 978-0-312-12944-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Philpott, William James.
Anglo-French relations and strategy on the Western Front 1914-18 I
William James Philpott.
p. em.-(Studies in military and strategic history)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-12944-6
1. World War, 1914-1918--Campaigns-Westem Front. 2. Great
Britain-Military relations-France. 3. France-Military relations
-Great Britain. 4. Strategy. I. Title. II. Series.
D544.P49 1996
940.4'0 12--<lc20 95-53241
CIP
© William James Philpott 1996
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1996 978-0-333-63125-6
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 1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96
To the memory ofmy grandfather
William James Dartnell
who was there
Contents
ListofMaps VJlJ
Acknowledgements ix
ListofAbbreviations x
Deficiencies inPreparation:August 1914
2 Differences intheField:MonsandtheMarne,
August-September 1914 15
3 TheFailure ofCoordination: TheSiegeofAntwerpand
theFirst Battleof Ypres 31
4 DiscordantStrategies: December 1914-January 1915 51
5 Politics andGrand Strategy 68
6 Relations intheField 93
7 The Ascendancy ofFrench Strategy:TheSommeOffensive 112
8 The Northern Flank Strategy 129
9 The CoordinationofAllied Strategy 150
10 Conclusion 161
Notes and References 166
Bibliography 213
Index 219
vii
List of Maps
1 AntwerpOperations,29September-15 October 1914 39
2 SituationintheWesternFront,30June 1916 122
3 Haig's PlanforaFlandersCampaign 142
viii
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the following individuals and institutions for allow
ing me to cite and quote from material in their possession or for which
they hold the copyright. Her Majesty theQueen and the Controllerof Her
Majesty's Stationery Office; the archivist of the Archives Generales du
Royaume, Brussels;the Chefdu ServiceHistoriquede l'Armee de Terre,
Vincennes; the Clerk of the House of Lords Record Office and the
Trustees ofthe Beaverbrook Foundation; the Trustees ofthe Liddell Hart
Centrefor Military Archives, King's College, London; theTrusteesofthe
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 ofChurchill College, Cambridge; Lady Patricia Kingsbury;
Mr A.Murray;Mr M.A.F.Rawlinson. Every effort has beenmade totrace
the copyright holdersofmaterialcited inthis volume, andIapologisehere
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 theirhelp during the preparationof this work.
The following individuals have all read the manuscript in whole or in
part during its preparation and offered invaluable advice and encourage
ment, which has improved the quality of the final work; Professor Ian
Beckett;ProfessorBrian Bond;MichaelDockrill; DavidFrench;Professor
John Gooch; Professor Sir Michael Howard; G.H. Le May; Professor
Robert O'Neill; Roy Prete; ProfessorPaul Smith;Rhodri Williams. Their
professional support and friendship during the early stages of my acade
mic career has also proved invaluable.I would also like to thank Stewart
Davidson,cartographer at the University of Bradford, forgiving his time
and expertise to prepare the maps for this volume. Any errors of fact or
interpretation remainingare my own.
Finally, I would particularly like to thank the following individuals for
their friendship and support during the lengthy gestation of this book:
SamanthaAshenden; Paul Chilcott;Matthew Cragoe; TimMoreman;Kate
Osborne;Jo Smith;Charles Robinson and Sarah Baxter.
W.J.PHILPOIT
ix
List of Abbreviations
AAT ArchivesdeI'Armee deTerre,Vincennes
BEF BritishExpeditionary Force,France
CMG Cabinet du Ministre de LaGuerre,Archives deI'Armeede
Terre, Vincennes
CGS ChiefoftheGeneral Staffof theBritish anny inFrance
CIGS ChiefoftheImperial General Staff
EWB ExecutiveWar Board ofSupreme WarCouncil, Versailles
GHQ General Headquarters, British armies,France
GQG Grand QuartierGeneral, French anny
SWC SupremeWarCouncil, Versailles
x
