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The War Policy Committee was a small group of British ministers, most of them members of the War Cabinet, set up during World War I to decide war strategy. The committee was created at the request of
Lord Milner Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, (23 March 1854 – 13 May 1925) was a British statesman and colonial administrator who played a very important role in the formulation of British foreign and domestic policy between the mid-1890s and ear ...
on June 7, 1917, through a memorandum he circulated with his peers on the British War Cabinet. Its members included the Prime Minister,
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
, Lord Milner,
Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC, Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire), King's Counsel, KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician ...
,
Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), known as Lord Curzon (), was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician, explorer and writer who served as Viceroy of India ...
and
Jan Smuts Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (baptismal name Jan Christiaan Smuts, 24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as P ...
. The committee was formed to discuss the strategic matter of the
Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...
(the possibility of ally Russia, now a democracy after the deposition of
Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...
, being knocked out of the war), and the new entry of The United States. Coincidentally or not, the timing of Lord Milner's memo coincided with the detonation of 19 underground mines filled with explosives on the Western Front, which created the largest human explosion of all time. The night before this explosion, General Harington said to reporters "Gentleman, I don't know whether we are going to make history tomorrow, but at any rate we shall change the geography". In Milner's memo, he stressed that the allies must act together for the common good, and not devolve to piecemeal arrangements that satisfied specific countries. The War Policy Committee was formed, and it discussed every major initiative taken by the allies until the end of the war. It was chaired by Lord's Milner and Curzon, with Jan Smuts as its Vice Chairman. The first item on the War Policy Committee's agenda was Field Marshal
Douglas Haig Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary F ...
's idea for a summer offensive to relieve allied shipping of the U-Boat menace in the English Channel by attacking Belgium and along the Channel coast to get rid of U-Boat pens. The idea was initially rejected by Lloyd George and Milner because of the huge losses incurred the previous year at the
Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...
. However, it had the support of Smuts, Carson and tentatively Curzon. Another factor was
Bonar Law Andrew Bonar Law (; 16 September 1858 – 30 October 1923) was a British statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1922 to May 1923. Law was born in the British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadi ...
, who, although not part of the committee, was close to Lloyd George and supported the measure. With an understanding that the battle would be stopped at a moment's notice if things went wrong, the Flanders Offensive was approved. It proved to be a morass. On August 10, the War Policy Committee presented its report on war strategy. It concluded that: # Not much help can be expect from Russia. # The French armies were in a state of exhaustion. # Reports of lowered German morale in the latest battle were not true. # Naval offensive operations must be studied, and the convoy system must improve. # Heavy casualties in the present battle can't be replaced indefinitely, and the war can't be sustained at its present level of strength through 1918. # It advocated an offence against Austria, through Italy, as a way of engaging the Italians and of attacking the enemy where he was weakest, not strongest. The Flanders Offensive, which started July 31, 1917, ended on November 10, 1917, and proved impossible to stop due to over optimistic predictions of the generals. One of these was Haig himself, and another was Brigadier-General John Charteris, Haig's intelligence chief, who was replaced in January 1918. By the time of the
German Spring Offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...
on March 21, 1918, five of Haig's closest generals were replaced. The Italian loss at the
Battle of Caporetto The Battle of Kobarid (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Caporetto or the Battle of Karfreit) took place on the Italian front of World War I. The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central P ...
in November 1917 forced the idea of a
Supreme War Council The Supreme War Council was a central command based in Versailles that coordinated the military strategy of the principal Allies of World War I: Britain, France, Italy, the United States, and Japan. It was founded in 1917 after the Russian Revolu ...
to coordinate all allied activities against the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
, and resulted in the war plan for 1918. Other matters considered by the committee were Lord Curzon's plan for a "Monroe Doctrine for Africa" and Winston Churchill's recommendations for the production of tanks in 1918.UK National Archives, ''War Cabinet Minutes, CAB 24-4''
''pgs. 416-419 of 419''
/ref>


References


''UK National Archives''
* Roskill, Stephen
''Hankey: Man of Secrets, Vol. I''
London: Collins, 1970 * Marlowe, John
''Milner: Apostle of Empire''
London: Hamish Hamilton, 1976 * Hankey, Maurice
''The Supreme Command, 1914-1918, Volume II''
London, George Allen, 1961 * Amery, Leopold
''The Leo Amery Diaries, Volume I: 1860-1929''
London: Hutchinson, 1980 * Keegan, John
''The First World War''
London: Hutchinson, 1998 * Blake, Robert, ''The Unknown Prime Minister'', London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1955 * Thompson, J. Lee, ''Forgotten Patriot'', Cranbury, NJ: Rosemont, 2007 * Spartacus-Educational.co
''Link''
* Powell, Geoffrey, ''Plumer, The Soldier's General'', London: Cooper, 1990 * Edmonds, Sir James E
''History of the Great War, Vol VIII, Military Operations, the March Offensive, 1918''
London: MacMillan, 1935 * Wright, Peter
''At The Supreme War Council''
New York & London: Putnam, 1921


Footnotes

{{Reflist


External links

* Amery, Leopold
''The Leo Amery Diaries, Volume I: 1860-1929''
London: Hutchinson, 1980 (pgs. 157-161: creation of the committee) * Neillands, Robin
''The Great War Generals on the Western Front, 1914-1918''
London: Magpie, 1999 (pgs. 384–407) * Winter, Denis
''Haig's Command: A Reassessment''
London: Penguin, 1991 (Curzon Biography) 1917 establishments in the United Kingdom 1918 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1917 United Kingdom in World War I Committees David Lloyd George Jan Smuts Bonar Law