Trial by Friendship: Anglo-American Relations, 1917-1918
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Military History History 2003 Trial by Friendship: Anglo-American Relations, 1917-1918 David R. Woodward Marshall University Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Woodward, David R., "Trial by Friendship: Anglo-American Relations, 1917-1918" (2003). Military History. 19. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_military_history/19 TRIAL BY FRIENDSHIP T11F, PODHTH OE 3VLJ. 1T70 101ft. John Bull: "Doth not a meeting like this make amends?" Uncle Sam: "Sure!" TRIAL BY FRIENDSHIP Anglo-American Relations 1917-1918 DAVID R. WOODWARD THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Publication of this book was assisted by grants from Marshall University Foundation, Inc., and the Marshall University Graduate School. Copyright © 1993 by the University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Frontispiece: From Punch, July 3, 1918 Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 03 04 05 06 07 12 3 4 5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Woodward, David R., 1939- Trial by friendship : Anglo-American relations, 1917-1918 / David R. Woodward, p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-8131-9084-3 (pbk.) 1. World War, 1914-1918—Diplomatic history. 2. World War, 1914- 1918—United States. 3. World War, 1914-1918—Great Britain. 4. United States—Foreign relations—Great Britain. 5. Great Briatin—Foreign relations—United States. I. Title. D619.W74 1993 940.3'22—dc20 92-36875 Contents List of Illustrations and Maps vii Acknowledgments ix Prologue 1 1. From Rapprochement to the House-Grey Memorandum 4 2. From Mediator to "Associate Power" 26 3. The Balfour Mission and Americans Abroad 44 4. Britain as the Cornerstone 69 5. Pershing's War Plans 81 6. The Knock-out Blow in Question 99 7. The House Mission and Anglo-American War Aims 112 8. Before the Storm 130 9. The Western Front Imperiled 149 10. A New Strategic Landscape 167 11. Disunity of Command 185 12. Pax Americana? 206 Notes 221 Bibliography 254 Index 265 Illustrations and Maps Illustrations "The Fourth of July, 1776-1918" Frontispiece Woodrow Wilson and Raymond Poincare 8 "The White House Mystery" 24 "The Last Throw" 32 "A Dead Frost" 38 The Imperial War Cabinet 46 Arthur J. Balfour 51 "Swooping from the West" 66 Sir Douglas Haig 75 American troops march in Paris 84 "A Word of 111 Omen" 95 Sir William Robertson 108 General Tasker H. Bliss 120 "All Together Now, Boys!" 209 Maps Strategic Features Influencing Selection of Lorraine Front 86 Five German Offensives, March 21-July 17,1918 150 American and Allied Attacks, September 26-November 11, 1918 217 Acknowledgments Every effort has been made to avoid infringing upon the copyright of any individual or institution. I am obliged to the following individuals and institutions for permission to inspect and to quote documents in which they hold the copyright: the Librarian, Manuscripts and Ar- chives, Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University; the Trustees of the Milner Papers, New College, Oxford; the British Library; the Beaver- brook Foundation; the Masters and Fellows of Churchill College, Cambridge; National Library of Scotland; Trustees of the Imperial War Museum; the National Army Museum; the Bodleian Library; House of Lords Record Office; Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives; Na- tional Library of Scotland; Lord Esher; Lord Scarsdale; and Andrew Rawlinson. Unpublished Crown-copyright material in the Public Rec- ord Office and in Oriental and India Office Collections of the British Library is reproduced by permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. I am also indebted to the Special Collections Branch of the U.S. Army Military History Institute for providing me with photographs from its collection. A National Endowment for the Humanities Travel to Collections Grant and a sabbatical from Marshall University made possible an extensive research trip to the United Kingdom in 1987. Marshall Uni- versity also provided me with valuable assistance, including a summer research grant and reassigned time for research and writing. Books, articles, and microfilm were secured from all over the United States by the helpful staff of the Morrow Library. In addition to the many fine scholars who have instructed me with their treatments of various World War I subjects, I am particularly indebted intellectually to fellow academicians who have generously extended a helping hand. Four specialists in the field, Norman A. Graebner, Edward M. Coffman, Bentley Brinkerhoff Gilbert, and John Gooch, read and commented on my first draft. Their astute vetting of my manuscript immeasurably improved its quality. Colleagues at Mar- shall University, especially Robert D. Sawrey and Leonard J. Deutsch, have greatly enhanced the readability and organization of this work with their stylistic suggestions and penetrating questions. Two anony- x Acknowledgments mous reviewers for the University Press of Kentucky also made a valuable contribution with their critical evaluations of the manuscript. Michael J. McCarthy, one of my graduate students who is destined to have a distinguished future in history, and Patricia Sterling, a magnifi- cent copyeditor, played a significant part in the production of this book. Finally, I want to recognize the encouragement and sharp proof- reading eye of my wife and closest friend, Martha Cobb Woodward. Any mistakes of fact or interpretation in this book, however, are of my own making. To all who assisted me in this labor of love, I give my heartfelt thanks. Prologue On June 28,1914, in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, an assassin's bullet precipitated a chain of events with unforeseen and dramatic results for the destinies of the United States and Great Britain. The great war unleashed by this event accelerated an important trend in international affairs: the replacement of Great Britain by the United States as the world's greatest power. Britain declared war on Germany on August 4. No British soldiers had fought in Western Europe since Waterloo, but Britain committed its small, elite fighting force to the Continental war. At the center of this decision was the fear of what German domination of Europe would mean, not only for the British Isles but for the British Empire as well. A fundamental issue was whether Britain would survive as a great imperial power. The British Continental commitment was made easier by the widely held belief that the war would be short. Whatever the duration of the conflict, however, Britain's leaders anticipated with few excep- tions that their country's primary role would be in finance, as an arsenal for the Allies, and as the world's premier naval power. It seemed unimaginable that direct involvement in the land war would eventually lead to the deployment of the greatest armed force in one theater in the country's history. Nevertheless, by the summer and fall of 1917, British and Dominion forces constituted the mainstay of the land war against the Imperial Germany Army. America's part in the war was even more surprising. Forced to abandon its neutrality and its tradition of noninvolvement in Euro- pean affairs, the United States was drawn into a collective military effort against Berlin. When the war ended, General John J. Pershing commanded the largest force in American history. The two English- speaking democracies, fighting on foreign soil, possessed the two best armies and fleets on the globe. At a frightful cost to their economy and manpower, the British had kept the western front intact in 1917, absorbed the initial blows of the 1918 Germany offensives, and played the leading role in the Allied counterattacks that began in August. For its part, the United States, having achieved global economic ascen- 2 Prologue dancy during the war, was on the verge of dominating the battlefields of Western Europe. The battle-initiated yet still fresh American Expe- ditionary Force in November was destined to become the army of the future if the war continued into 1919. The Armistice represented a great triumph for democracy and lib- eral values in international affairs. The United States and Great Britain appeared to have the opportunity to make and enforce a peace based on their shared liberalism and faith in parliamentary government. Yet though they were joined by their common sacrifices and their essential agreement on many war objectives, the tension between the American and British political and military leadership over the development and manner of employment of an American expeditionary force in Western Europe boded ill for any Anglo-American world order. The impact of America's military role on British war policy and imperial defense strategy has been largely ignored