WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE 1917

512 WAR MEMOIRS OF DAVID LLOYD GEORGE
to their War Ministries. But in ability and especially in
prestige, they were so far inferior to the Commanders-in-
Chief of the principal Army in the field that the opinions of
the former were ridden down.
In France even Gallieni had not been able to stand up
to Joffre. Robertson was terrified of Haig and never dared
to utter or mutter a doubt as to his strategy. He himself has
admitted that he had serious misgivings about Passchendaele,
but not one word of scepticism passed his lips. The first
Chief of Staff who was able and influential enough to give
independent guidance to his Government was Foch. But
taking the position as a whole, Governments were at the
mercy of the Commanders-in-Chief. That is why it came to
pass that the War was conducted sectionally. How disastrous
were the consequences of this we realised before the end
of 1917. The failure to help Russia in 1915 and 1916 with
guns, munitions and transport when she had overwhelming
reserves of men, ultimately forced her out of the War —
crushed, and angry with the allies who refused to equip her
brave peasants with the means to defend themselves. The
French and British Commanders-in-Chief wanted all the
men and material to win victories on their own fronts. It
would not be just to say that they were prejudiced even unconsciously
by the thought that feathers in Russky's and
BrussilofFs hats did not look nearly as well as they did in
their own; but they were influenced by the knowledge that
their particular job was to beat the Germans in the swamps
of Flanders and not in the Pripet Marshes, and they concentrated
mind and will on the duties assigned to them. To
the same cause may be ascribed the fatal betrayal of Serbia,
which gave Bulgaria and the Balkans to the Central Powers,
saved Austria from the danger of being speared on her most
exposed side, revived the military powers of Turkey and prolonged
the War by two years, endangering ultimate victory.