Does Anyone Suppose …You Are Going To Stop Here?

Abstract

The vision of Lord Kitchener in August 1914, that Great Britain had entered a conflict to be fought by millions of men and which would take years to settle, was perhaps his most accurate contribution to understanding the Great War. He meant to field a huge army, greater than any force in British history. To this end, at the Calais Confer ence of Allied commanders on 7 July 1915, he committed the nation to raising a force of 70 divisions. While Kitchener’s reputation among his colleagues did not survive the day-to-day familiarity of cabinet government, his pledge proved stronger than the attacks made upon it by those who felt it an impossible standard. His commitment of 70 divisions — unfulfilled by the close of 1915 — was an issue continually raised by the pro-conscriptionists in Parliament and in the country.