The Committee of Imperial Defence failed to reconcile the Army's continental plan with the Navy's maritime conception. Henry Wilson supported sending a small British Expeditionary Force to France, while critics argued that four divisions had little deterrent weight and did not match an island empire's resources. Cabinet divisions and the separation of Army and Navy planning left Britain with service plans instead of a national strategy. The maritime alternative combined sea power, economic warfare, coastal projection, and a military strike force rather than a mass continental commitment.
Chapter · 2:31:51-2:36:35
Britain enters 1914 without a coherent joint strategy
An Andrew Lambert reading traces the political deadlock between an under-resourced continental commitment and a maritime strategy before the outbreak of the First World War.