ABSTRACT
The politicians hoped to hold the Western Front, building up manpower reserves and resources for 1919 and constructing transatlantic ships for the transport of the new armies from the USA. Critical to the success or failure of the British war effort in the last 18 months of the conflict was the availability of manpower. The management of industrial relations became just as important as the decisions to allocate manpower, testing the tripartite system that emerged during the war to retain a semblance of cooperation that was essential to the sustained running of the industrial economy. Placing the shipyards in a special position was bound to drain men from essential munitions work, and Churchill insisted that, before making hasty decisions, the War Cabinet should thoroughly investigate manpower allocation. The army's demands soon became a contentious issue, and Lloyd George instructed the Army Council in early December to review the manpower situation.
