ABSTRACT
Petain's main apprehensions before the battle were of a German offensive in Champagne which came later with perhaps an advance through Switzerland; British GHQ considered this to be 'inherently improbable'. There were instances of bad staff work and control in the difficult circumstances of this battle was often lost for a time. In the April battles, however, the staff had learned the game and mistakes were fewer. The various headquarters experienced the utmost difficulty in keeping abreast of the true state of affairs and effective control of the battle was very difficult. If the number of events that swayed the battle are taken into account, it would be grossly unfair to attribute the misfortunes people suffered to the earlier decisions of the Supreme Command any more than to the mistakes of the local High Command or of the Allies.
