ABSTRACT
The rearmament programme had to be readjusted, Army estimates drawn up on the new assumption that Britain would not commit itself to a continental campaign on land, and the French had to be informed of the Cabinet’s decision. British imperial commitments, exclusive of India and Burma, absorbed the equivalent of two and a half infantry divisions, plus one mobile division that it was planned to organize out of troops in Egypt. A White Paper on defence was presented to Parliament on 7 March 1938. It should be explained that in the event of war, the people cannot limit their liability to a small token force fighting on this front or on that front. The assumptions of an unforgettable past are not always the surest guide to an unpredictable future. In the debate that followed, the House gave warm support to Hore-Belisha’s pronouncement on the question of an expeditionary force.
