ABSTRACT
On the return journey Lloyd George received at the French frontier a message that Nivelle was anxious to see him. He proposed instead that Nivelle and Haig should come to London; they arrived on January 15th. Nivelle had much to commend him in the eyes of Lloyd George and the War Cabinet. Immediately after the London Conference an instruction was sent to Haig emphasizing the importance which the War Cabinet attached to the utmost despatch in carrying out both in the letter and the spirit the agreement made with Nivelle. Dull conference on railway matters to start with. This was followed at 5 pm by a conference that was by no means dull: Lloyd George, Briand, Robertson, Lyautey, Haig, Nivelle and myself alone being present. Balfour sent an admirable despatch to the French Ambassador on this new cause of friction, with the result that on March 12th, Briand, accompanied by Lyautey, Lacaze, Albert Thomas and Nivelle, came to London.
