ABSTRACT
Briand rejects Joffre's request to evacuate Verdun because he knew that if he agreed his government would quickly fall, and instead he threatened Joffre with dismissal if the Germans occupied it. Joffre wanted a combined offensive by the British and French armies north and south of the river Somme. Haig was afraid that Joffre's plan would expose the BEF to defeat during the preliminary stage of the campaign and might mean that when the moment came to launch the final offensive the British would be too weak to play a proper part in it. Haig agreed that the main offensive would be on the Somme in July and Joffre agreed that there would be no large-scale wearing-out operations in April and May. On 16 January Robertson told Haig that he expected the Germans to attack Russia in May and try to crush it in the summer.
