ABSTRACT
Two questions dominated the early months of the Asquith coalition, how was the government to extricate itself from the Dardanelles and how was it to respond to Russia's increasingly strident calls for help as its army was driven back towards Warsaw. Between May and August British policies were reversed. The failure of the May offensive only further convinced Kitchener that it would be wrong to commit the New Armies to France until they were fully equipped and trained. The Cabinet agreed and Sir John French was instructed to resume the war of attrition. The Cabinet reluctantly agreed to mount the Loos offensive more as a political gesture to their allies rather than in the hope that it would achieve a tangible military victory. The manner in which Asquith distributed offices between the parties in the coalition government demonstrated that he was still very much in command of the political situation.
