Allied political and military leaders expected the war to continue into at least 1919. When the Germans requested an armistice in the Autumn of 1918, it was unexpected. The Allies had expected a complete victory.
This book demonstrates how the Supreme War Council evolved to become the dominant mechanism for coalition war making. The author analyses the Council's role in the formulation of war strategy for 1918/1919 across the various theatres of war. She compares the perspectives of the British, French, Americans and Italians.
In doing so, she she shows how in this early example of modern alliance warfare, the Supreme War Council had to coordinate national war needs with coalition ones.