With democracy in Russia fighting for its life, there were voices in London and Washington that favoured sacrificing France’s obstinate demand for the return of Alsace-Lorraine to achieve a quick settlement. But a majority of the French public were still determined to continue the war. On 16 November 1917 the period of uncertainty was brought to an abrupt end when Clemenceau took office as Prime Minister and announced his new priorities: ‘total war [guerre integrale] . . . war, nothing but war’.6
