error of trying too much to "break the enemy's front" and urged him instead to concentrate on "inflicting heavier losses on (the enemy) than one suffers oneself". It is unclear that the letter had much effect as Haig appointed Gough, an aggressive cavalryman, to command the Ypres Offensive shortly after receiving it. France steps back With the Nivelle Offensive in its final stages, Lloyd George went to the Paris Summit authorised by the 1 May 1917 War Cabinet to "press the French to continue the offensive". Lloyd George was keen to build bridges with the generals and told them at Paris (3 May 1917) that he would back their plans ("We must go on hitting and hitting with all our strength") and stressed that they must choose the time and place of the next offensive. The next day Robertson stressed attrition with limited territorial objectives, while Hankey stressed the importance of Zeebrugge, where the Germans would suffer attrition if they stood and fought. Over dinner the Prime Minister reduced the company to "fits of laughter" with an impersonation of Robertson. Robertson thought Paris "about the best Conference we have had". With Russian commitment to the war wavering, Smuts, Milner and Curzon agreed with Robertson that Britain must attack in the west lest France or Italy be tempted to make a separate peace. Petain, committed to only limited attacks, became French Commander-in-Chief (15 May) and with Esher warning that the French government would not honour their Paris commitments, Robertson warned Haig that the British government would not take kindly to high casualties if Britain had to attack without wholehearted French support. Foch, now French chief of staff, also urged Robertson at a meeting (7 June 1917) to conduct only limited attacks (he opposed the planned Flanders Offensive) until the Americans sent more troops, and they discussed the possibility of attacks on Austria-Hungary designed to encourage her to make peace. Robertson and Haig met (9 June) after the victory at Messines. Robertson warned Haig that the government were diverting manpower into shipbuilding, ship crews and agriculture rather than the Army, and that a prolonged offensive would leave Britain "without an Army" by the autumn, and suggested that attacks against Austria-Hungary might be more prudent. Haig, dismayed, retorted that "Great Britain must … win the war by herself" and that the government were "failing at the XIIth hour". Haig also showed Robertson his