The impetus for the Somme offensive came from the second Allied military planning conference at Chantilly, early in December 1915. The French army had expected to play a leading role in the battle, but its travails at Verdun significantly reduced the amount of forces the French army commander, Gen. Joseph Joffre, could commit. Fixed by the Germans in the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse, the beleaguered French could send only five divisions to the Somme and requested that the timeline be shortened to ease their position. Dramatically, Joffre snapped that the French army would cease to exist should Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force Douglas Haig wait until August to begin the assault, as initially planned. The paucity of the French meant that instead of having a supporting role, the British would have to spearhead the main effort, initially with 14 divisions.