Robertson was sceptical of suggestions that Russia's war effort would be reinvigorated by the Fall of the Tsar, and recommended that Britain keep up the pressure on Germany by attacking on the Western Front. He thought the USA, which had declared war on Germany, would do little to help win the war. Even if President Wilson sent troops to Europe which was by no means certain, it would take until summer 1918 for 250,000 US troops to be available. Robertson prepared another General Staff appraisal (28 March 1917) stressing how the Allied position had deteriorated since the previous summer, and again recommending diplomatic efforts to detach Germany's allies, although he chose not to circulate it to the civilians. Germany had freed an extra 1.7m men for military service, and by the summer of 1917 the German Army would be an extra 1.25m men stronger, an extra 89 divisions (albeit reduced from 12 infantry battalions to 9).