Germany and England - Naval Arms Race

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the highly competitive European naval arms race, which acted as military catalyst for World War I. It explains that the significance of building large navies in Germany and in England played a large role in how and why the war was instigated between England and Germany. The paper looks at how by building a massive industrial complex to build a world caliber navy, Germany was essentially able to confront England as a growing super power and how the naval industrial complex also provided the means to build other secondary initiatives to enable a land war, such as guns and other projectiles for the army. The paper also shows that without a navy as a significant axis to fight a war, Germany would never have been able to withstand the might of the British Navy in a major global war.

From the Paper:

"The power of the British before 1914 was at its peak due to the imperialist domination throughout the world that England now possessed. The large navy that the British had created was partially due to the isolation that Britain had from the rest of world, which in turn, forced them to seek natural resources overseas. In this economic height of power, England was in a position to help their allies in the important naval campaigns that were becoming more critical in days before the Kaiser ordered the invasion of Bosnia in retaliation to the murder of Archduke Ferdinand. The chain of political issues that are related to this incident reflect the growing sense of allied politics that were to become essential in the creation of total wars."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Craig, G. (1964). The politics of the Prussian Army 1640-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Herman, A. (2004). To rule the waves: How the British Navy shaped the modern world. New York: Harper Collins.
• Hough, R. (2001). The great war at sea. Edinburgh: Birlinn Publishers.
• Keegan, J. (2000). The first world war. Chicago: Vintage.
• Kennedy, P. (1986). The rise and fall of the British naval mastery. New York: Humanity Books.

More papers on Germany and England - Naval Arms Race:

• Analytical Essay # 132480 : "The Significance of the European Arms Race"
• Analytical Essay # 141822 : "Imperialism and the Outbreak of the First World War"

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