This book is a comparative study of the evolution of the German navy in the second half of the nineteenth century. It examines the development of strategy, especially commerce-raiding, in comparison to what other navies were doing in this era of rapid technological change. It is not an insular history, merely listing ship rosters or specific events; it is a history of the German navy in relation to its potential foes. It is also a look at a new military institution involved in an inter-service rivalry for funds, technology and manpower with the prestigious and well-established army.

This book looks at the transition of wooden sailing fleets to the modern steel navy. It details the technological breakthroughs that brought about this change - steampower, armour, artillery and torpedoes, and looks at their affect on naval strategy and tactics. Part of the ever-growing and prestigious Warfare and History series, this book is a must for enthusiasts of military history.

Economic Warfare and the Sea examines the relationship between trade, maritime warfare, and strategic thought between the early modern period and the late-twentieth century. Featuring contributions from renown historians and rising scholars, this volume forwards an international perspective upon the intersection of maritime history, strategy, and diplomacy. Core themes include the role of ‘economic warfare’ in maritime strategic thought, prevalence of economic competition below the threshold of open conflict, and the role non-state actors have played in the prosecution of economic warfare. Using unique material from 18 different archives across six countries, this volume explores critical moments in the development of economic warfare, naval technology, and international law, including the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the First World War, and the Second World War. Distinct chapters also analyse the role of economic warfare in theories of maritime strategy, and what the future holds for the changing role of navies in the floating global economy of the twenty-first century.

EconomicWarfare and the Sea examines the relationship between trade, maritimewarfare, and strategic thought between the early modern period and thelate-twentieth century. Using a variety of geographic and chronologicalexamples, it presents a longue duree approach to a crucial theme in maritimestrategic thought.

Admiral Beatty was beyond doubt the best known fighting Admiral, perhaps the best known military leader, of the First World War. His conduct at Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank, and later at Jutland, caught the public imagination, while his role as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet in taking into custody the German High Sea Fleet in November 1918 associated him with perhaps the most tangible symbol of the collapse of Germanys military might. He is probably remembered by most for his comment at Jutland that there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today after two of his battlecruisers were sunk in quick succession.Stephen Roskills magnificent biography of Beatty explains so well why he has come to be seen as Britains last naval hero, an admiral in the mould of Nelson who won the unstinting devotion of all those who served with and under him. He came from an Anglo-Irish military family who exhibited the utmost gallantry on the field of battle with a corresponding recklessness in the hunting field, while he himself was extremely handsome and courageous and exuded charisma. His early promise led to fast promotion and he was to become the youngest Admiral since Nelson.But that is only one part of the story and there are aspects of his character that were not entirely admirable. There were, and still remain, questions over his handling of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at Jutland at which his highly aggressive approach was contrasted with the prudence of his commander, Sir John Jellicoe, and the later animosities between the Jellicoe and Beatty camps reflect poorly on Beatty himself. His turbulent marriage and his extra-marital liaisons were to be suppressed in his official biography but in some ways these aspects are as significant to our understanding of him as Nelson and Emma Hamiltons great affair is to our reading of the Napoleonic era at sea.Roskill deals with all these issues and in doing so brilliantly reassesses Beatty place in history. Access to new material at the time of writing allowed him to write a balanced and wholly credible account of an extraordinary life, and this wonderfully readable and intimate biography will appeal to a whole new generation of readers.

The years leading to World War I were the 'Age of the Dreadnought'. The monumental battleship design, first introduced by Admiral Fisher to the Royal Navy in 1906, was quickly adopted around the world and led to a new era of naval warfare and policy. In this book, Roger Parkinson provides a re-writing of the naval history of Britain and the other leading naval powers from the 1880s to the early years of World War I. The years before 1914 were characterised by intensifying Anglo-German naval competition, with an often forgotten element beyond Europe in the form of the rapidly developing navies of the United States and Japan. Parkinson shows that, although the advent of the dreadnought was the pivotal turning-point in naval policy, in fact much of the technology that enabled the dreadnought to be launched was a continuity from the pre-dreadnought era. In the annals of the Royal Navy two names will always be linked: those of Admiral Sir John 'Jacky' Fisher and the ship he created, HMS Dreadnought. This book shows how the dreadnought enabled the Royal Navy to develop from being primarily the navy of the 'Pax Britannica' in the Victorian era to being a war-ready fighting force in the early years of the twentieth century. The ensuing era of intensifying naval competition rapidly became a full-blooded naval arms race, leading to the development of super-dreadnoughts and escalating tensions between the European powers. Providing a truly international perspective on the dreadnought phenomenon, this book will be essential reading for all naval history enthusiasts and anyone interested in World War I.

In this companion volume to "Western Warfare, 1775-1882," Jeremy Black takes his analysis of modern warfare into the twentieth century. As before, a distinctive feature of the author's approach is the coverage of both land and naval warfare as well as conflict within the West and between Western and non-Western powers. Beginning with the British conquest of Egypt in 1882, this book goes on to examine the Spanish-American War of 1898, the Boer War and the Balkan conflicts leading to world war in 1914. A revisionist account of the First World War is followed by a discussion of Western expansionism in the period to 1936. Chapters on the interwar years and the Second World War lead on to a discussion of the retreat from empire and the advent of Cold War. The narrative closes with the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and a discussion of the limitations of Western military technique, doctrine and technology. Throughout, the themes of military change and modernization are brought into sharp focus and the revolutionary characteristics of the machination of war in this period are questioned. Jeremy Black offers a new and challenging interpretation of modern warfare that will be required reading not only for students of military history but for all those interested in the impact of war in the making of the modern world.