11.4: Technological developments; theatres of war—air, land and sea

Question 1

War at sea: cause of war

Answer 1

Naval and maritime competition had been a significant cause of the war, contributing to the heightening of Anglo-German tensions

Question 2

British position as naval super power

2p

Answer 2

1. For three centuries GB had been the world’s preponderant naval power; still the case as she entered the 20th century.
2. As an island nation at the centre of an imperial juggernaut, Britain relied on the Royal Navy to protect its colonies, its commercial interests and its homeland.

Question 3

Kaiser WII ambitions

3p

Answer 3

1. ambitions of WII had challenged Britain’s naval dominance.
2. In 1898 the Kaiser’s government had ordered the construction of more than 40 warships, to be laid down and commissioned over the following two decades.
3. By 1909 Germany’s Admiral Tirpitz had further increased these plans, adding a dozen new submarines to the German navy’s ‘shopping list’.

Question 4

Kaiser WII ambitions; effect on GB navy

2p

Answer 4

1. led to London fast-tracking its own program of naval modernisation and expansion.
2. The first Dreadnought-class battleship was built in just fourteen months and commissioned in 1906. (10 Feb)

Question 5

The Dreadnought

2p

Answer 5

1. ran on oil rather than coal; it was bigger and faster than any warship yet constructed
2. its massive guns had ranges three times that of previous naval artillery.

Question 6

Kaiser WII ambitions; effect on GB public

2p

Answer 6

1. Fearing that a war with Germany may be imminent, the British public demanded more Dreadnoughts
2. (a popular catchphrase of the late 1900s was “We want eight and we won’t wait!”).

Question 7

Ger and GB navies compared

number of ships?

Answer 7

1. This British paranoia about the German naval threat did not correspond with reality.
2. By the outbreak of war 1914:

working battleships and cruisers:

• Ger: 17
• GB: 29.

submarine fleet:

• GB: (74 in service and 31 under construction)
• Ger: (28 in service, 17 under construction).

Question 8

http://alphahistory.com/worldwar1/sea-and-air/

Answer 8

In terms of manpower the German navy had just over a third the personnel of the Royal Navy. To compound these differences Germany’s main ally, Austria-Hungary, was largely landlocked and had just a few ships – while Britain’s allies, France and Russia, each had sizeable, recently upgraded fleets. This numeric superiority proved pivotal when the war erupted in 1914. The British and their allies moved swiftly into the North Sea, surrounding the German High Seas fleet in port. Allied ships imposed a blockade of the German coast, patrolling the North Sea and laying down thousands of mines. This was, by and large, how the situation remained for the duration of the war. The two fleets only occasionally engaged each other, such as at the Battle of Jutland (May 1916) which produced greater British losses but no change in the situation.